I ballooned to a size 28 after scoffing two McDonald's breakfasts a day and becoming addicted to takeaways - but now I look completely different after losing 14 stone
Paige Vickers, who used to eat two McDonald's breakfasts a day, along with takeaways, crisps and chocolates, was 23 stone at her heaviest.
The 25-year-old was mercilessly mocked at school and dubbed a 'whale' by cruel bullies for being 'on the bigger side'.
But while Paige, from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, experimented with various diets and exercise regimes, nothing shifted the weight.
Yo-yoing between 21 and 23 stone, she was caught in a vicious cycle of bingeing and dieting, often resorting to buying food from Greggs when she didn't go to McDonald's for breakfast.
Unhappy with her appearance, the five foot four inch retail worker researched weight-loss surgery in Turkey before booking a gastric sleeve operation for June 2024.
A little more than a year on, Paige has lost an incredible 14 stone, bringing her weight down to nine stone and 12 pounds, and gone from a size 28 to a svelte size 10.
She said: 'It is a shock, it's like my partner has a new girlfriend.'
Indeed, remarkable photos with boyfriend Matthew Wilkinson, 25, show her dramatic transformation post-surgery, which has also led friends and family to do double takes in the street.
'Even my family have said they still have to double check it's me because they can't get over how quickly I've changed,' she added.
'It's so funny the number of times I've been to town and I've walked past old friends and they haven't even noticed it's me. They're gobsmacked.'
Paige says she is 'buzzing' about her weight loss, particularly because she was pessimistic about reaching even 14 stone.
'I'd tried loads of different diets, I'd tried different exercise routines. Nothing could shift it, it was just defeating.
'My partner just wanted to stand by me through whatever. We both found each other at the right time and since then we've stuck by each other.
'I say we've stuck by each other through thick and thin. Literally.'
The couple have been together for nearly two years after meeting through mutual friends, when Paige was at her heaviest.
Paige, who has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager, is thrilled with her new look
Paige said: 'Since being a teenager I've always struggled with my weight.
'I've always been on the bigger side. I got diagnosed with polycystic ovaries when I was 18 or 19.
'That took a toll on me, it started making my weight fluctuate.
'It [surgery] had always been in the back of my mind anyway, but after everything that I'd been through I was like, 'no this is it now'.
'I was really struggling with how I looked. I'd been bullied multiple times, that's the first thing people go for in an argument. It does impact you a lot, you don't realise it.
'It'd be your typical, 'you're fat, you're chubby, whale'. It does take a toll.'
Paige posted a TikTok video showcasing her jaw-dropping transformation and while many were quick to congratulate her, others were less supportive.
Paige said: 'I'm quite a sarcastic person. I think because I've had that much said to me over the years I'm thick skinned.
'Some of the comments are stupid, saying that he's going to leave me anyway because he clearly likes bigger people, it's a fetish.
'That's just your typical stuff though from trolls and it always tends to be the single men.'
The video has been viewed more than 445,000 times by users and racked up 30,500 likes.
One user wrote: 'Omg girl you look amazing!'
Another commented: 'Apologies didn't watch to the end, what an investment piece. Get that lad scouting for Bournemouth.'
A third wrote: 'A realll man!! you look brilliant girl, hope you're super proud of yourself.'
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