AVOIDING shopping for clothes because nothing fit, planning out trips up the stairs as she was so exhausted and hiding from photos – Julia Mitchell was at her lowest.
Age 45 and a size 22, weighing 17 stone 4 pounds, she knew something had to change.
But instead of reaching for the fat jabs, Julia decided to do it the old fashioned way – ditching the takeaways and biscuits and focusing on a healthy diet and hard exercise.
The results are so astonishing – sometimes people don’t even recognise her.
And aged 50, her personal trainer says she even has better abs than him.
Even Julia, now a size 8 and 10st 4, with rippling muscles, says she’s shocked with her body transformation – after trying and failing multiple diets before.
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She posted her stunning before and after pictures on her LinkedIn profile and amassed 22,000 impressions, and hundreds of messages of support and wonder.
The mum-of-one, from Hull, East Yorkshire, exclusively tells Fabulous: “I’d reached a point where if I didn’t do something I knew it was going to be massively impactful on my health and I don’t think I’d completely realised how bad I was looking either.
“When I look back on those pictures of me now I don’t recognise myself in them.
“I would plan when I wanted to go up the stairs because my knees hurt so badly. I didn’t want to have to make too many trips.
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“It was quite miserable to be honest. I hated going shopping for clothes.
“I tried all sorts of things, all kinds of diets but they never worked. I enjoyed going to the gym but I was never consistent in what I did.”
Julia started training with personal trainer Tom Cowen at his gym in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, in 2020.
Tom says her fitness journey is one of the best he’s seen in his 23 years of personal training.
He said: “It is one of the most shocking transformations I have ever seen as a coach.
“I think nowadays with the jabs, the Ozempic and the Mounjaro, lots of people would immediately think that’s what she has done – but she’s done it all the old fashioned way: good healthy eating, hard graft and consistency.
“And when you do it that way, as you can see, you don’t get the loose skin, you don’t have to worry about the weight piling back on as soon as you stop the jabs.
Amazing transformation
“This is my 23rd year as a PT and I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of some amazing transformations.
“But I can genuinely say that I haven’t seen anything like Julia’s change.
“She was recently 50, you know, to have abs at 50, from where she came from at a size 22 is amazing, she’s got better abs than I have on occasion!
“Seeing Julia’s before and after photos, it’s like Jesus Christ Almighty – she looks 10, 15 years younger than she did.”
Julia’s diet before revolved around comfort foods and a very sweet tooth, which she’s switched for high protein meals with lots of veg and only an occasional treat.
She said: “I’d have lots of pasta and sauce and that sort of thing.
“Biscuits – I could eat a full pack, well I could still eat a full pack of biscuits now – but I know it’s not worth it.
“I have a very sweet tooth. So I love cake, I love biscuits, I love sweets, I love ice cream. All the good stuff.
Ditching the burgers
“I used to eat burgers, chips, takeaways. I mean don’t get me wrong, we’re not a family that would just eat from takeaways.
“We’d have home cooked meals too but they weren’t home cooked from fresh. So it’d be meals that you could cook easily.
“Nowadays I always make sure that I’m eating, I don’t starve myself.
“So for breakfast I’ll generally have Greek yogurt and fruit. For lunch it’ll usually be something that’s left over from the night before.
“And for tea, I follow a very high protein diet with lots of meat, lots of vegetables, low carb.
“My husband does the cooking and he’s really embraced the change – we follow a lot of Joe Wick’s recipes and we keep it varied.
“I don’t eat very much bread at all because that just makes me feel unwell.
“Sweet stuff is very limited. It sounds a bit miserable really but it isn’t because I know now there are certain foods that don’t make me feel good. And it impacts my training as well.
“I’ve tried various diets over time and you get mixed messages. So what they tell you at Weight Watchers is different to what they tell you at Slimming World and it’s different to what the packaging says, so it’s difficult to know what it is to follow.
“And actually I think it’s quite unique for each individual to know what they need to be eating.
“Now I know what I need to do if I want to drop a couple of pounds. I know what will happen if I eat various foods. So I’m more attuned to my body now.”
Julia also works out at Tom’s gym five times a week – doing a mixture of HIIT training and weights, and has a mantra of “no excuses”.
She also says she loves the social aspect at the gym, and has made friends for life.
Julia said: “The thing Tom says relentlessly is not to have any excuse. And there isn’t an excuse for not looking after yourself, because ultimately it leads to everything else you do in life, doesn’t it?
“So if you’re not well yourself, then you can’t be well or good at anything else.
“I don’t ever have an excuse for not turning up. I sometimes have an excuse for eating a piece of cake or having a good drink. But there are no excuses for not turning up to the gym.”
‘Still a battle’
Julia admits the temptation is still there – and it’s not an easy journey but organisation and consistency are the key.
She said: “It’s definitely still not easy, it’s still a battle and there are no quick fixes.
“Just this week, I was on a training course and the beige buffet came out.
“I know if I eat it, I get stomach ache. I know it’s not going to do me any good.
“So it’s being organized enough to take something with me, knowing that there would be a buffet and then to be resilient enough to not dig into it.
“But if anyone says it’s easy, they’re lying.”
And she does allow herself the occasional treat – but is sure to get straight back on the diet the next day.
Julia said: “I’m careful, so I don’t necessarily have a treat day, but over the weekend, if I go out for a coffee, I might have some cake with it.
“If I go out with friends, I don’t limit myself. And if I’m going out for a meal, then I’ll have the chips or I’ll have the food that I wouldn’t ordinarily have day to day.
“But then I’m straight back into healthy eating and gym the next day.”
Staying accountable
Julia believes her secret is staying accountable to trainer Tom, who sometimes messages clients 10 times a day to make sure they stay on track.
She said: “Having Tom making sure that I’m eating the right foods and coming and training and being consistent in my approach, that has been absolutely crucial for me.
“Sometimes I might hear from Tom 10 times a day – and he’s like that with everyone.
“He’s absolutely committed to each and every client and knows them individually inside out as to what makes them tick, how they behave.
“There were points in the early days when I was shopping in the supermarket and I’d literally be looking at some biscuits or something and a message would come through. And I’d think he was watching me!”
And it’s not just Julia’s weight that has transformed, her fitness journey has increased her confidence at work – leading to her getting two promotions – and improved her health.
“When I look back on those pictures of me now I don’t recognise myself in them.
Julia Mitchell
She no longer struggles with asthma or joint pain and at work she’s been promoted from a deputy head teacher to head teacher then to director of education for a group of primary schools in East Yorkshire.
“I have more energy for work, more patience, and a renewed sense of confidence,” she said.
“As a school leader, I know firsthand the pressures staff face every day. I realised that if I didn’t prioritise my own health, I wouldn’t be able to give my best either to my team or to the children.”
And she says her husband Jim – a former photographer and picture editor, who did her amazing “after” photos and her son Harry, 19, are both proud of her transformation.
Julia said: “My husband is a professional photographer but I never allowed him to take photos of me until now.
“My son has started at the gym now so it feels good I’ve inspired him to start.
“Nothing feels so good now as being able to go into a shop and basically choose what I want to wear.
“At first I just wanted to be a size 16 and be able to go shopping and feel better about myself – but the other day I bought myself a size 6 jacket.
“I never thought this kind of transformation was possible because I’ve failed so many times previously.
“I actually said to Tom at the time, ‘If this doesn’t work, I’m just going to have to accept that I’m fat’.
“It took some confidence to even take that step to actually send him the first message.
“Going into a gym can be intimidating but I had just reached such a point where I felt like I’ve tried everything. This is my last shot at trying something.
“And I am really, really pleased I did.”
Alternative to fat jabs
Trainer Tom said he wants to show people that there is an alternative to expensive fat jabs.
He said: “It’s not that I’m against the idea of a weight loss jab. That being said, what happens when somebody stops?
“What happens when somebody struggles with diet, but they haven’t had any guidance with diet and then they stop a weight loss jab? Or they haven’t exercised alongside it?
“Consistency, determination, and the right guidance can completely change your life, no matter where and when you start.
Tom Cowen
“When you lose as much weight as Julia, you might expect excess skin but there isn’t because we’ve done it in such a controlled and healthy way.
“But she also realizes as well that she needs to keep it up.
“I drill into people how important consistency is. Once you get to a goal, that’s not the end, that’s just the beginning.
“Consistency, determination, and the right guidance can completely change your life, no matter where and when you start.
“Julia’s journey demonstrates that age, stress, or a busy professional life need not be barriers to transformation.”
Julia says she is sharing her story to try to inspire other women to embark on their own health journeys.
She said: “I would tell any women who feel like I used to, just to go for it. It doesn’t matter about age or menopause, I’m proof you can do it.
“There’s nothing that feels better than being healthy.
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“I wouldn’t be the sort of person that would usually put myself out there or do anything like this, so this is a big deal for me.
“But it is that thought that if there’s somebody else, even if it’s just one person that sees it and says, ‘You know what, I’m going to go for it’, then it’s worth it.”
