A super slimmer who swelled to 26 stone after eating a loaf of bread a day is now toasting her diet - and literally becoming half the woman she used to be . Michelle Quinn , 42 , ballooned after munching her way through toast , sarnies and slices of bread all day . Her diet used to be made up of white toast with margarine for breakfast , sandwiches and crisps for lunch and fish and chips and takeaways for dinner . Michelle Quinn has lost half of her body weight after ditching her bread-based diet which saw her eat a loaf a day , she has also dropped from a clothes size 30 ( left ) to a size 12 ( right ) Before losing weight 43-year-old Michelle was a size 30 , here she proudly holds up a pair of her old trousers . But she gave up the bread and started a diet of breakfast of cereal or fruit and yoghurt , home-made soup for lunch and healthy versions of her favourite meals . Michelle , of South Shields , Tyneside , says she feels like a new woman after losing 12.5st and dropping from dress size 30 to size 12 . She has been named Slimming World 's Greatest Loser in the West Harton area of South Shields . She said : ' I feel like a new woman since losing weight . In fact , I look so different that people who I havent seen for a while often ca n't believe I 'm the same person . 'For me though it 's the change on the inside that 's been the biggest - I 'm happier , healthier and much more confident now . Michelle , pictured with her uncle Derek , joined a slimming group in 2013 in a bid to shift the weight , she says she had struggled with high blood pressure , back pain and that she got breathless easily . Michelle was not fat as a child but piled on the pounds thanks to her diet of fish and chips and sandwhiches . Now a size 12 , Michelle no longer feels the need to eat a whole loaf of bread every day . She continued : ' I still enjoy all my favourite meals like burgers and chips and roast dinners but I 've learned how to make small changes like using lean meat or cooking with low calorie spray instead of oil or butter . 'It fits in really well with the rest of my family and we can all eat the same meals . ' Michelle weighed 25st 3lbs when she joined the group in April 2013 and has since dropped to 12st 10lbs . She said : 'Before I lost the weight I hid behind a big bubbly personality . I 'd pretend it did n't bother me that I was bigger than most other people , but that was far from the truth . ' I hated shopping for clothes and found just climbing up stairs and doing simple everyday tasks would leave me tired and out of breath . ' Michelle 's weight was also putting a huge strain on her health and she suffered with high blood pressure , chronic back pain and got breathless easily .
Michelle Quinn ballooned thanks to her exposure to bread and cheese . The 42-year - old would eat a whole loaf of bread a day . In 2013 she weighed more than 25st and was a size ##able dress ##maker . After becoming a slimming group her weight has dropped to 12 stone 10lbs .