Imogen's amazing transformation

9:19am Friday 14th March 2008

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TIPPING the scales at more than 19 stones, 17-year-old Imogen Harding-Wyatt thought she would never be able to go to nightclubs and wear fashionable clothes like her friends.

But just over two years later, Imogen, now 19, has lost half her bodyweight and all without any help from weight-loss shakes or diet gurus.

The teenager, from Follyfield, Bradford on Avon, puts her success down to sheer grit and determination - she simply woke up one morning, decided she was fed up with being overweight and started eating healthy food and exercising.

The former St Laurence School pupil, who now fits into a size 8 or 10, said: "I was a size 24 and had to buy all my clothes in places like Evans, I couldn't wear nice clingy clothes like my friends because I had rolls of fat showing. Ever since I was young I always ate really badly and didn't exercise.

"People used to call me names at school and I'd put a brave face on but it would really hurt."

The turning point came in May 2005 when she was rushed to hospital with gallstones and pancreatitis.

The doctor told her she was the youngest person he had ever seen with the condition and linked it to her weight.

"It shocked me," she said, "That was the reason I started to lose the weight.

"I didn't want to join a dieting club because I was too embarrassed and I just didn't have the self-confidence, so I just started to change how I ate and began to do lots of exercise." She cut out all fatty foods, ate three square meals a day, only snacked on fruit and started to exercise with gentle aerobics.

Her father bought her a treadmill and gradually she found she was able to start running. She said: "Now I do seven-mile runs every day, I'm swimming three times a week and doing boxercise.

"I go out dancing with my friends all the time and I can go to high street shops and buy what I want. I feel really happy and confident. It's funny because now I see people who used to call me names at school and they have put on weight. I would never say anything to them, though.

"Friends pass me in the street and don't recognise me and others say I've really inspired them to lose weight and ask me for tips. I always say just never give in, it's so much more important to feel better about yourself. You can do it on your own if you really want it that much."

Miss Harding-Wyatt, who is currently studying for her NVQ3 in Childcare, says her achievement has given her such a boost in self-confidence she is now considering pursuing her dream career in the police force.