16-stone weight loss mum comes runner-up in fitness competition

A woman from Ashford is hoping to inspire others with her incredible weight loss after finishing runner-up in a major fitness competition.

Melody Wakelin, 36, from Godinton Park, secured second place earlier this month in the transformation category at Pure Elite, the fastest growing bikini, fitness and muscle model competition in the world, which was staged in Margate..

The fitness enthusiast, who is originally from Ashford but also lived in Canada until 10 years ago, now wants to pursue her ambition of coaching others.

She said: “I have struggled with obesity my whole life. At my heaviest I weighed 25 stone.”

In her 20s, she barely ate in a bid to lose weight, fainting up to five times a day and eating only one meal a week.

She met her husband at the age of 28 while still suffering with anorexia, and found out they were expecting their first baby.

Melody said: “I didn’t know how to eat healthily. I ate what I thought was a normal amount, and in the nine months of my pregnancy I gained eight-and-ahalf-stone. My son was healthy, but I was obese again.”

Fourteen months later, she was pregnant again, and gained another four-and-a-half-stone, but decided to change things after she gave birth.

She said: “I had to lose the 13-stone I had gained from pregnancy, plus an extra three-and-ahalf to put me at a healthy weight.

“I started walking every day and eating better. There were times I wanted to give up but I never did. I kept going as my life depended on it.”

Five years later, she has lost a total of 16.5 stone, the final threeand-a-half of which she has lost since January this year, when she signed up to the competition.

She prepares all her meals and attends the Anytime Fitness gym at Ashford’s Panorama building up to three times a day, six days a week.

Melody Wakelin has transformed herself from the woman who once weighed in at 25-stone