Northampton mum goes from '˜fat' to fit to make army daughter proud

Ellyn Somerville weighed 18 stone 4lb wanted to avoid embarrassment at daughter Heather’s passing out parade.

Tipping the scales at her heaviest weight ever, Ellyn was suffering with high blood pressure and had no interest in exercise.

She knew she was unfit but lacked the motivation to change until army recruit Heather was due to ‘pass out’.

Knowing there would be photos during the parade and she was horrified at the prospect of being snapped by a camera.

The 48-year-old mum said: “I knew that with Heather’s determination, she would make a success of her career and I was bursting with pride, but I realised that wanted her to be proud of me too.

“I didn’t want to stand out as the fat mum in the photos.

“I always shied away from being in front of the camera since gaining weight but I knew that Heather would want a photo to remember the day so I didn’t want to overshadow her by looking so huge.”

In March 2017, she decided she wanted to be able to fit into a nice dress for Heathers passing out parade that June.

Ellyn bought a smaller size dress to inspire her and at Heather’s June passing out parade, not only did the dress fit, but she went on to drop another three sizes.

Ellyn added: “In November 2017, I attended Heathers Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award ceremony at St James’s Palace and for the first time ever I looked at the photos and said to myself, I look ‘small’.

Her weight loss and new-found fitness means she no longer needs to take any blood pressure medication.