These men and women transformed their lives in 2024
Nicolas Garrett lost a staggering 14 stone and changed his life around(Image: Nicolas Garrett)
As we head into a new year, many of us want to shed a few pounds after overindulging during the festive season. But it can be hard to know where to start in adopting a healthier lifestyle that works in the long term.
In 2024, a number of people have shared their weight loss stories with us, including a dad who transformed his life after being bullied in school, and a mum who lost nine stone after finding herself relying on a scooter to get around.
Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to lose weight, whether it be a health scare or wanting to change your life. Here the ECHO takes a look back at some of the weight loss stories we’ve shared over the last year to give us all some motivation in 2025.
Dad shed five stone after being bullied in school
A man told how he transformed his life after being bullied at school and skipping PE lessons. Tom Wellman, 37, from Halewood, is now a personal trainer who runs Wellman Fitness.
Tom said his business, which he set up in 2012, offers his clients support in all aspects of health. This includes going to the gym, stress management and a focus on sleeping patterns.
Tom Wellman as a teenager(Image: Supplied)
Tom wanted to do things his own way after getting his qualifications and working in a commercial gym. He himself found it difficult to keep up with his health and fitness when he was younger until he made a drastic change as a teen.
Speaking to the ECHO Tom, who weighed 18 stone during school, said: “It was tough growing up. I didn’t have any confidence and had a lot of anxiety. I was bullied. I was massively overweight and struggled a lot with that. I would say no to social events. I was a massive introvert.
“The worst thing in school was swimming. I did everything I could to get out of it. I’d be skiving lessons. With PE generally I’d try and miss it.”
Tom now runs Wellman Fitness(Image: Supplied)
Tom, who grew up in Dorchester, said things began to look up when he started going to the gym with his mum Niki. He said: “Getting into fitness when I was 17 did an awful lot for me. It really changed my life. I lost three stone in three months when I first started. It was a quick weight loss that made me just want it more.”
Tom then started his fitness career as a gym instructor in a commercial gym in Bristol before moving to Liverpool 12 years ago to set up Wellman Fitness. Tom, who now weighs 13 stone, typically works with people over 30 to “create a way of life that they can stick to in the long term”. He added: “The difference between me and other personal trainers is I take the time to actually get to know my clients and come up with something that really works for them. It’s not just like a five minute wonder job.”
Woman who ‘hated exercise’ lost three stone after YouTube discovery
A woman realised she needed to make a change while watching YouTube. Sumaiya Hussain, 22, started Froppy earlier this year with her business partner Huu Loc Nguyen.
The business aims to bring “fun, motivation and cuteness” to people wanting to improve their fitness, with a friendly frog as its main logo. Froppy also offers advice on building healthy routines, food recipes and mediation exercises.
Sumaiya is having to balance this with her final year studies in electrical engineering at the University of Liverpool. Nevertheless, she is determined to make her business a success. She had the idea for a different type of fitness brand a few years ago.
Sumaiya Hussain, 22, started Froppy earlier this year(Image: Supplied)
Speaking to the ECHO, Sumaiya said: “I was on the obese side. I hated to work out, I never wanted to go to the gym, I never wanted to run or do anything. During the lockdown-ish area, I started to watch YouTube videos of Pilates classes. That’s how I was like, you know what, this is not as intense as I thought, so let me try it.”
Pilates is a form of exercise which aims to strengthen muscles while improving flexibility and posture. For Sumaiya, discovering it transformed her life. She said: “Pilates opened the door for me for fitness, and then I started to run and walk a bit more. It changed my whole mindset.”
Since she started exercising regularly, Sumaiya says she has lost 20kg, equivalent to 3st 2lbs. However, it wasn’t entirely straightforward for her.
Man lost 14 stone after weighing 28 stone as a teen
When Nicolas Garrett received the shocking news as a teen that was on his way to a heart attack, it was the motivation he needed to completely transform his life. The now 19-year-old revealed he lost a staggering 14 stone in weight having struggled with portion control and fast food as a teenager.
Nicolas, from south Wales, recalled how his weight problems started when he was aged just five. His diet comprised mainly of fast food, causing him to pile on the pounds.
He has since lost a staggering 14 stone and changed his life around(Image: Nicolas Garrett)
At the age of 15 he weighed 400 pounds (more than 28 stone), which is around three times what is considered healthy for that age. But his bad habits continued as he fell into a destructive stress cycle and would distract himself with food, estimating he was eating between 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day.
“I absolutely hated myself and deeply wanted to change,” Nicolas said. “I was extremely lonely and felt isolated from the world.”
Nicolas claimed he would eat “anything that I could get my hands on.” At one point he also noticed he could no longer wear a seatbelt in the car, as it wouldn’t fit around him, reports The Mirror.
But a harrowing warning from his GP provided the motivation he needed to make a change. He said: “My doctor told me I was on my way to having a heart attack. That was my wake-up call.”
Nicolas now shares his weight loss journey on social media in the hopes of inspiring others(Image: Nicolas Garrett)
Luckily he was able to turn his life around, taking up the gym and making the necessary changes to his eating habits. At 18 he started using MyFitnessPal, a popular health and fitness tracking smartphone app, as a way to track his calories.
Since the start of his weight loss journey Nicolas has shed an amazing 200 pounds – or 14 stone. He is also a fitness influencer on social media, sharing his story via Instagram and YouTube to inspire others.
Man shed nine stone thanks to iconic Liverpool meal
A man lost nine stone thanks to an iconic Liverpool meal. Kris James, 35, from Kirkby, began his music career fifteen years ago after numerous karaoke performances at his dad’s pub.
Kris specialises in uplifting pop songs and is currently supporting Scottish rock and roll legend Lulu on her latest UK tour, which includes a performance at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre next month.
Kris struggled to eat healthily(Image: Supplied)
However, Kris faced repeated setbacks when he was trying to break into the industry. In 2013, he says his attempt to join a boyband was knocked back due to his weight, which was 21 stone at the time. This led to Kris giving his diet a major rethink.
He said: “After my parents split, I ate my emotions and spiralled to twenty one stone with a fifty two inch waist. I had always loved singing karaoke songs at my dad’s pub and I realised I wanted to pursue singing but had to change everything about myself. I was being greedy with food, like having two dinners – one on my own and one with my mum when she came home from work.
“I also bought a deep fat fryer and was just frying everything, especially sausages and chips. I would go to auditions and I was told I had a great voice, but I’d never make it as a singer based on my size and how I looked. So I decided to do something about it.”
A picture of Kris James now(Image: Supplied)
Kris changed the fryer for a steamer, a grill and a slow cooker and adopted a strict exercise regime. He also realised the famous Scouse would help him to shed pounds.
He said: “I began having Scouse instead of fry ups and at one point I was eating it for lunch and dinner at least three days a week. I used either lamb or beef in the stew alongside root vegetables and it really helped keep my hunger at bay. I’d also have the odd Liverpool Gin at weekends along with some slimline of course.”
Mum transformed her life after realising one thing
A mum said her life “changed completely” after losing more than three stone in weight. Mum Shenley Turnbull, 39, from Croxteth, transformed her life after shedding lockdown weight and is now on a mission to help others do the same.
The former childminder said she put weight on during the coronavirus pandemic when “all you did was eat”. She gave birth to both her children during this time, but, decided “enough is enough” and transformed her life.
Shenley before her weight loss journey (Image: Shenley Turnbull)
Shenley said: “I had always been quite slim and in 2017 I realised it was the heaviest I had ever been. I was 11.7st but when you’re only 5ft 4” and when you are used to being slim that is quite a lot. I joined Slimming World in 2017 and my consultant changed my life. I dropped back down to the size I used to be, I felt great.”
In 2019 the mum-of-two left Slimming World when she fell pregnant to her childhood sweetheart with their first little girl. Shenley, who met husband, Ryan Turnbull, 39, in school and married him in 2013, said: “We ended up having two children in lockdown, Ophelia, four and Xanda, three, and I put all the weight back on. Two pregnancies so close together wasn’t good and at Christmas [2023] I decided enough is enough. I said I’m going back.”
Shenley Turnbull, 39, with her two children, Ophelia, 4 and Xanda, 3(Image: Shenley Turnbull)
She added: “I didn’t feel good about the way I was. I felt unhealthy and back to square one. So I ended up going back to Slimming World in January last year and my consultant changed my life for the second time. The weight dropped off me. It was so good to be back, I got to target very quickly.”
Shenley told the ECHO how she feels “amazing“ now. She said: “I feel like I’m back to normal. I’ve even decided I want to support others and show them there’s another way of being healthy so I’ve decided to become a consultant too. This is the way of life now.”
‘Embarrassed’ man loses nine stone after he couldn’t fit on rollercoaster
A man lost nine after being embarrassed he couldn’t fit on rollercoaster rides. Reece Cotton spent his twenties and early thirties indulging in unhealthy eating habits, including regularly eating takeaways and snacks, and consuming 4,000 calories a day.
The 33-year-old was a size XXL with a 44-inch waist and thought he was comfortable with his weight, until he went to Gulliver’s World Theme Park in Warrington in August 2023 and struggled to fit on the rides. Reece, who is 5ft 7in, weighed himself and was 20st 2lb and had a BMI of 44.2, classifying him as severely obese – so, for the next few months he cut out snacks and lost 4st 1lb.
Reece Cotton, 33, from Stockport, who used to eat around 4000 calories a day before losing 9st 1lb in 13 months by cutting out snacks and playing football after feeling “embarrassed” about struggling to fit on rollercoaster rides. (Image: Family handout/PA Real Life)
By November, Reece, from Stockport, had dropped to 16st 1lb and, the same month, joined Man V Fat, a weight-loss programme for men which involves playing football. Since then he has lost a further 5st, bringing him down to 11st with a healthy BMI of 24.3.
Now he feels more confident, his mental health has improved, and while he is self-conscious about loose skin, he is determined to maintain his healthy weight and reach his goal of 10st. Reece said: “My mental health is a lot better – before, I literally worked and then came straight home.
“Whereas now I’m getting out doing more things, playing extra games of football, and I’m not as scared to talk to people. I didn’t realise that I was self-conscious until I compared it with how I feel now – when I was bigger I felt like everyone was looking at me. It still feels weird buying smaller clothes and not reaching for the bigger sizes.”
Mum lost six and a half stone after being so big she needed a scooter
A woman who gained five stone and ballooned to a size 22 after having her second child said she knew she had to lose weight after finding herself relying on a mobility scooter to get around. Amy Cunningham, 37, a mum of two from Merseyside, suddenly found herself out of breath and unable to carry out much physical activity after putting on weight.
Amy, who works as Head of Resourcing in an NHS Trust, realised things had come to a head during a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday to Florida. During the trip, she struggled with her weight so much that she was unable to walk around theme parks – instead having to hire a mobility scooter to get around or sit down every 20 minutes to catch her breath.
Amy Cunningham, 37, a mum of two, suddenly found herself out of breath and unable to carry out much physical activity(Image: Cover Images)
Realising she was missing out on quality time with her children and avoiding social occasions she once looked forward to, she turned to The 1:1 Diet and, with the help of her consultant Charlotte, decided to turn her life around. Amy began her weight management journey at the start of August.
Amy said: “I began on step two, which involved having four meal replacements a day. I drank two litres of water a day and occasionally black or green tea. I was on this for five months and lost four stone. I then moved on to step two where I had three meal replacement products a day and a meal such as chicken breast and salad.
Amy Cunningham lost an amazing nine stone after she found herself relying on a mobility scooter to get around
“I lost another stone during this time. I am currently on step three where I have two meal replacement products a day, a 150 calorie lunch and a 400 calorie evening meal. I have lost another stone and a half on this plan.
“It’s involved having strong willpower and dedication and determination to get me this far and I’ve made it my mission to get the weight off and be a more healthier version of myself. I’ve lost 6 and a half stone, going from 17 stone 4 lbs to 10 stone 13 lbs and from a size 22 to a size 10 to 12.”Amy is really happy with her weight loss, saying she feels more confident, energetic and positive. “I feel so much better – it’s honestly changed my life,” she said. “I feel so much more confident in myself and look forward to meeting up with friends.”