Schauna Harshman, 35, grew up fleeing ashamed of her figure and was often teased by her peers at school, leaving her feeling like the "ugly, fat friend".
The mum-of-three gained weight during her pregnancies and ate a lot of fried food, processed meals, fast food and pasta, washing it down with soft drinks.
But she hit "rock bottom" and decided to make major changes to her lifestyle after her son Chase, then aged three, called her "fat" and laughed, leaving her in tears as she locked herself in the bathroom.
Schauna, a medical coder from the US city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, who is now 11st 2lb, said: "One day, my middle son was making fun of me, calling me 'fat' and laughing about it.
"I was fed up of my weight but to hear my son, who loves me, make fun of me that way, I'd had enough. That was my rock bottom.
"I was angry and emotional. Of course, he had no idea the impact it had on me as he was only three.
"I remember locking myself in the bathroom and crying. Asking myself how I was going to fix the problem.
"I told him that it's not funny to call people fat and laugh about it. He could see I was really upset and he felt sad when he saw I was crying."
The mum started going to the gym, improved her diet and went for weight loss surgery after losing 4st.
When she fell pregnant in 2004, Schauna used it as an excuse to eat and drink whatever she pleased without paying any regard to her weight.
Pregnancy saw Schauna gain 4st and 2lb, taking her weight to 15st 7lb when her eldest son, Mason, now 15, was born.
Life as a new mother didn't help Schauna's weight as she didn't take care of herself.
She only ate a lot of fried food, processed meals, fast food and pasta.
From then on, Schauna continued to gain weight with her following two pregnancies.
She underwent lap band surgery, which placed a band around the top of her stomach to create a smaller stomach, in March 2013.
Surgery helped Schauna to lose more than five stone initially, but she has also tried numerous diets to encourage her weight loss through nutrition.
She has tried the low carb diet keto and shake-only diets, and she is now a healthy 11st 2lb and wears UK size 12 clothing.
Since surgery, Schauna eats eggs, chicken and turkey for protein, nuts, protein shakes and vegetables with every meal.
"In January 2019 I started the keto lifestyle. I spent some time researching and following accounts and decided to give it a try.
"Through keto I learned that it's about maintaining a lifestyle rather than constantly shedding, so I switched to macro counting, which is what I'm currently doing and I feel amazing."
She added: "My friends and family are so proud of me and I'm so thankful for their support. It's given me a real drive to keep going and to show people that you can do anything you put your mind to.
"I'm a mum of three so I'm constantly running around after my sons, I work full time and still manage to track my food, eat homemade meals and work out every day. Anyone who sees that I can do it can know that they can too."
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