GORGING on crisps, chocolate and takeaways nearly every day, Laura Collacott's weight was spiralling out of control.
She'd ballooned to a staggering 17 stone and a size 20, with doctors even warning her that she might need a gastric band fitted.
However, little did the shop assistant, 23, realise just how much her life would change when she decided to become vegan and started walking her staffie Labrador-cross Missy every day.
Within just two years, Laura dropped an incredible seven dress sizes and shed a staggering nine stone.
And what made it even more impressive was that Laura had never intended to lose the amount of weight she had, despite having always been chubby.
Laura, from Widnes, Cheshire, said: "I've had strangers who have seen me on my dog walking route come up and comment on my weight loss.
"But people are even more shocked when I tell them it happened by accident."
Laura first started her bad habits from a young age – eating crisps and chocolate before and after every meal.
And by the time she was ten-years-old she had already reached ten stone.
She was even warned by doctors that she would need to have a gastric band fitted at just 14 years old.
The then-teenager managed to escape the drastic measure, but by 21 her eating habits had spiralled further and she was scoffing two or three takeaways a week.
Despite this, Laura's turning point came when she decided to go vegan just before her 21st birthday in October 2017.
Her decision came when it dawned on her that a chicken leg she was eating was a body part of a once living animal.
I loved crisps and chocolate… I would have them before and after every meal
After making the change, Laura noticed her clothes started to fit better and her confidence began to soar for the first time since she was a child.
She said: "I remember weighing myself when I was ten and I was ten stone, I didn't think much about it at the time but by 12 years old I was on weight loss pills.
"They just made me more hungry so when I was 14 I was scheduled for a gastric band but I needed to lose 3st to have the procedure and I just couldn't do it.
"I loved crisps and chocolate and I would have them before and after every meal, it just became part of my routine.
"As I got older and had more control over my own diet I would buy whatever crap I wanted and I would get takeaways every two or three days.
"But one day I was eating a chicken leg and it suddenly dawned on me what it actually was that I was eating.
"I decided I didn't want to eat any animal products anymore, so I started replacing the crisps and chocolate with fruit and veg.
"My clothes began to fit ten times better and that really gave me a boost, but I was really determined to prove to people that I was serious about being vegan too."
Laura also took up walking her staffie Labrador-cross Missy every day without fail, and soon noticed her weight had plummeted.
"I lost 4st 7lbs just by walking the dog in the first four months of going vegan," she said.
I started to get loads more energy
"I started to get loads more energy, so much that I needed to be doing something all the time and I started exercising.
"I was sleeping much better, so I would go to bed at 9pm or 10pm and wake up at 8am to take the dog out every day."
Within two years, Laura shed seven dress sizes to wear a slender size six and now weighs just eight stone – less than she did at ten-years-old.
Laura said: "It's so surreal but it feels great at the same time. I barely recognise myself when someone takes a picture of me.
"When I look at it I'm like is that even me, it's quite a humble feeling knowing I weigh less now than I did when I was ten."
Having proven to herself and others that she was serious about changing her ways, the committed vegan has even had friends and family asking her for weight loss pointers.
Now after dropping seven dress sizes to get down to her dream figure, Laura is keen to maintain her healthy weight and keep up the vegan diet.
But the slimmed-down beauty is adamant that the real weight loss expert is loyal pooch Missy, who has given her a reason to get moving every day for the last two years.
Laura said: "People ask me all the time how did I do it and ask me to help them.
"I'm always more than happy to tell them about veganism but I explain that I never intended to lose all this weight, it just fell off me.
"The real person I need to thank is my dog Missy.
"Maybe they should be asking her for the pointers because if it wasn't for doing so many dog walks I might not be as slim as I am now."
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