Eighteen months ago Mandy Jarvis weighed in at 23 stone 12lbs and wore size 32 clothes. At just 5ft 3, she was severely obese and at risk of serious and life-threatening health problems, Mandy knew something had to change.

And change it did, determination, willpower and healthy eating has seen the mum-of-six shed more than half of her body weight and discover a love of exercise she never knew she had.

Mandy, from Millbrook, now weighs 11 stone and is a sleek size 10, but there is one thing she still wishes she could change - her excess skin.

"I should be really happy with my weight loss," says the 47-year-old. "But I'm not.

"I feel uglier now than before, as I am left with lots of excess skin, mainly on my stomach, arms and legs.

"Don't get me wrong, I know I'm much healthier now, but when I look at myself in the mirror, which I try really hard not to do, I hate the way I look. I have so much skin that I look like a wrinkles puppy.

"At least when I was big, I fitted into my skin."

Mandy has tried everything to tone up her loose skin. She exercises every day, including swimming, cycling, walking, ice-skating, zumba, ballroom, Latin and line dancing classes. But so far nothing has worked.

She applied for a skin removal operation on the NHS, with her doctor's support, but unfortunately was turned down.

"It seems crazy," says Mandy. "They would have given me a gastric band when I was bigger as I looked into it, but with my doctor's support and that of my Slimming World group I chose to try to do it on my own, which I have.

"Yet now it seems like I am being punished for losing the weight without the need for the gastric band, as had I had that they would have given me an operation to remove the excess skin. It makes no sense at all."

Mandy, who is married to Kevin and a full-time-mum, says she was happy being big but a health scare made her realise that it wasn't just about that.

"I've been big for as long as I can remember and it was never an issue for me, or my husband. But one day I thought I was having a heart attack and it was a real eye opener - I realised if I didn't do something to change that I may not be around to see my children grow up and that's what I wanted most of life.

"I'd tried every diet going, but I would always end up bigger than before. I lost the first two stone using a meal replacement plan, but soon realised that I needed something more long lasting, that's when I joined my local Slimming World class."

Mandy swapped a diet of takeaways, 'chips with everything' and huge packs of crisps for home cooked chicken korma and rice, and started to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. She didn't think she would lose much weight as she says she was eating more than ever before, so she was surprised to lose 5lbs in her first week, and that inspired her to keep going. She went on to lose a further 11 stone.

"It hasn't always been easy," she explains. "My family and friends have been amazing throughout my journey, as I had to make some pretty big changes and due to having a large family, the cost of changing my lifestyle has been a real struggle at times. It's just a real shame that the government and medical professions highlight obesity and associate it with ugliness but are not prepared to help fund and encourage people when they put a real effort into getting healthier. I worked with my doctor to ensure that I fitted the criteria for surgery and yet they still turned me down. It really doesn't seem fair.

"When I got the letter through to say that I don't qualify as it is not a necessity - I cried my eyes out. I just didn't know what to do. There is no way I can afford the surgery myself, and I really hate the way I look now. They say the obese cost the NHS far more than slim people, so where is the help when the obese get slim?

"My husband thinks I look amazing, but I don't feel amazing. I know there are lots of people out there struggling with their weight, as I did for many years, and I am getting the health benefits from my weight loss, which I am very pleased about, but it doesn't stop me having days where I wish I hadn't lost weight at all. And that's a very hard thing to accept."