A little over a year ago, Natasha Suliman was a size 18 law student who used her dedication to become a lawyer as an excuse for being overweight. Today, after having dropped no less than 10 dress sizes and leading a much healthier life, she is Miss Carmarthenshire, about to enter the Miss Wales beauty pageant and, from there, move on for a chance at the Miss World title, as we learn from her inspirational story now running in the Daily Mail.

22-year-old Natasha is not trying to send any kind of message to anyone, whether they’re trying to lose weight, or have already accepted and made peace with their body. What she’s trying to do with running in the beauty pageant and making her story heard is to show the world how she chose a healthier life, and came out the better for it. She is, as per her own words, too happy about her impressive achievement not to shout it to the world.

“Less than two years ago I was a bit of a blob. I was eating all the wrong things and the most glamorous thing I ever wore was my orange B&Q uniform. But I saw my reflection at work one day and decided it was time for a change.” Natasha tells the Mail. Helen Porter, B&Q store manager in Llanelli, where the now beauty queen works, agrees that her example is admirable. “Natasha has worked for us for four years and we’ve seen her flower into a beautiful young woman.” Porter explains.

Nevertheless, Natasha is not doing the beauty pageant circuit right now because this was her secret dream since ever or anything along those lines, since she has serious plans to continue studying politics in university. She is thrilled though that she has managed to go where perhaps few other girls before have gone, that is, into the pageant world without being groomed for the “job” ever since she was a young girl, as is usually the case with beauty queens.

“Like a lot of students I’d eat rubbish late at night and wouldn’t cook a proper meal. I’d skip breakfast and I’d eat junk food constantly. One day I just decided that I wanted to start eating healthily and lose weight. I watched what I ate and started going to the gym three times a week as well as walking along the Millennium coastal path. You have got to want to do it and you have got to stick at it because at times it’s really hard work.” Natasha previously told the media about how she lost all the weight.