I went from size 28 to 10 and lost 14 stone - here's what I stopped eating

Paige Vickers, who tipped the scales at 23st, said she was mercilessly mocked at school and dubbed a 'whale' by cruel bullies for being 'on the bigger side'.

Caught in a vicious cycle of bingeing and dieting, the 25-year-old piled on the pounds from scoffing takeaways, crisps and chocolates. On the days she didn't have McDonald's for breakfast, she would instead grab her food from Greggs.

Yo-yoing being 21st and 23st, Paige tried a roster of diet and exercise regimes to ditch the pounds but was unsuccessful. Struggling with how she looked, the 5ft 4in retail worker researched weight-loss surgery in Turkey and took the plunge, booking in the gastric sleeve op for June 2024.

A little over a year on, Paige has lost a whopping 14 stone and now weighs 9st 12lbs - slimming down from a size 28 to a slinky size 10.

Unbelievable photos show Paige's transformation a year apart next to her partner, Matthew Wilkinson, 25, looking like a completely different person. Now, Paige admits friends and family do double takes in the street and quips it's like Matthew getting a new girlfriend.

Paige, from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, said: "It is a shock, it's like my partner has a new girlfriend. 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.

"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.

"It makes me feel buzzing. It makes me dead happy because I didn't think I'd get to this point. I didn't even think I'd hit 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 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.

"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." A fourth commented: "Impossible."

TYPICAL FOOD DIARY BEFORE

• Breakfast - Two McDonalds breakfast meals or snack from Greggs
• Lunch - A big sandwich
• Tea - Takeaway pizza or Chinese takeaway
• Snacks - Crisps, chocolate bars
• Drinks - Litre of fizzy pop

TYPICAL FOOD DIARY AFTER

• Breakfast - Protein shake
• Lunch - Still full from breakfast
• Tea - Chicken and broccoli with sweet potato
• Snacks - Piece of fruit
• Drinks - Water