Aspiring beauty queen, 20, who shed 10st reveals she struggled with body dysmorphia and still saw a 'fat girl in the mirror' after first losing weight

• Tori White, 20, from Liverpool, weighed 17st and was bullied because of her size
• She lost 10st but the extreme change left her struggling with her mental health
• Criminal law student now weighs 8st 11lbs and dreams of being a beauty queen 

A student who dreams of becoming a beauty queen revealed how she struggled with body dysmorphia after shedding 10st.

Tori White, 20, from Liverpool, described herself as a 'chubby girl' when she was younger and tipped the scales at 17st at her heaviest.  

After leaving school, where she was bullied because of her size, Tori, then a size 24, decided to lose weight but became so obsessed by her regime that she tipped to the 'other end of the scale' and dropped to 7st in two years. 

'I was just a skeleton,' she said. 'It was awful, and my mental health was even worse being smaller than what it was when I was bigger.'

Now Tori, a second year criminal law student at the University of Leeds, weighs 8st 11lbs and has her sights set on becoming a beauty queen in the hope of showing people it is 'what's on the inside that counts'.  

She said: 'I was heavily bullied in primary school because of my weight. I always felt like I was isolated and I never felt like a fully fitted in with the girls. Everybody was talking about boys and clothes and I just couldn't relate to that.

She continued: 'When you're going through puberty I know everybody struggles with working out who they are and my way of coping was turning to food.

'I would get a large Domino's pizza with a side of chicken strips and a tub of Ben and Jerry's at least once or twice a week.'

When she finished school at the age of 16 Tori decided to try and start dieting.

She said: 'I took my favourite meals that I really enjoyed and tried to make them healthier. I changed my plate size to make me feel like I've eaten more than I had and tricked my mind.'

However she soon became fixated on losing the weight and would have a 'panic attack' if she couldn't work out in the morning. She found that instead of over eating she was becoming overly controlling of her diet and exercise.  

'I lost roughly eight stone in nine months, but because I lost it so fast my mind hadn't adjusted to the way I looked and I really struggled with body dysmorphia,' Tori continued.

'I still believed I was the fat girl when I looked in the mirror so I ended up going right to the other end of the scale.' 

Now Tori, who is a size 8, has found her self confidence and even had the courage to wear a bikini for the first time ever, revealing her stomach stretch marks on her family holiday to Majorca, in June last year.

With some support and encouragement from her mum, Dawn, 50, Tori has entered the Miss Liverpool contest in a bid to go on and become the next Miss England so she can share her body positive message with girls across the globe.

She said: 'My mum said I'd be a good fit for it but I said I wasn't pretty enough or tall enough. A few days later I thought about it again and thought "I'm just going to do it" because it's all about celebrating different bodies.

'I always had to have the perfect picture for Instagram, I always felt pressure to look a certain way. Now I've realised I'm a person and not a profile. It's fine that we feel bloated some days or that we have stretch marks.

'It was only last year that I had the confidence to wear a bikini on holiday because of the saggy skin on my stomach.

'There's so many fake girls on Instagram so I try to post about what makes me feel insecure and show people something real.'

Tori has entered the running to become the next Miss Liverpool in the hope of going on to win the national crown

She added: 'If I were to go on to win Miss England I would have an even bigger platform to spread my message and tell people that they're beautiful no matter how they look or what size they are.'