A woman who weighed 25 stone has shed more than half of her body weight after being told she’d never have children.
At her biggest, Elliemay Sherwin weighed 24st 10lbs and wore a size 24.
She was devastated when doctors gave her the news that she would likely never have children unless she lost weight.
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The 24-year-old was also diagnosed with PCOS and endometriosis.
Keen to turn her life around, Elliemay had an NHS gastric bypass in July 2024 and since then she has shed a whopping 14 stone.
“When I was told I couldn’t have kids, it really scared me,” Elliemay, from South Shields, told What’s the Jam.
“My health was taking away the chance for me to bring a part of me into the world.
“I felt like my purpose of being a woman had been taken away from me.
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“I realised I needed to change.
“When I was hungry, the first thing I’d grab was the junk food. If I was thirsty, it would be pop.
“Now I know what fuels my body better and what to eat to make me full for longer.
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“I had a scan recently and I’ve reversed the damage to my ovaries thanks to losing the weight, so I can start a family with my partner when we’re ready.”
After losing so much weight, Elliemay was left with loose skin, which also began to affect her confidence.
In December 2025, she had a £5,000 tummy tuck in Lithuania, with 6lbs of excess skin removed.
She said: “When it came to surgery, I did shed a few tears as I was saying good bye to a part of me that I hated for so long.
“But it’s the best thing I have ever done.
“I absolutely love my flat stomach and I never thought would see the day.
“I’m actually looking forward to going back sometime this year to get my arms and breasts lifted.”
Now, Elliemay weighs 10st 6lbs and wears a size six.
She said: “I could never buy clothes in a shop before.
“Now I walk in to any shop and I can just buy the item without even having to try them on.
“Before, I wouldn’t leave the house without two pairs of pull-in knickers on.”
On her lifestyle changes, she explained: “I found love for the gym and exercising.
“I found self-love, I don’t hate what I see anymore, I don’t cry at my appearance anymore and I don’t have the anxiety around my weight.
“I used to think when I would walk in to a room, people would call me names so I would just stay at home.
“Now I like being out and about. I love having my picture taken.
“I had a really unhealthy addiction with editing my photos to make me look thinner – you could actually see how bad the editing was but I didn’t care if it made me look skinny.
“I can happily say I’ve been able to delete all the editing apps and no longer do that to myself.”
The support worker explained that she has struggled with her weight for as long as she can remember.
She joined Slimming World aged nine and in secondary school she even tried diet pills.
Elliemay said: “I’ve always been big.
“From a young age, I was in a local support group that helped overweight children get healthy.
“From around nine, I joined Slimming World and WeightWatchers.
“I think I was always given bigger portions as a child and not the healthiest options.
“As a teenager, I hated my weight and would try crazy diets like eating 500 calories a day and only having liquids.
“I bought diet pills online. That just led me to having a poor relationship with food.”
Elliemay says people have made cruel comments about her weight since she was a child as well.
“I can remember being in school and I had a friend at the time tell me that they had been a discussion between the friendship group that I would be the prettiest out of them if I lost the weight.
“That’s always stuck with me.
“I’d pretend I was ill so I could miss school.
“I would eat secretly because I thought if nobody saw me eat, they would think I was on a diet.
“After I’d left school, I’d have the odd comment from the odd person asking if I was happy with my weight.
“Or people would say at least I had a pretty face.
“If I ever fell out with someone, it was always my weight that was chucked in my face.
“I guess that is all they could say as I was never a bad person or friend and it was how people knew how to get to me and hurt me.
“I think people can be quite different with you when you lose weight.
“You find out who your true friends are.”
Elliemay says that since her transformation, even her own grandmother struggled to recognise her.
She said: “I was shopping a few months ago and I hadn’t seen one of my nanas in a few weeks.
“I waved at her and she just looked at me so I shouted her name and she ignored me.
“It wasn’t until I was in her face when she realised who I was.
“She said I keep changing every time she sees me.
“I get loads of comments now though that people don’t recognise me and how different I look.
“I’ve had a few people, especially males, who were quite nasty to me when I was younger trying it on with me and tell me if they knew I was going to look like I do now then they wouldn’t have pied me, which is crazy.”
She is planning on starting a family with her partner Niall, 23, after going travelling and buying a house.
Elliemay said: “We’ve had lots of talks about children.
“We want to move to Australia for a bit and see the world before starting a family.
“Losing weight helped me to meet Niall.
“I approached him in a club and I would never have had the confidence to do that before.
“Losing weight completely changes you.
“I love not struggling to get up in the morning, I love getting dressed and being told I look happy and glowing because I’m genuinely really happy.”
BEFORE:
Breakfast: Skip
Lunch: Meal deal
Dinner: Ready meal with chicken and bacon sandwich, ready salted crisps or Quavers, cherry Pepsi Max, Fanta or Vimto
Snacks: Four bags of crisps and two chocolate bars a week
Drinks: Pop and juice
AFTER
Breakfast: Skip
Lunch: Skip
Dinner: Meat, veg and potatoes or rice
Snacks: Rice cakes, fruit, homemade banana bread, homemade flapjack
Drinks: Water, juice, lime soda
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