A WEST LINTON woman has been battling with her weight since she was 10 years old - and was 19 stone by the time she attended university.

But recently, 24-year-old Meghan Flynn has turned her life around and said goodbye to those extra pounds.

Meghan said she felt extremely lucky to have been surrounded by good friends growing up, but no amount of support or kind words from those close to her could shake the paranoia she felt when at school and out in public - she always felt that nearby laughter was aimed at her.

As she aged, she continued to gain weight, hitting 17 stone by the time she left Peebles High School. 

She adopted bad habits of eating sweets all day and then consuming large portions at home, which she attributes to the rapid weight gain.

“Going to university made it worse,” she said. “The uni lifestyle of drinking and eating unhealthy food meant I was over 19 stone before I knew it.

“But one day a switch just clicked, and I thought, it’s time to start doing something about this.”

Meghan began her Weight-Watchers journey in August 2013 - she completely changed her lifestyle by walking more and being more active, and she gradually lost an incredible four stone.

But then came her dissertation, which brought with it stress something that she tried to curb with food.

“With the stress and pressure from my final year at university, I binged out in the library eating Maltesers, takeaways and energy drinks,” she said.

“But once the dissertation had finished it was time to focus on myself again, and I started jogging and tracking everything I ate.” 

Meghan, who now works for an events company in Edinburgh, began exercising a lot more and experimenting in the kitchen cooking new veggie meals which she never would’ve eaten before. 

And by July 2015 she was down to 13 and a half stone and was feeling great.

While her waist was getting smaller, the only things getting bigger were her confidence and her self-esteem - and this is when she met her boyfriend Paul.

In the months that followed, Paul and Meghan enjoyed their new found relationship and shortly began helping each other to lose weight. 

Meghan started planning and cooking all of their meals and in just two months Paul had lost two stone and Meghan, a further one and a half.

Having adopted a much healthier outlook on both food and her own body, Meghan is slowly approaching her 100 pound certificate - something she once thought was out of her grasp.

She used Instagram as a way of motivating herself by sharing pictures of her health meals and tracking her weight loss - where she can gain the support of, as well as inspire, others in her position.

“Weight-Watchers is such a great tool to help you loose weight,” Meghan said. 

“You get so much support from them, both physically with your body but also mentally with your self esteem and confidence.”