Gran who was ‘destroying herself’ reveals amazing 6.5 stone weight loss

A gran has lost a mighty six-and-a-half stone – after becoming a figure of fun on a family holiday.

Elaine Taylor has lost over 6.5 stone after her chair broke while she was watching a drag show with her family.

Holiday snaps made her look like a ‘beached whale’, she said – making her vow to lose weight.

By then, hubby Wilf had fallen ill with a heart condition, so she had to become his carer while also trying to do her housekeeping job and helping daughter Katie, a single mum, with her kids, Eva, 10, and Billy, nine.

The 64-year-old housekeeper says her nickname at school was ‘Fatty Atty’ because of her size – her maiden name being Atkins.

“At 5’3” I basically became spherical, but enjoyed being the ‘jolly’ friend and colleague, hiding my feelings until I got home behind closed doors,” she said.

On top of massive meals, Elaine would also secretly binge late at night – regularly demolishing whole packets of biscuits, hiding the wrappers in bins outside.

“I remember once being turned away from a local clothes shop by the owner who bluntly told me: ‘There’s nothing here for you’,”

Elaine said. “I pretended to look at some handbags before walking away with tears streaming down my eyes.”

Elaine, from Fleetwood, met future husband Wilf when she was 22, and the pair tied the knot two years later, having daughter Katie six years later.

“Being a mum and wife meant I put their needs and health before mine,” she said.

“Before long I was doing all my clothes shopping online because I was too embarrassed to go into shops to ask for bigger sizes.”

Then three years ago she, Wilf, Katie and her two grandchildren Eva, 10, and Billy, 9, splashed out on an all-inclusive trip to Lanzarote.

“One night the resort entertainment was a drag act, and as he came on stage my chair collapsed beneath me,”

Elaine said. “The spotlight moved from the main act onto me, and everyone there burst out laughing.

"It was simply mortifying, a memory that haunted me for months.”

When Elaine got back from her nightmare holiday she saw a photograph of her in a swimsuit by the pool and vowed she had to turn her life around.

“I looked at that photo of me by the pool and thought how I was actually being stupid and selfish,” she said.

“Those people I most loved needed me now more than ever, while I was destroying myself.”

Having tried countless other crash diets, she then decided to follow her younger sister Janet who’d lost weight four stone with the Cambridge Weight Plan.

With guidance from CWP leader Sarah Smith, she started her healthy eating plan in January 2018, losing 10lbs in the first week, and a stone by the end of her third week.

“I had so much more energy to cope with Wilf and my job at the old people’s home – friends commented how much happier I seemed, and they were right!”

By the August she had lost six stone, and the next month went to a family wedding where everyone asked if it was Elaine or Janet they were talking to.

“Considering Janet’s 10 years younger than me, I took that as an amazing compliment!,” she said. “Wearing that black and white dress I felt like a million dollars, jumping in front of the camera and dancing until the early hours.”

Now a devotee of high street clothes shopping, the super-fit size 14 gran swims twice a week and regularly attends over-50s keep-fit classes.

“Before I would just stay inside with my grandchildren, now I’m constantly dragging them to the beach or the pool for a swim,” she said. “My grandson put his arms around me the other day and said “Grandma, I can finally cuddle you”. It was the best feeling in the world!

I don’t know how many years left Wilf and I will have together, but thanks to the new me, I know they’ll be some of the best times of our lives.”

Source: Read Full Article