'Now my husband can wrap his arms around me': 23st bride-to-be drops eight stone... to fit into a Size 10 wedding dress

• Newlywed decided to lose weight in February after she couldn't fit into an airplane seat
• Went on weight loss programme that combined diet food and counselling
• 'I feel like I have found who I am' says Shannon

Shannon can fit both her legs into one leg of her former size 28 jeans

A woman who tipped the scales at 23 stone shed half her body weight in just eight months allowing her to fit into a size 10 wedding dress.
At the start of the year Shannon Barclay, from Aberdeen, knew that her lifestyle was far from healthy.
'I got tired easily. My legs would burn half way up the stairs. I’d get breathless and if I was late and had to run for the bus I’d feel like my lungs were going to explode,' she said.
But it wasn't until she found she couldn't fit into an airplane seat in February that she decided enough was enough.
The 32-year-old said: 'It was the worst moment of my life. I got on a plane to Birmingham for work and I had to ask for a seatbelt extension. I was mortified. It was so embarrassing.

'I have struggled with my weight my whole life but there and then, I just thought, that’s it.'
She signed up to a weight loss programme that provided low calorie foods and drinks as well as group counselling sessions to address the reasons behind excessive eating.
She said: 'People perceived me as happy and that nothing bothered me because I suppressed my feelings by eating. Being big my whole life, I was constantly being put down, even if people didn’t mean to. Sometimes I’d feel embarrassed going to a restaurant and ordering.
'The counselling really helps you to deal with everything. I didn’t have any significant health problems. But I knew if I was to continue the way I was, I’d have one foot in the grave.'
Mrs Barclay has battled with her weight since she was in her early teens, tipping the scales at close to 15 stone when she was just 14.  She believes her overeating started shortly after her grandfather was knocked down and killed by a car when she was 13.
Before she started the LighterLife programme Mrs Barclay, an assistant manager of a lingerie shop, would skip breakfast and be so hungry by lunch time that she would gorge herself on fast food.
She would snack on chocolates and sweets throughout the day and not eat another meal until she got home at 8pm when she would tuck into a huge plate of lasagne or pasta. Now she follows a health eating routine and goes to the gym three times a week. She also enjoys swimming and cycling.

Shannon when she was 23 stone (left) and on her wedding day (right). She said her husband Alan could now wrap his arms around her

She said: 'I am a very strong minded person and when I put my mind to something, I’m going to accomplish it. I don’t do things by halves.

 

'I was constantly losing three to six pounds a week. But I lost 14lbs in the first week.'

Bounce in her step: Shannon is now training for a half marathon

As the weight dropped off, Mrs Barclay - who was engaged at the time - had to have her wedding dress taken in several times.
By the time she was married two weeks ago, she walked down the aisle in a svelte size 10 having dropped nine dress sizes.
She said: 'Some people who I hadn’t seen in a while were shocked. They came up to me afterwards and said if they saw me in the shop they wouldn’t have known it was me. I’m glad I did it. It made the whole experience better.'
The newly wed added: 'I’m still getting used to my new look. I will walk past a mirror at work and have to take a minute. My arms look really small.

'But I love it and my husband is happy as long as I’m happy. He loves me if I’m 23 [stone] and he loves me if I’m 12 (stone). He can now wrap his arms around me. Before he could only get them half way.'
Mrs Barclay, who is originally from Canada, said losing the weight meant she had a fantastic time on her honeymoon with new husband Alan in Tenerife.
She said: 'I was able to go paragliding. We also went walking along the beach and sunbathing, which I wouldn’t have done before because I would be conscious about how the swim suit fitted.

'It’s made a big difference. I feel like I have found who I am. I think the real me was buried between the layers of insulation.'
Mrs Barclay is now gearing up to take part in next year’s Berlin marathon - having been told she would never run again as her weight was stopping torn ligaments in her ankle from healing.

She said: 'There was talk of surgery. The physiotherapist said I would never run again because of the damage. But now my ankle’s fine. It’s made a big difference losing the weight. Now it‘s like there is a bounce to my step.'