A YOUNG woman from Blaenavon has lost ten stone - and is now set to become a personal trainer.

Her weight loss has also helped her mum lose seven stones.

Rachel Pocknell from Blaenavon was so overweight in 2010 she needed a seat belt extension to help her buckle up during a flight to Australia.

But now – after losing ten stones - she is two-and-a-half stone off her target.

Miss Pocknell, 28, who says she was bullied because of her weight, said: “It’s very hard to sum up in words how much my life has actually changed for the better.

“I always suffered with my weight throughout my teenage years.

“The more I would get teased for my weight the more I would eat.

“I did no exercise what so ever and had a very unhealthy relationship with food.”

But such is the turnaround that Ms Pocknell is actually undergoing a career change to become a personal trainer.

Her mother, Sue, who started her weight loss at 23 stone, has also lost seven stones.

Miss Pocknell, who went to St Alban’s RC High in Pontypool, said it all started when the pair joined Pauline Matthews’ Weight Watchers class.

“I weighed in at a whopping 22st 12lbs, and was a size 28 in clothes,” she added.

“But when we joined Weight Watchers we learnt we could have a varied and healthy meal plan through the day and still have a little treat.

“I love tracking because it keeps me honest and in control of my food.

“When I joined I said I’m doing this for the last time and that statement is still true to this day.

“Before I joined I was a very unhappy young girl who longed to be healthy and slim like my friends and felt like it would never happen for me.

“But I now exercise six times a week. I have joined a running club and I enter 10km races on a regular basis. I also did my first half marathon this year and didn’t stop once.

“I’ve reached a stage where and know I will keep my weight off for life now.”

*Miss Pocknell believes she used to eat more than 5,000 calories a day at her heaviest.

She said she would typically skip breakfast before consuming two instant boil-in-the-bag rice sachets and four chicken breasts.

She said she would then secretly eat a KFC, before going home for tea with the rest of her family.

There would be lots of crisps and other snacks along the way too.

But now she sticks to three square meals a day.

She has porridge for breakfast, chicken salad or soup for lunch and pasta for dinner, totalling around 1,500 calories per day.

That is mixed with lots of fruit and veg and even the odd treat, when the Weight Watchers points calculator allows it.

For more information about Griffithstown Weight Watchers e-mail PMatthews@weight-watchers.co.uk