My parents bought me my dream body

She’d lost 8st, but Lauren Eggison, 34, took drastic action to finish the job

- SASKIA MURPHY, MARK MACKAY

Standing in front of the changing room mirror, zipping up a pair of size 12 slim-fitting jeans, I should have been marveling at just how far I had come.

It’d been a dream to get to this size, and I’d worked so hard. Only, now a thick, puckered apron of skin hung from my tummy, and if I didn’t tuck it in, it flapped uncomfortably over my waistband. I had to hide it under floaty tops and forgiving waistbands – and while on the outside I looked great, underneath I looked awful. I was just as miserable as I had been at 21st.

For as long as I could remember,​ I’d been in a war against my body. As a teenager, I was the biggest of my friends, and at 16 wore a size 18. Hating the way I looked, I tried every diet going, but I’d always give up after a few days.

I started sixth form in September 2002, and while my mum, Donna, then 42, and stepdad, Vincent, 44, encouraged me to eat healthy meals at home, I'd snack on crisps and sweets between lessons, causing my weight to creep up.

And as I became more independent, my eating habits got worse. I got a desk job for a jewelry manufacturer, where I’d spend hours hardly moving while constantly snacking.

It was as though I was always gorging. Breakfast would be a huge bowl of sugary cereal, then I’d treat myself to a milkshake on the way to work. A couple of hours later, I’d be in the staff canteen devouring a huge portion of lasagne and chips, before going home for a takeaway pizza and countless packets of crisps and sweets.