The superslimmer from Middleton, Leeds, now fits into a size 12 instead of a 26 after dropping from nearly 21st to 11st 12lbs.

"My daughter Lauren thinks I'm a real yummy mummy now," said a thrilled Diane.

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And she managed to do it without giving up any of her favourite foods – she still has chips as well as her beloved Battenburg cake.

The mum-of-two said her weight had been creeping up for years and her downfall was grabbing cakes and biscuits as she rushed around with her family.

"My downfall was Battenburg cake," she said. "I could sit and eat a whole one."

When Diane first went to Slimming World in January 2006 she weighed nearly 21 stones, making her very overweight for her 5ft 4ins frame.

Ironically she'd only gone to keep her sister and friend company, but she was hooked: "In my first week I lost six pounds and I though 'this has been easy.' Then I used to buy myself presents every time I lost a stone as an incentive.

"I knew I wanted to be a size 12, though I didn't know what I wanted to weigh."

The 42-year-old said she didn't find the eating plan difficult as it let have whatever she fancied, just in moderation:"If I want a piece of Battenburg I have it, just a small one."

Chips were another vice, but they could be adapted to make them healthier.

Diane said she can eat unlimited amounts of the healthy variety – made by parboiling and then baking in the oven – on certain days of the plan.
She reached her goal of fitting into a size 12 just before last Christmas, and she now goes ice skating and on walking holidays.

The accounts assistant said her husband Dave and the rest of her family and friends thought it was "brilliant".

And she thanked the leader of her Slimming World group at Middleton Methodist Church, Jane Mansfield, for her support. And despite her massive weight loss, she's still going to the group to shed a few more pounds.