Last updated at 07:47 28 December 2007

There is one Christmas card missing from the usual line-up on Sam Hunter's mantelpiece.

It is the one from her local Indian takeaway, thanking her for being such a loyal and regular customer.

Mrs Hunter, 38, is delighted to have been forgotten - because it means that she stuck to her massive weightloss goal for 2007.

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The mother of two, a nurse, shed eight stone in 12 months after giving up her beloved curries.

She shrank from a size 26, at 17 stone, to a petite size eight to ten.

It is a radical change from last Christmas, when she was feeling lethargic and old before her time.

"I used to go to the Indian takeaway as many as four times a week," she said.

"My husband always told me he loved me how I was, but I felt huge and embarrassed.'

Mrs Hunter, from York, had struggled with her weight for years.

In 2000 the family moved to Australia, where she believed her quality of life would improve.

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Instead, her size meant the heat was unbearable and they were forced to return to the UK.

She said: "I sweated so much that I developed abscesses on my tummy and thighs."

On their return, she took a job as a maternity nurse at York District Hospital.

"The patients were always giving me chocolates as thank-you gifts," she recalled.

"I would think nothing of eating a whole family-size tin all by myself.

"On top of that, I would have cereal and toast for breakfast, a bacon sandwich, a bowl of soup, crisps and cakes for lunch, a plate of pasta from the hospital canteen for tea and then pick up a takeaway on the way home."

But everything changed when she was given the autobiography of the late Jane Tomlinson for Christmas in 2006.

Mrs Tomlinson raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities while battling the disease.

Mrs Hunter said: "It gave me a new perspective on life and inspired me to take up running.

"Exercise was agony at first, but I started losing weight, which inspired me to ditch my old eating habits.

"The manager at the takeaway even called to ask if I was okay because I hadn't been in for so long."

By September, she was fit enough to finish the Great North Run half-marathon, raising funds for a friend's son who has muscular dystrophy. "When I crossed the finishing line in just two hours, I felt really emotional," she said.

"For the first time I didn't feel embarrassed to be me.

"I might not be getting a Christmas card from the Indian takeaway this year, but I will be slipping into a slinky little black dress and I couldn't be happier."