A SUPER slimmer managed to lose a whopping SEVEN STONE after buying her wedding dress five sizes too small.

Rachel Seedall, 40, defied wedding dress shop assistants' advice after vowing to purchase her dream £1,000 wedding dress as inspiration to lose the pounds.

School welfare and support officer Rachel was over the moon when her partner Mick Seedall, 48, popped the question in summer 2016.

But when she tipped the scales at 21st 5lb and a size 24 she decided she wasn't going to settle for a 'typical plus size A-line dress'.

She then vowed to snuggle into her dream size 14 dress and immediately cut out fat from her diet, joined a Slimming World group and went swimming five times a week.

Rachel, of Blackburn, Lancs., said: "I started swimming 50 to 70 lengths four or five times a week and my weight came down.

“My eating habits also changed and I swapped out bad foods for good foods.

"I loved putting mayonnaise on everything so I cut that out and I’ve stopped cooking a lot of things in oil.

"I now remove as much fat as I can from foods and I now have fruit in my bag.”

Rachel had ballooned up over the years due to her 'sweet tooth' - and her love for mayonnaise.

She was also diagnosed with benign intracranial hypertension, a pressure on the brain caused by too much fluid because of her rotund size.

But she ditched the dressings for the perfect dress by making her own home made chips and favourite Slimming World recipe for syn-free chilli burgers.

She joined her local Slimming World group in January 2017 and in 17 months lost seven stone before her wedding in May 27 this year.

Rachel said: “I had to lose weight for my health - and for my wedding dress.

"When I tried the dress on for the first time three weeks before my wedding and it fit, it was just relieved but also elated.

"It felt so so-real after I had put so much pressure on myself I just really wanted to fit into it so bad."

After losing the weight, Rachel's ailments subsided which gave her more confidence to do more exercise and concentrate on her meal plans.

Speaking about her diet, she added: “I never starved myself or went on a crazy diet, I just ate better. I don’t get the hypertension symptoms anymore, which is great.

“Before my weight loss, I was always tired, out of breath.

"I had dreams of what I wanted to wear and with losing the weight I was able to fulfill it.

Rachel said her first experience of going dress shopping did not go well and she was left feeling ‘embarrassed and traumatised’ after shop staff tried to put dresses on her that did not fit.

However, she said she walked down the aisle with her dad in a white fitted vintage dress and felt amazing when she tied the knot.

She said: “It was the best day ever, it was completely perfect.

"I had the perfect dress. I feel so much better about myself, I have more energy and I can do a lot more.

“Slimming World was amazing for me and I still go back every week."

Rachel's diet before:

  • Takeaways, pizza and chips
  • Salads with heavy mayonnaise
  • Cheese, breads, cakes and sweets

Rachel's diet now:

  • Oats and fruit
  • Slimming World syn free Chilli burger and home made chips.
  • Fat-free yogurt and hifi bars