‘I couldn’t rescue my toddler as she raced into a busy road’, says mum, 32, who’s shed 7st after ‘wakeup call’

A MUM had a horrifying ‘wake-up call’ after she struggled to catch up to her toddler as she raced into a busy road.

Olivia Callard-Williams, 32, who weighed 22 stone at the time, feared she wouldn’t be able to keep her children safe after the terrifying incident.

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The mum and mortgage broker used to buy three takeaways a week but had a “rude awakening” when her daughter Peyton, then three, ran away from her and Olivia was unable to get the momentum to catch up.

Luckily her daughter was fine but, but the incident prompted the mum to join The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan in January 2023.

Since then, 6ft Olivia has lost 7st (44.5kg) to reach 15st and can now “run for miles” and play an active role with her children.

Olivia, lives in Barry Island, south Wales, with her husband, Kristopher, 33, a Costco manager, and their children, Peyton, four, and Edwin, one.

She told PA Real Life: “I didn’t realise how bad my weight had got but I was taking Peyton to nursery and she ran away from me towards a busy road.

“I couldn’t get the momentum and the speed up to catch up with her, my weight and my physical ability stopped me and that was a rude awakening for me.

“It was a wake-up call, I knew I needed to change for the sake of my kids.”

Once you get into that mindset that you’re not just doing it for yourself but you’re doing it for your family, you just stay focused

Olivia Callard-Williams

Olivia had been unhappy with her weight for years, recalling how strangers had made cruel comments to her since she was a teenager.

She said: “I’m 6ft tall and I’m quite broad and people have come up to me and been like, ‘you’re clearly a man’.

“It’s been going on from such a young age that as soon as I had the opportunity to get plastic surgery, I had a boob job to myself look more feminine.

“I used to make jokes about my weight, I’d call myself a baby panda.”

‘I couldn’t carry on like this’

It was while walking to nursery with Peyton that Olivia was spurred to lose weight, when her little girl fled from her.

Sprinting off down an alleyway that led to a busy road, Olivia panicked and tried to chase after her little girl, but found that she could not keep up with her.

Olivia said: “I couldn’t carry on like this – I can’t keep getting out of breath carrying my baby up the stairs, I had to get the weight off.”

I can run for miles, which I never thought was going to be possible

Olivia Callard-Williams

Luckily Peyton was unscathed.

But, once home, Olivia stepped on the scales. Seeing she weighed 22st, the mum decided to contact a consultant from The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.

Joining the weight loss programme, Olivia started off by eating four of the Cambridge Weight Plan products every day and said she dropped five stone “very, very fast”.

She said: “I think once you get into that mindset and think bigger picture, in the sense that you’re not just doing it for yourself but you’re doing it for your family, you just stay focused.

“And then when you start seeing the results, it just makes it so much more worth it.”

An active role

After losing 6st in six months, Olivia started exercising regularly to shed another stone and now weighs 15st, 7st less than before.

She is now able to be more active with her children and, while she hopes to lose another stone, she now feels healthier and more in control of her body.

Slowly weaning herself back on to normal food, Olivia now eats either one big meal or two small meals a day, as well as two Cambridge Weight Plan products.

“There’s always going to be things in life that you can’t control

Olivia Callard-Williams

She said: “People have made some really nice comments about the change – my husband said he’s really proud of me and he said that, even though this isn’t the lightest I’ve been, it’s the healthiest I look, which I feel too.

“A skirt that I bought when I was 22 years old and weighed 13st and thought I’d never fit in again, I wore for my birthday last week.

“Even though I’m 2st heavier, it still fits me which is how I can tell that the gym is definitely working.

“There’s always going to be things in life that you can’t control but it’s really nice that I’ve got that control over my diet and exercise.

“I can run for miles, I can do weights, I can survive a CrossFit class, which I never thought was going to be possible.

“It’s now a test of time to see if I can keep the weight off but I’ll tell you now, for the sake of my kids, my future and my house, I would never want to get back to that way ever. It’s a lifestyle change.”

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