Size 18 woman drops five stone for her wedding after becoming terrified she’d be a ‘big bride’
Danielle French, 28, slimmed to a size six after signing up to inspirational Instagram accounts and a Slimming World diet
A NEWLYWED looks almost unrecognisable after she shed more than FIVE STONE for her wedding.
Danielle French, 28, said she could "barely fit into any of her clothes" after ballooning to 13st 4lb.
The Mortgage adviser from Barnsley, who was a size 18 before, feared that she would be a "big bride" and would end up hating her wedding snaps.
She explained: "After getting engaged I continued to put on lots of weight until March 2015 when I got to my biggest and could barely fit in any of my clothes.
"I really didn't want to be a big bride and look at my wedding photos and hate what I saw.
"I wanted to lose weight a year before I got married so I could go and try wedding dresses on without hating everything."
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After the bride-and-groom-to-be booked their wedding for November 2016, Danielle joined Slimming World and also began to follow inspirational Instagram weight loss pages to ditch the pounds.
She said: "I had been unhappy for so long about my weight and tried so many diets that I could never stick too.
"I started looking on Instagram at weight loss accounts and there were so many inspiring girls that had lost weight following Slimming World.
"I decided I would give it a go as it was one of the only diets I hadn't tried.
"I joined online and created an Instagram account to post about my weight loss journey to keep me motivated."
It took Danielle a year to get to her goal weight and she was able to walk down the aisle at Wentworth Castle as a tiny size six and at a weight of 8st.
She said: "Losing the weight has changed my life in so many more ways than I could have ever imagined.
"Before I hated going out with my friends because I felt so self-conscious and awful in everything I wore.
"I lived in leggings and baggy tops to hide the fact I had put on weight.
"I was also really unfit and got out of breath really easily whenever I walked more than half a mile.
"I suffer from IBS and since losing the weight and eating a much healthier balanced diet, I hardly ever get symptoms now."
Danielle said she has gained "so much confidence" and has also rediscovered an old love – for fashion and shopping.
She added: "I don't feel like the fat one out of my friends anymore.
“I love getting dressed up and going out.
"I hated shopping for clothes when I was bigger as I refused to buy bigger sizes.
"I can now walk in to a shop, try things on and like what I see.”
She said all of her friends and family have been amazed by her transformation.
Danielle said: "They are all really proud of me and can’t believe how much weight I have lost and how different I look now.
"But on top of following Slimming World I don't think I could have done it without my Instagram food blogging page and the support I get from all my lovely followers."
Last year we told how a bride revealed her desperate battle to lose weight in a year so she could get married before her grandma passed away.
Earlier this month we told how Mama June dropped 60 pounds while taking part in From Not to Hot.