A mum lost 6.5st after holiday photos at Disneyland Paris left her feeling "disgusted"."

Emily Harris, 31, piled on the pounds after giving birth to her son, Hudson, 18 months old, after struggling with a loss of feeling in her right leg from an epidural gone wrong.

She struggled to exercise, relied on takeaways for ease and soon weighed 18st 12lbs and was a size 20 at her biggest.

But, after a birthday trip to Disneyland Paris, Emily was "ashamed" to look at a photo taken of her and her fiancé, Ryan Jack, 28, a shift supervisor."

The mum-of-one decided to look into weight loss medications as she had previously tried different diets that hadn't worked for her.

She started using Mounjaro - a prescription injectable medication used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity - in March 2024 and has lost 6st 7lbs in 10 months.

Now a healthy 12st 5lbs and a size 10, Emily feels "amazing" and is now coming off the weight loss drug."

Emily, who works in customer care service at a building society, from Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, said: "A stranger took a picture of me and my partner at Disney."

"I looked at the picture and my jumper was skin tight on me."

"I remember thinking and trying to suck everything in."

"I just felt disgusted with what I looked like."

"I felt ashamed to look at it."

"I needed to see that photo to realise how big I had got."

Emily had been yo-yo dieting since she was aged 17 but often find she would have to take a diet to the "extreme" to see any change due to a begin tumour in her brain - which she discovered in MONTH YEAR. "

Her tumour impacts her pituitary gland which she says makes her body thinks she's "pregnant all the time"."

After welcoming Hudson in August 2023 Emily was 17st 2lbs but found herself gaining more weight.

She said: "I had lost the feeling in my right leg after a botched epidural."

"Exercise was never possible for me."

"I was sleep deprived. I lived off takeaways."

"My maternity clothes were getting tight on me."

"I thought 'I've just had a baby I can do what I want'."

But Emily was in "denial" about gaining weight and didn't realise she needed to make a change until a birthday trip to Disney in February 2024."

Emily said: "Walking around the park I was struggling. My feet hurt, I was out of breath all the time."

"I came back from Disney and I stepped on the scales."

"I thought - I need to do something."

Emily decided to try weight loss medication after hearing about friends' experiences.

She went privately to Habitual - a healthcare company empowering sustainable weight loss - after she was told their would be a three year wait on the NHS.

Emily started taking Mounjaro in March last year and immediately started to notice the difference - physically and to her mindset.

She said: "I stopped craving chocolate and sugar."

Emily said she went from eating a family sized bar of Galaxy chocolate to only eating two chocolates out of her advent calendar last December.

Now she has made small changes to her diet too - such as swapping out mountains of cheese on her fajitas for more vegetables and beans.

Emily doesn't restrict herself from eating takeaways but has changed up her McDonalds order

from two cheeseburgers and 20 chicken nuggets to to a Happy Meal.

Now a slender 12st 5lbs and a size 10, Emily feels confident again.

She said: "I feel amazing."

"I felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame at one point."

"This year I have bought dresses for a wedding and bought one that is corseted and fitted."

"I don't think 'what's going to hide the most?'"

"I still have my curves but I'm confident about it."

Emily now has a target weight of 11st 6lbs but has decided to come off the medication to do the last part herself and maintain her weight.

She said: "I need to prove myself that it's not just the medication."

She has found her cravings have started to return but she now has the right mindset to control her portion sizes.

Emily said: "I want to be a hot, cool mum."

"I want to be with my son and go out and do things with him."

"I'm back to the truest version of myself."

Diet before -
Breakfast: Two energy drinks
Emily snacked throughout the day instead of having lunch eating: packets on mini scotch eggs, yoghurts, huge bar of Galaxy chocolate, McDonalds etc
Dinner: Takeaway pizza/ chicken chow mien and waffle with Kinder Bueno for dessert
Drinks: 12 full sugar cokes/ Fanta lemon

Diet now -
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and piece of toast
Lunch: Chicken breast and cucumber / leftovers
Dinner: Home cooked meal - eg. spaghetti bolognaise, fajitas
Snacks: Coffee, shakes