AN OSWALDTWISTLE woman spent £9,000 achieving her dream body after 10 years hiding it away.

Years of yo-yo dieting and weight gain during pregnancy left 29-year-old Michelle Green from Oswaldtwistle with a wrinkled “doughy” stomach and “spaniel’s ears” breasts.

But she spent £9,000 having breast implants and a tummy tuck with a company based in Marbella, Spain, and said it had changed her life.

Before the mum-of-two, who owns Pasha Nails and Beauty Salon in Infant Street, Accrington, wore tight-fitting control pants under her everyday clothes and said wearing a bikini ‘filled her with terror’.

Michelle, who has experimented with the cabbage soup diet, Atkins, and weight-loss milkshakes since going on her first diet at the age of 13, said she wanted to warn other young girls from losing weight too quickly.

Her skin was further stretched when she started eating up to eight bars of chocolate a day during her first pregnancy at 19 – which saw her gain six stone to nearly 15 stone and jump from a size eight to a size 22.

She also gained four stone during her second pregnancy six years ago.

After the births of her son Jordon and daughter Ria, she spent an hour at the gym every day – but losing the weight only left her with ‘wrinkled, empty skin’.

She said: “I’ve always battled to control my weight and yo-yo diets ruined my skin.

“Depriving myself of treats for so long meant that pregnancy was an excuse to tuck in – and I can be a real pig when I want to be. I lost the weight afterwards, but hadn’t counted on the wrinkly, saggy skin. I felt like I had the body of a much older woman.”

Three years ago, Michelle took out out a £5,000 loan for a breast uplift and implants taking her from a 34B to a 34DD which firmed the loose skin.

Her stomach was still her major worry and she began saving for a tummy tuck although her family were initially against it. Eventually her mother decided to pay for the £4,000 operation because it was so important to Michelle.

They discovered a company called Mills And Mills online, which has a clinic in Marbella, and Michelle flew out in March with her mum for moral support. She said: “The standards with hygiene and everything is so much better abroad and it’s like you’re at a hotel. It was cheaper too, saving me about £2,000.”

The operation took four hours as the surgeon cut away the extra skin, tightened Michelle’s stom-ach and created a new belly button: “Now, complete strangers compliment me on my tiny waist and I can’t put any weight on my stomach, even though it used to be my problem area.

“When I first saw it was so perfect, I couldn’t believe it was mine.”

For more information visit www.millsmedical.com or call 0871 218 2182.