See the incredible transformation of Seaham mum who dropped four and a half stone, and gained 33,000 Instagram followers

At just 11 years old Lucy Wharton, from Seaham, weighed the same as her age.

By the the time she reached 14 years old, she weighed 14 stone and in the years that followed Lucy saw her weight increase until she reached her heaviest – weighing more than 15 stone.

She believed that she was destined to struggle with her size for the rest of her life, but after being invited to a friends wedding in Ibiza Lucy decided to take action.

Joining the Slimming World group in Seaham in April 2018, Lucy lost an incredible 4st 8.5lb, going from 15st 4.5lb to 10st 10lb in just eight months.

The 25-year-old who married husband Anthony Wharton, 27, in March 2018, said by the time she went on her honeymoon to Abu Dhabi in November 2018, she looked unrecognisable.

She said: “At my heaviest I was a size 20 and now I am a size 10.

“I have lost 10 inches off each thigh.

“Some people don’t recognise me now!

“Loads of people think I have photoshopped my photos on Instagram, which is a compliment.

“And everyone is really proud that I have managed to keep it off.”

Lucy’s transformation has gone down a storm on social media with her Slimming World Instagram account attracting more than 33,000 followers.

And now she will share the secrets of her success when she launches her own Slimming World group at Christchurch Church Hall in Seaham on Tuesday, October 29.

The group will run every Tuesday at 3pm and 5pm.

Lucy, who is mum to Jacob, four and Joshua, two, has also taken up exercise and has enjoyed running.

She continued: “Like a lot of slimmers, I had tried to lose weight so many times before by following numerous diets but they were never sustainable because I’d always get tired of restricting what I ate.

“I thought I was destined to struggle with my weight for the rest of my life, but when I came to Slimming World I never felt like I was on a diet.

“You can give excuses that you are big boned or that you are meant to be a certain weight but you can lose weight no matter what.”