"Last April I was a size 24 and living on junk food. Then a stroke and a cancer scare shocked me into action, I thought I was going to die. Now I'm 9 stones lighter and a size 8/10. I'm never going back."

Paula, 44, has lost almost half her body weight using the portion control plate, The Diet Plate and regular exercise. She says it's changed her life and brought her back to good health.

Weight before: 20 stone

Weight after: 11 stone

Paula works part time as an office manager; she's married with two children aged 8 and 18 and lives in Mottram, Greater Manchester.

I used to work at a haulage company: it was all men. I'd eat the same as them, fried egg and bacon rolls and chips for lunch. I became hooked on comfort eating and the weight crept up. I got lazy and fat. We had a horse, would got to lots of shows, eat a MacDonald's for breakfast and a takeaway curry when we got home.

In April last year I had a minor stroke. I was in the shower when it happened. I remember looking at the shower gel and not being able to read the label, my vision went distorted. I dropped it and ran into my daughter's room and she called an ambulance, thinking I'd hit my head. After tests, the hospital concluded I'd had a minor stroke.

Shortly after that I found a lump under my arm. My sister died from cancer and it started with a lump under her arm, in the same place. I felt sick, thinking surely this was it, I couldn't have long to live. Fortunately it turned out to be benign but it was the biggest shock and scare, I had seriously resigned myself to only having a few months to live.

When I got the all clear, I thought, this is it, I HAVE to do something about my life and health. I have to change.

In the past I'd tried every kind of diet and nothing had worked  liquid, Cambridge Diet, Weight Watchers, I would do them for a couple of weeks weighing myself constantly and when I didn't seem to be losing enough weight, I'd feel awful and comfort myself with food. Then I'd give up, thinking what's the point. I knew I had to do something different this time.

I had met Kay, the inventor of The Diet Plate who had an office near me. She told me about the plate, how she invented it to help her lose weight and explained how easy it is to use. It's all about portion control. So I thought, it's got to be worth a go.

I started using it in April last year, at size 24 and still use it now, every day. I'm now 11 stone and a size 8-10.

It's re-educated me in terms of how much I'm eating. There's no weighing or calorie counting. Instead the plate teaches you how to control portion sizes and food groups, meaning you can still eat normal food, it's so easy, it's become a part of my normal life, I just use this plate instead the usual ones. I now know how much I should be eating when I go out, I can still have my curry but I know I won't eat it all, The Diet Plate has retrained me for life.

I also make exercise a part of my day, I walk for an hour everyday come rain or shine. At first I couldn't manage 15 mins but I'd go out in my lunch hour and built it up. I swim too around 3 times a week. I never think about dieting, I see portion control and exercise as my lifestyle now, this is me and I won't be going back to the old me, ever.

My husband and kids are great, they've been so supportive and love that I have so much more energy and confidence. What has been amazing though is some of my friends and how their attitude has changed towards me as I've lost the weight. I'm shocked at how many people have told me stop and said I'm getting too thin, it's almost as if they want to sabotage the new, healthy and happy me.