SLIPPING into her red dress for the Christmas ball, Lauren Fidler was feeling festive.
But it wasnt until she saw a photo of herself days later that she burst into tears, realising her weight had crept up and her curves filled her size-22 outfit.
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She vowed never to spend another Christmas unhappy with her size and has since lost more than seven stone.
This Christmas Lauren, a marine biologist, will be rocking festive frocks and feeling confident.
Lauren, 22, says: Im really excited for Christmas this year; I cant wait to go to lots of parties and wear dresses that Id never have dreamed of even trying on before I lost the weight.
Lauren, from Plymouth, was always an overweight child and struggled with her size. She was bullied at secondary school, due to her size-14 frame.
She says: Since school I was always much bigger than my friends it made me so self-conscious and really affected my confidence.
I was bullied for being bigger, which made me feel awful, so I ended up being a hermit and eating more. It was such a vicious cycle.
At the age of 13, Lauren was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) with symptoms including extreme tiredness, muscle aches, restless leg syndrome and depression.
She says: It made me miserable and the comfort eating became worse than ever.
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Sometimes Id even have three ready meals just for lunch, and that wasnt even including snacks.
I would have flare-ups all the time. They could go on for four or five weeks where I just wasnt able to leave the house.
I didnt have a social life and was always depressed and tired. I couldnt see a way to turn my life around.
In 2015, after finishing school, Lauren began studying at Plymouth University. Here, during her first year, she met her boyfriend, Will.
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But Lauren continued to gain weight during her studies, going from a size 18 to a size 22 and up to 17st 12lb.
Her weight started to affect her relationship with Will as she found herself relying on him for support with chores rather than spending quality time with each other.
She says: Me being so big was really impacting our relationship as I had no confidence. I could barely go to the shop on my own. He became more like my carer than my partner.
I hated going out and would just sit home and comfort eat all day long if I could.
It got to the point where Will ended up getting really quite worried about my health.
But when Christmas was approaching and more social events came up, Lauren decided to get in the festive spirit and get glammed up for the universitys annual Marine Biology Christmas Ball in 2016.
Choosing a slinky red dress with some elf ears for fun, she began to get excited.
She says: Id gone to that Christmas party and actually, despite being chronically shy about how big I was, I thought I looked quite good that night.
But when I saw the pictures afterwards I felt like an idiot. I looked huge.
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I tried to make a joke about being Santas not-so-little helper but deep down I hated it, I felt hideous.
It is horrible, because after a few drinks I felt so confident that night.
Lauren said she felt ashamed and cried all day, then decided she was never going to feel like that again.
A month later, in January 2017, she signed up to Slimming World aiming to retrain her brain to understand what was and wasnt healthy, and started going to the gym.
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She credits Will, now 24 and a field service engineer, as helping her to achieve her weight goal.
She says: Will really helped and even took me to the gym the first few times and would prepare my healthy meals if I felt too tired or ill.
Hes such a star, I couldnt have done it without him and hes even lost a stone himself by helping me.
Lauren has dropped six dress sizes to a size 10 and weighs 10st 9lb. She now understands where she was going wrong with her diet.
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She would add cheese to everything and would have two or three takeaways a week. She still refuses to deny herself her favourite foods, but limits them.
She says: I still love cheese so I have what I want but will just have much less or go for the lighter options.
I dont believe in starving myself or cutting anything totally out as I do enjoy my food but its just much more under control now.
I can have a bit of cheese board, but instead of eating a whole lump of cheddar and the whole box of crackers, Ill just have a few. I know my limits whereas before I could eat endlessly.
And it is not just the food I have swapped, I go to the gym at least three times a week now and do classes, PT sessions, boxing and weightlifting.
And her new body has not just helped her health, but her social life, too.
She says: Everything is different now, Ive got new hobbies, lots more friends and Im willing to give anything a try.
Its been really good for Will and I, too, as hes not having to look after me all the time and we can have a lot more fun together.
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Im not so dependent on him now. It is great.
And when it comes to festive food, Lauren has some tips for others trying to limit the calories.
She says: At first I thought Christmas would be a hard time as everyone overindulges and I was worried Id fall off the wagon but in fact Ive found it quite easy.
Referring to Slimming Worlds treat items, or Syns, she continued: Ill prepare myself a Syn-free cheesecake or some muffins and then I know I can have a treat but I dont have to feel guilty as its well within the boundaries of my diet.
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And on a daily basis I do the same, so Ive swapped big chunks of white bread for smaller slices of wholemeal and swapped oil for a lighter version.
My top tips at Christmas is to definitely not beat yourself up if you overindulge.
Lots of Christmas bits are OK to eat or can easily be made OK like not using oil or fat, removing skin and using the low-calorie oil spray.
Christmas dinner can be quite healthy too as its mainly vegetables, and turkey is a good lean meat.
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Its just the extra bits on the side you have to worry about, like shop-bought cranberry sauce. It is better to make your own.
Steering clear from cooking veg in butter makes a big difference. And staying active. We always love a long walk, all wrapped up warm.
Enjoy yourself and dont feel guilty. The journey is just as important as the end goal.
