A 20-year-old woman from Kent shows off her new curves after losing 5st 10lb in just over a year.

Helen Rhodes, from Deal, weighed 15st by the time she was 15 and spent the rest of her teenage years being overweight.

It was not until she was approaching 20 and wearing a dress size 20 that Miss Rhodes found the help she needed to lose weight.

She joined the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Club in Deal, and lost 5st 10lb in just 13 months.

At her heaviest, Helen was 15st 6lb, but now weighs 9st 10lb and is a size 10. She said: "It’s like I’ve got a whole new life.

"I’m so glad I’ve done it now, while I’m still young. My only regret is that I lived through my teenage years fat when I didn’t have to."

Helen began putting on weight in her early teens simply by eating too much of the wrong things, chocolate, cheese and crisps.

She joined the Rosemary Conley class because she wanted to get fit and the class offered exercise as well as dietary advice. "I was the youngest person there and felt very self-conscious and nervous.

"However, Lisa, the instructor, was very welcoming and the other women were very supportive," she added.

Since losing almost 6st , Helen’s life has changed. She has now taken up running, swimming and cycling and is now so interested in health and nutrition that she is studying for a degree in Health Studies and Early Years.

To read the full story of how Helen succeeded in turning her life around, check out the March issue of Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness magazine on sale from Thursday, January 31.