“I’ve lost half my body weight – friends don’t recognise me!”
Beatrix Ellis lost an incredible 10 stone – and eight dress sizes – in just two years
I WANT TO INSPIRE OTHERS – I AM PROOF IT CAN BE DONE
Beatrix Ellis still pinches herself when she looks in the mirror and sees her slender frame, after losing almost half her body weight. And she credits her husband Mark for inspiring her whopping 10st weight loss, because it was his fitness drive that inspired her to copy him.
Nursery worker Beatrix,
47, who lives in Havant, Hampshire, explains her motivation, saying, “A friend of ours died when he was only 51. He’d been playing football and fell down dead from a heart attack in August 2016. My husband, Mark, now 48, works in the military, and had always been fit – but the tragedy made him really health conscious and he started exercising every day and watching what he ate.
“One day he walked in and I did a double take. It was like seeing him with new eyes – he looked so toned and handsome. At a size 28, I felt really frumpy in comparison. He never mentioned my weight, but I imagined people comparing us and thinking we didn’t fit together. It was the prompt I needed to ditch my diet of junk food and join Slimming World.”
VICIOUS CIRCLE
When Beatrix met Mark in 1992, she was a slim size 12. She says, “After two pregnancies,
I’d put on 4st. I absolutely loved food and would binge on chocolate, crisps and sugary cola. I could eat a whole packet of biscuits in one sitting.”
Over the years, Beatrix’s weight crept up and she was soon wearing a size 28. She says, “I hated how big I was. I had mortifying experiences, like being stuck in a plastic chair and needing a seat belt extension on a flight. My knees always ached – I used to crawl up the stairs and Mark had to help me get off the sofa. I knew it was because I was overweight, but I was trapped in a vicious circle of comfort eating. I didn’t have the motivation to do anything about it – until I saw Mark looking so good.”
Weeks later, in March 2017, Beatrix, who is 5ft 9in, went along to her local Slimming World class. She says, “I’d heard how well the plan worked. But I couldn’t believe it when I was weighed at 22st 13lbs. I hadn’t weighed myself in a long time and was mortified.”
Beatrix discovered she could still eat her favourite foods, such as spaghetti Bolognese, on the plan, she just had to make it with lean mince and bulk it out with plenty of vegetables. She says,
“It didn’t feel like I was on a diet.
Everything I ate was delicious.”
She lost an average of
2lbs a week and after a few months, she began exercising with a friend, which helped her lose even more.
TRANSFORMATION
In April this year, two years after joining, Beatrix reached her target weight of 12st 8lbs, having lost an incredible 10st.
She says, “I was so thrilled!
I’d lost half my body weight and had gone from being unable to get up off the sofa to enjoying working out.
“Recently, I was out in town when a few old colleagues walked straight past me and were stunned when I said it was me. They didn’t recognise me at all – it was such a nice feeling. Now I want to inspire others – I’m proof it can be done.”