A mum who was left horrified by how she looked in photos is now happy to pose for the camera - after shedding almost seven stone.
Claire Druce, 40, was shocked when she saw how she looked in the family Christmas snaps from last year.
Her appearance had begun to make her 'depressed' after she became obese after giving birth to her eldest child Jack in 2012.
It was then that Claire decided to make a serious change, ditch the junk food and start walking 10km a day,
And just a year on, the mum-of-four from Telford has dropped from 19 stone to 12 stone-five-ounces.
Having dropped ten dress sizes, from 22 to 12, she told of how she was excited to be in this year's Christmas pictures with her family.
She said: "I'm just so excited to be in the Christmas pictures this year: I feel so much better about myself.
"Now I'm creating memories that I'll treasure and feel good about. I knew I was big before, but didn't realise how bad it was.
"It made me feel awful to realise I was actually morbidly obese. I just look huge in those pictures: I was really shocked."
It was her weight that made Claire too afraid to be pictured or even leave the house.
She was shocked to see her size in pictures of her making a grotto and watching children Jack, nine, Eve, six, Isabelle, four, and Amelia, one, opening their presents in 2020.
The NHS website told her that, weighing in at 19 stone, she was morbidly obese.
Claire used to drink seven cups of tea a day, each containing five spoons of sugar.
She also used to gorge on a double portion of Frosties for breakfast, followed by three KitKats or a whole packet of biscuits for a snack.
For lunch she'd have a whole baguette with ham and cheese and crisps, then snack on chocolate until dinner time - when she'd have double portions of an easy meal from the freezer or takeout at least three times a week.
The stay at home mum also got through six litres of double-concentrated full-sugar squash a week and two family sharing bags of sweets.
Now she enjoys a portion of granola or muesli for breakfast, a flatbread and salad for lunch and brown carbohydrates like pasta and rice for dinner.
And she is also careful to stick to recommended portions, and snacks on fruit and vegetables.
Claire bought a cross trainer on Facebook for £20 in February, lost the first stone by April and felt fit enough to leave the house for two kilometre walks.
Now she pushes Amelia in the pram for two five kilometre walks a day.
She said: "It's so sad: there are very few pictures of me and the kids. Those Christmas pictures made me really depressed.
"I was 14 stone when Jack was born and I've just got bigger and bigger. Something just clicked in me when I saw those photos.
"I didn’t want the kids to remember me being like that. I just stopped all the snacks and sugar and started walking.
"I've done it all naturally. I just want people to know you can get fitter and eat well without having to spend a fortune or have surgery."
