I was terrified of leaving my sons without a mother: Slimmer of the year sheds HALF her body weight

• 'My friend was getting married and I was scared of fitting in the pews'
• Dropped from 35st 7lb to 15st 7lb and dress size 36 to 14-16

A 35-stone mother who used to gorge on up to 15 packets of crisps a day and struggled to even walk up the stairs has lost 20 stone so she could live to see her two sons grow up.

Zelda Haxby, 47, was so overweight she refused to leave the house for fear of being ridiculed and could not manage everyday tasks like doing the shopping.

But after being hospitalised five years ago the mother of two from York vowed to turn her life around for the sake of her boys, Liam, 19, and 15-year-old James, and has now been crowned Slimming World's Greatest Loser 2011. In the process she dropped from 35st 7lb to 15st 7lb and from a dress size 36 to a 14-16.

She said: 'When I was in hospital that was the final straw for me. I hated being away from my two boys and I realised that if I didn't lose some weight I might leave them without their mother for ever.

Transformed: Zelda Haxby, 47, was so overweight she refused to leave the house for fear of being ridiculed and could not manage everyday tasks like doing the shopping

Zelda pictured in 2006. 'Now I can walk up the stairs without bracing myself first that I might not get to the top,' she said after being named Slimmer Of The Year

'I was offered tablets and a gastric bypass, but the risks and side effects were too terrifying to even contemplate.

'Before I had to check restaurants before we would go just to see if I could fit in the seats, but now I don't even think about it'

'I just wanted to be me again and do all the things people take for granted, like shopping. I could do it but it would take twice as long, and things like leaning on the shopping trolley I just couldn't do. It hurt to stand up.

'When I'd take the boys to the beach in the summer I would stay in the car because I was too embarrassed to get out. I felt like I couldn't be there enjoying it with them.

'At my biggest I wasn't living, I was existing. I struggled to walk or stand for long and I was hugely embarrassed about my weight so I didn't leave the house unless I absolutely had to. When I did, people would laugh and shout things at me - you take a lot of stick when you're that big.'

The mother, who at her biggest was a size 36 and still keeps the skirt she used to wear as a reminder to keep the weight off, is now a trim 14-16 and says she feels healthier than when she was a teenager.

She said: 'As a teenager my weight would go up and down. I'd always been a big girl and was around a size 16 then. Me and my friends would sponsor each other to lose weight but nothing ever worked.

'Then when I had the boys the weight just piled on. Being at home with then it was easy to snack. Crisps were my real weakness and I'd eat as many as 15 packets a day.

'I tried different things to lose weight. I'd buy diet books, do fitness videos and I'd lose a bit but then I'd start eating bad things again or eating at the wrong times, and the weight would creep back on.'

Zelda, left, in 2006, and, right, last month. She used to regularly eat 15 packets of crisps a day

BEFORE THE DIET

Breakfast: White toast with butter

Mid-morning: Bacon and egg sandwiches
Lunch: Sandwiches, crisps, chocolate bars

Mid-afternoon: Crisps (sometimes 15 packets a day)

Dinner: Chinese takeaway or spaghetti Bolognese made from a pre-prepared sauce with garlic bread

Snacks: Crisps and chocolate

AFTER THE DIET

Breakfast: Weetabix or porridge with chopped banana
Lunch: Jacket potato, beans and cheese with a mixed salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion and celery
Dinner: Roast dinner with vegetables or pasta dish made with chopped vegetables, lean smoked bacon and passata
Snacks: Fat free yoghurts, fresh fruit or fresh fruit salad or Alpen light bars

But it was her friend Chantelle Byford's wedding in September 2007 that really made her want to get the weight off in time for the big day.

Zelda, who ended up losing 12 stone in just one year so see Chantelle walk down the aisle, said: 'When Chantelle told me she was getting married I was determined to go. It would have been heartbreaking for me not to be there.

She said: 'She was getting married in a church and I was scared of fitting in the pews but one day Chantelle, who was already a member of Slimming World, left their magazine at my house. I read one of the stories and it was like I was reading about myself, so I got on the phone to her and asked how I could join.

'I was so terrified at the time. I sat outside in the car shaking, scared the scales wouldn't be able to weigh me, but the consultant came out to the car to introduce herself. She was so kind and friendly and reassured me that I didn't have to get weighed in front of everyone.'

Now Zelda, who used to gorge on takeaways, bacon butties and chocolate, has gone on to lose a massive 20 stone in just five years and has vowed to keep it off.

She said: 'Before I had to check restaurants before we would go just to see if I could fit in the seats, but now I don't even think about it.

'Now I can walk up the stairs without bracing myself first that I might not get to the top. I feel amazing, even better than when I was a teenager and the kids are so, so proud of me. They've been such a support.'

Her next goal is to get back in the swimming pool, which she used to love before she piled on the pounds.

She said: 'I've started looking at swimming costumes again. There was one time I wouldn't even have given them a second glance, but now I've got my sights set on going back in the pool.

'I can't believe I've done it. If you'd have told me five years ago I'd have lost 20 stone I would have said you're mad.'