A woman who was laughed at because of her weight lost six stone after falling in love with raving.
Full-time mum Amanda Bays, 38, says she began to gain weight as soon as she left home, eating fast food most days and constantly snacking on 'anything bad for you'.
Her bad eating habits led to her weight creeping up to 15st 3lbs - with 38HH boobs. Her weight gain, and her bra size, made her the butt of cruel jokes from friends and family.
She said: "The fatter I got, the most abuse I would get from family and friends. I usually pretended that it didn't bother me but deep down it really hurt.
"They would pick on my boobs and say things like 'Oh here come Amanda's boobs - ten minutes before she gets here', or 'She wouldn't drown with those attached to her'."
However, Amanda says her life was completely changed when she discovered Clubbersize - a fun form of exercise where people rave with glow sticks and disco lights. Selecta.
She said: "Whilst I was still huge I would walk the baby around in the pram for miles but then once I began to feel like I had lots more energy I found the Clubbersize class and fell in love with it.
"It's helped me dance off so much weight and tone up. All us ladies get together, we rave up a storm listening to dance tunes and wave our glow sticks around.
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"I absolutely love it; it's saved my life."
She began going to hour-long classes once a week, and felt her confidence growing as the weight began to drop off.
Amanda, who has three kids, admits that her diet had been 'horrendous' from 16. She said: "We weren't well off growing up but we always had three staple healthy meals a day, with lots of vegetables and balanced portions.
"But since I left home my diet has been absolutely horrendous. I would gorge all day on junk food.
"I could never resist a Greggs sausage roll and would constantly be snacking on kebabs, McDonald's, pizza, pork pies, anything bad for you basically."
However, Amanda also overhauled her diet, thanks to Slimming World, and in just nine months has gone from a size 22 to an eight and has lost six stone, three pounds. She's won the Woman of the Year award at her local Slimming World group and, more importantly, is happy with her weight.
She said: "I just feel so much more like myself now. Robert [Amanda's husband] didn't really mind before, he's always loved me as I am but for my own self-worth it's been incredible.
"I think anyone who has lost weight would say that the hardest part is the beginning, and I just want to help others along the way, showing them that it can be done.
"One of the most rewarding things about being fit and healthy is that I feel so much more freedom."
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Well done, Amanda.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Weight Loss, Inspirational