Mother-of-three Mrs Sanderson started dieting in 1986 after making a deal with her husband, John, who agreed to give up smoking if she lost some weight.

The diet was interrupted three times while the couple had their children, Melanie, ten, Michael, nine and Bethan, four.

Mrs Sanderson, 33, of Templewood, Walters Ash, is now a slimline 9st 9lb after topping the scales in 1986 at nearly 15st when she married her husband.

She said: "I kept having children all the way through my diet so it took time to lose the weight I wanted.

"It has been a ten-year battle but now I'm down to 9st 9lb and I feel much more confident."

Mrs Sanderson said she used to enjoy pigging out on chips, chocolate, burgers and roasts.

Now, she only tucks into healthy foods such as fruit, salad, and grilled fish. Her Flexi Diet allows her 1,000 calories for three meals plus 500 for treats, including her favourites of a Halo or Boost bar.

She only treats herself with the odd chocolate bar and never drinks alcohol during the week in her fight to fend off the flab.

Her husband, John, a flight sergeant for the RAF in High Wycombe, has gone back on the deal and started smoking again.

But Mrs Sanderson, who works as a school secretary at Beechview Middle School, Guinions Road, High Wycombe, said she would not use this as an excuse to pile on the pounds again.

She said: "John is smoking about three or four cigarettes a day but there is no way I'm going back to the foods I used to eat.

"I used to get cravings for Mars Bars when I was pregnant, but I am happy without them now."

She said she had set herself a ceiling of ten stones and she would never eat so much that she ballooned above her ideal weight again.

She added: "I'm happy with the way I look now and I intend to keep it that way."

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