DIARY OF A FAT BRIDE; BRIDE-TO-BE ROZ BARRETT HAS BEEN BLOGGING DAILY ABOUT HER BATTLE TO DROP THREE DRESS SIZES.HERE ARE SOME HILARIOUS EXTRACTS...

Byline: Laura Coventry

I'M Rosie and this is the diary of a fat bride. So begins Roz Barrett's blog of her battle to be a size 10 by the time she gets married.

Determined to be a perfect 10 by her wedding next year, Roz decided the best way to motivate herself was by charting her progress on the web - for all the world to see.

And she reckons the daily blogs on Rosie Goes Crazy: Diary of a Fat Bride are helping in her quest to lose weight and drop two - or even three - dress sizes.

Her humorous anecdotes, which are also posted on Twitter, have attracted a following of more than 500 and it is encouraging the brideto-be to stick to her healthy eating plan.

Communications officer Roz's first blog says: "The looming ceremony is September 2010, a lot of time to lose weight maybe, but even more time to lose my mind trying."

After being diagnosed with a thyroid problem in 2004, Roz saw her weight rocket to 13-and-a-half stone, which is four stone overweight for her 5ft 2in frame. And with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 34, she was clinically obese.

Throughout her life, Roz's weight and waistline have fluctuated - once she dropped from a 13st, size 16 to a 9st, size 10 after someone was cheeky to her in the street.

Then in 2005, due to pressures at work, she lost 2st without really trying.

But now weighing in at 111/2st Roz, who works for Amey, the firm that maintains trunk roads across the west of Scotland, aims to drop afurther 2st to reach her ideal weight of 91/2st in time to walk up the aisle next year.

In the past, the self-confessed serial dieter has tried SlimmingWorld, Scottish Slimmers, WeightWatchers, The Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, CarolVorderman and Gillian McKeith's diets.

Often these healthy eating regimes encourage slimmers to write down what they eat to help them understand the amount they're consuming. But 38-year-old Roz has found an alternative way to cut the calories.

She said: "I find all that mundane and boring. I am writing a diary and I find that's helping. I was really writing it for my own sanity but one of my friends encouraged me to upload it to a blog. It's genuinely helping and I've been told it's funny, too. Often dieters write things down then eat something and choose not to write it down - but the only person they're cheating is themselves.

"I think the blog is the answer. Put it this way, if I'm writing I'm not eating!" Currently a size 14, Roz dreams of being a size 12 bride - with a size 10 her ultimate goal - when she marries her salesman fianc Mark Bonnar, 38.

The couple, of Uddingston, Lanarkshire, have been together for six years and Mark surprised Roz with his proposal of marriage on her 37th birthday.

But before she ties the knot, she will have to get over her chip obsession.

Roz, who admits to eating four portions of chips a week, says: "Chips are my weakness. That is my problem. Every day it's an inner battle. They are so warm and comforting."

She needn't worry about not reaching her weight-loss goal, as she's already bought her white, full-length, diamant, wedding gown in a size 16.

But she admits she would be delighted to pay for it to be taken in at least two dress sizes before her big day. Roz reveals: "If I bought it in a size any lower than that, I'd be putting too much pressure on myself. It's my dream dress. I absolutely loved it when I tried in on in March. I fitted it then but I haven't put it on since.

"I don't care if it costs money to take it in. It will be worth it. However, if the worst comes to the worst and I don't reach my target weight, at least I know I look amazing in it."

Here we take a look at extracts of Roz's diary of her humorous weight-loss journey:

SATURDAY,AUGUST 1

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and I'm feeling... fat! It's little over a year to the big day and my waistline is getting bigger with every bite of Green & Black's - I thought chocolate was supposed to be good for you?

Surely I'm not the only bride out there feeling like a whale? I keep seeing great weight-loss stories, where you could make a whole new person from the fat they've shed, but I'm a foodie. To quote the old clich: 'I've never met a calorie I didn't like!'

I bought my dress a few weeks ago, it's a size 16 - double the size I want it to be but I'm struggling to imagine my size eight days any more. Sometimes I wonder if they existed at all. The dress is hanging in all its glory in my mother's wardrobe, tempting me with its sparkles to tighten it up, desperate to make me do it the justice it deserves.

When the going gets tough I make a phone call and jump in the car to pay my dress a visit. Then I sit and chat with my mum about wedding plans till teatime, munch toffees while shouting I'll lose enough weight and burn enough energy to power the national grid. That's until I realise I'm hungry.

SATURDAY,AUGUST 8

Bouncing out of bed, I decide to bite the bullet and join in the military regime that awaits me at Strathclyde Country Park. It's not the fitness that puts me off as such, but the lack of drinking water, lack of chat and the midges down there are definitely on steroids.

Then, when I look around my feet, the livingroom's a mess, the kitchen needs a good scrub and the washing basket is overflowing. So it's off with the trainers and on with the Marigolds.

I don't mind this as with all these diet regimes, cleaning is classified as exercise. Having scrubbed the bottom part of the house from top to bottom, I'm delighted with my efforts. Diets, gyms and Munros can all take a big hike as I can get all the calorie-burning I need in the comfort of my own home.

WEDNESDAY,AUGUST 12

It's August and when I look back over the past year it shocks me to realise that I have three failed gym memberships, aWii Fit board lying under my couch in the living room, five workout DVDs and four lapsed weight class memberships.

I can't open the kitchen cupboard as an exercise ball falls off my freezer and hits me on the head. I have a sparkling set of weights, an exercise bike, six pairs of trainers, countless workout outfits and don't even ask how many trendy bags, rucksacks are taking up space in my wardrobe. They're right next to my wornonce hiking boots, waterproofs and flowery cagoule which seemed like such an investment at the time. Last month I bought the latestWii Fit exercise game and tomorrow I'm reinstating one of my gym memberships.

TUESDAY,AUGUST 18

Some people will tell you how to get somewhere using pubs as landmarks. I'll guide you to the nearest chippie.

I've often struggled with my weight, but on at least two occasions I've sent the fat packing and trimmed to a perfect 10 or eight. But not these days. I aim for a size 12, with a 10 as my ultimate goal. I developed a thyroid condition a few years back but the doctor gave me a magic little pill which lets me live a normal life. I like the excuse of having it though. It's not my fault I can't lose weight, it's my thyroid problem. It's nothing to do with the curries, McDonald's or KFCs and definitely is not the chips.

THURSDAY,AUGUST 20

If I'm going to get to grips with this then I of all people should know that success is in the planning. The wedding is booked to the point where I can't do another thing until next year.

The dress is bought, the hairstyle chosen and the dcor for the hall almost finalised. And yet I'm running about with my hair in a ponytail because I've no time to straighten it, having weird wedding dreams where it all goes wrong and chasing my ta ail to the point whereI stopped at the chuck wagon for a bite to eat first thing this morning. I promise tomorrow will be better.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27

Leaving the house this morning I had it in my head tonight would be gym night and I would have salmon and rice for dinner.

Myplans can changein an instant. It only takesa'remember we're going shopping tonight and we need toothpaste' to bring me back to earth with a bump to realise that I'm not just responsible for my well-being, but responsible for getting the other half to the supermarket. And my resolve weaken. Salmon and rice turns intoacooked chicken and chips barbecue sauce.

To follow Roz's weight-loss journey visit www.rosiegoes crazy.blogspot.com

CAPTION(S):

SLIM PICKINGS: The size 16 wedding dress Roz hop to a size 10 or 12, and she finds good use for an exepes to alter ercise ball IN DENIAL?: Of course, it's my thyroid problem that causes my weight gain - nothing to do with chips!