This was the moment that spurred me on to lose 64kg

WHEN Louise realised she couldn’t fit into the largest pair of jeans available in the shop, she sat crying uncontrollably. She then underwent an amazing transformation.

A WOMAN was shamed into losing 64kg — after she failed to fit into the largest jeans available in a store.

Laboratory manager Louise Horton, 28, was regularly reduced to tears by cruel teenagers who mocked her 152kg frame.

Louise had struggled with her weight for years.

Things hit rock bottom when she went into Primark (a popular chain store in the UK) and realised she couldn’t fit into their largest jeans — and sat crying in the changing room.

The humiliation inspired her to change her life and embark on a diet and exercise regimen which has seen her lose 64kg.

Louise Horton before and after her weight loss.

Louise, from Plymouth, Devon, was stuck in a vicious cycle of overeating then comfort eating, and would even eat McDonald’s in bed.

She said: “I had tried dieting before and nothing had worked for me but I increasingly found myself being shouted at in the street by teenagers and coming home in tears.”

Louise Horton before and after her weight loss.

“You’d think you could brush it off but it gets to you eventually. I was 23 and just thought I shouldn’t be feeling this way.

“I wanted to go into a shop and not just sit crying in the changing rooms because nothing fitted me.”

The shorts she wears now in comparison to her previous size 30 jeans.

“I just wanted to be able to go into Primark — I was in size 28 to 30 jeans and they certainly don’t do those in there.”

Louise Horton vowed that she would make a change.

Louise, who is engaged to Leigh Fowden, 31, was determined to lose weight, but knew fad diets or weight loss clubs weren’t for her.

She continued: “I thought it would be much better for me personally to go it alone and go at a slow pace, even if it was just losing half a kilo a week.

“I think it strengthened me as a person because I did it off my own back and because I made all the changes without someone telling me to, it’s easier for me to maintain.

“It was all on my own terms. I’d rather eat an apple now than a chocolate bar — it’s ingrained in my mind.”

Louise says she feels like a different person and has a new-found confidence.

Louise started walking 2.4km to work and back every day, as well as changing her eating habits.

She now keeps to her three meals a day and has replaced unhealthy snacks with fruit, nuts and cereal bars.

Louise has adopted a healthier diet.

“I stopped eating McDonald’s in bed at crazy times and reduced my drinking on Friday nights with my friends because I knew that was having a bad affect,” she said.

The change in her life is dramatic, five years ago Louise would be out of breath walking to the end of her street — but now she was completed her first half marathon.

Louise Horton with her medal after completing the half marathon.

She added: “It’s just phenomenal, the difference I’ve seen in myself.

“Doing the half marathon was one of the toughest things I’ve ever gone through but it was more than worth it.

“It was such an emotional day because it just summed up everything I’ve been through as I crossed the finish line.”

Louise Horton.

“Just don’t give up whatever happens — even if you don’t lose anything straight away.

“It can be a slow process, it doesn’t happen overnight but it’s worth every second. Don’t take it to heart and don’t let it take over your life.”

Louise Horton.

“But I do believe, we as people can do anything if we put our minds to it.

“I had no confidence and wouldn’t speak to new people but now I’m getting married to my soulmate and wearing a dress that no one would ever expect me to see me in.”