Fashion fan reveals how she lost 7 stone to fit into her dream dress by giving up junk food
At size 22 and weighing 17st 7lb, she would head into the privacy of the cubicle with an armful of outfits then just pretend to try them on.
Jenna knew there was never any chance they would fit and by the time she emerged, the clothes were often stained with her tears.
But it was fashion that saved her when she spotted her dream dress in a size 14 and vowed to slim down to fit into it.
Sales assistant Jenna, now 25, came across the nude embellished flapper-style frock online in 2013, but it was only available up to a size 14.
She signed up to the gym the following evening.
Within three years, the mum of one — who used to spend £100 a week on junk food — had lost 7st and even beaten her target of a size 14, dropping to a svelte size 12.
And after she ordered her dress in that size, Jenna, from Grimsby, Lincs, “felt like Cinderella”.
Jenna explains: “Those shopping trips with my friends had become my worst nightmare. They were all size sixes and eights and next to them I felt horrendous.
“I always pretended I was a couple of sizes smaller. I’d usually pick up an 18, knowing full well it wouldn’t fit me.
“That way I could at least pick up some clothes and take them into the changing room.
“However, I’d stand in front of the mirror in tears.
“After crying in the changing room for 20 minutes having not even attempted to try the clothes on, I’d then emerge pretending I didn’t like them.
“I loved fashion but I knew nothing would look nice on my huge frame, let alone fit me.
“Then one night, I was trawling through online boutique stores when I saw my dream dress.
"It was beautiful but the biggest size they did was a 14. I remember thinking to myself how crazy it was — I loved clothes, but all I could buy were boring, plain black tops. I’d had enough of it.
“I was determined that one day, I would buy that dress AND fit into it. It was time to change.”
Jenna was always the biggest girl in her group of friends growing up, and after becoming pregnant at 18 with her son Oliver, now seven, her weight ballooned.
She recalls: “When I was 13, I was already wearing size 14 clothes.
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