Lots of people think Facebook is a rather unhealthy habit, yet it helped Tracy Nicholson, 34, lose 50 kg.

Tracy’s son Dylan is 8, and her daughter Chloe is 5. Tracy says she  began putting on weight after she left school and struggled to control her overeating following the birth of her children.

One day Tracy uploaded a photo of hers on Facebook. “I uploaded the picture but regretted it immediately. I was suddenly very anxious about what people would think about me - about how I could have let myself become so overweight,” she told Daily Mail.

She soon joined a local slimming group where she drew up an eating plan which permanently banned crisps from her daily diet.

When Tracy was overweight, she ate two slices of toast for breakfast, then a cheese sandwich and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps for lunch. Then she had an evening meal of sausage and chips. She would snack on crisps and chocolate with coffee throughout the day.

Today, she usually has fruit or boiled eggs for breakfast, then ham salad with beetroot and pickled onions for lunch. In the evening she eats a handful of pasta with cheese. Instead of snacks she began treating herself to a bup of fruit tea.

“I gave myself four weeks - that’s how long I thought I’d last at slimming club. But by the end of the fifth week I was still there, and I was amazed to find that I’d lost a stone and a half. As I kept losing more and more, I was only more motivated to keep going with the eating plan,” Tracy said.

Today, Tracy weighs about 71 kg She says she has much more energy and can now play with her children or even race them on the school run.

“My life has changed out of all recognition - I feel so much better now, and I don’t worry about putting photos on Facebook any more,” Tracy said.