28. Mom who almost capsized a vacation boat loses half her body weight with a shopping trick

Mum-of-two Rachel Mellor has lost more than 30 pounds and 18 dress sizes since nearly capsizing a boat while on holiday with her family in Scarborough

A mother who decided to lose weight after nearly capsizing a boat while on family vacation has lost more than half her body weight.

Rachel Mellor tipped the scales at 28 stone and was a size 32 at her largest, but she decided to make a change after the embarrassing incident in August 2015.

It happened while she was holidaying in Scarborough with her daughters Catherine, 12, and university student Elizabeth, 23, and her accountant husband Richard, 52.

“I decided to take the kids on a boat,” she said. “It was a big thing, with at least 20 or so people on it.

“But when I wanted to get into the boat, it popped up enormously under me. With so many people on it, you’d think one more wouldn’t make a difference. I was so embarrassed.

“I was ordered to sit right in the middle of the boat. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me up.”

However, when she celebrated her 50th birthday this year, the mother of two weighed 13 stone and 10 pounds.

The former teaching assistant, who is now 14, said she had an unhealthy relationship with food since she was put on a diet at the age of six.

But after her embarrassing experience on the boat, she joined WW (formerly Weight Watchers) that same month and began cutting back large portions of bread and pasta and eliminating weekly takeaways.

She also sent her husband Richard with a grocery list so she wouldn’t be tempted to buy high-calorie treats.

“I was lucky that I didn’t have any health problems. But it was only a matter of time before that happened,” she said.

“I couldn’t chase any of my daughters when they were little. I couldn’t go on carnival rides but the boat almost capsized which I felt embarrassed!”

She added: “I’ve always been overweight. But looking back now, when I was a kid, I was chubby.

“I wasn’t very obese. Being put on a diet when I was only six just meant I started secretly eating.”

Growing always tall, she then gained weight as she embarked on married life to Richard after tying the knot 28 years ago, which was exacerbated by her first pregnancy.

While struggling to father her second daughter, she managed to drop 5th between her two children, but then gained even more weight with the arrival of her youngest girl.

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She said: “I’m a full-time mom now, but back then I was working full-time as a teaching assistant and there wasn’t much time for planning and cooking.

“We had takeout almost every week. There was always cake and chocolates in the staff room at school, and I ate those too.

“Then I go to the supermarket to do some shopping and reward myself with a bar of chocolate on the way home.”

While her boating shame got her through the doors of a slimming club in August 2015, Rachel’s initial commitment was half-hearted.

She said: “I spent the next few years losing and winning the same stone. I didn’t stick to the plan. Life just got in my way and I didn’t prioritize myself.”

But in 2019 Rachel and her family moved to Ossett, West Yorkshire for Richard’s work and she stopped working, giving her time to get back to dieting, especially as the country entered its first Covid lockdown. Determined to shed her excess weight forever, she returned to WW and began planning all of the family’s meals in advance.

Initially only aiming to be a size 18, Rachel’s weight loss continued and she was soon able to walk five miles a day. Just in time for her big 50th birthday party in May 2022, which she celebrated with a murder mystery party, she was a slim height of 14/16, weighed 13st 10lb, giving her a far healthier BMI of 28.3.

Her current diet includes oatmeal with raspberries and blueberries for breakfast and a salad or spinach with smoked fish for lunch.

Dinner usually consists of chicken and jacket potatoes and salad or a small helping of spaghetti bolognese, and she occasionally nibbles on chickpea cake and fruit.

After losing a total of 14.3 pounds, Rachel said she is now happy with her weight.

She said: “I’ve gotten to where my happy weight is. I could lose more but I wouldn’t be able to keep it up.

“The girls and Richard are so proud of me. And I’m proud of myself. I am active with my family for the first time. The other day we were playing Frisbee while my old self would have just been sitting in the car.”

diet before

Breakfast – muesli and skim milk

Lunch – three slices of bread in a sandwich, lots of fruit

Dinner – Huge portions of pasta or two Kiev chickens and canned spaghetti

Snacks – chocolate

Drinks – water and coffee

diet now

Breakfast – oatmeal with raspberries and blueberries

Lunch – Salad or spinach with smoked fish

Dinner – Chicken and jacket potatoes and salad or a small portion of Spag Bol

Snacks – chickpea cake and fruit

drinks water