A woman has lost a jaw-dropping 7 stone 8lbs in a year, simply by drinking nine cups of green tea each day.
Mum-of-two, Samantha Rees used to weigh 17-and-a-half stone, which she blames on an unhealthy diet of greasy food and sugary drinks.
But after learning she was morbidly obese last April, the 30-year-old decided she wanted to live to see her young children grow old.
So, she swapped buttery toast for tea and dropped four dress sizes in a year by downing around 2,000 cups of green tea.
Samantha Rees before her weight loss
The claims assessor from Salford, Greater Manchester, is now a size 10. She said that before her dramatic weight loss and at her "most unhealthy" she would have numerous cups of milky tea with sugar each day.
"And I'd always dunk a couple of biscuits in there, too," she added.
"People told me green tea is a 'superfood' that boosts metabolism and staves off hunger pangs. I always thought that was just a myth - but I was so desperate to lose weight I decided it was worth a go.
"I thought it was one of those crazy fads that people get obsessed with - but for me, it really worked. Some people swear by eating five portions of fruit and veg a day - for me, it's drinking nine cups of green tea."
Rees, who became a mum at just 15, has always struggled with her weight and believes that the dread of her expanding waistline led her to gorge herself on fatty and sugary treats.
She said: "I was a young mum, but it left my body unlike other girls my age. I was around a size 18 and weighed almost 15 stone by the age of 18.
"I hated my body and couldn't pull off the extra weight because I was so petite. But feeling miserable about the way I looked only made me want to eat more."
Now Rees finally has the body she longed for and swears the healthy tea is the key to her weight loss.
SEE ALSO:
Botched Up Bodies: Man Left With Saggy Skin After Shedding 17 Stone Gets Life-Changing Surgery
Mother And Son Reveal Amazing Weight Loss Transformation After Diet And Fitness Overhaul
Woman Left With Excess Skin After Extreme Weight Loss Hits Back After Her Photo Is Branded A Fake
She said: "Last April, I had been avoiding the scales for some time, but my clothes were becoming so tight I knew I needed to see how big I'd become - and the scales showed almost 18 stone.
"I was shocked and immediately Googled my BMI - and discovered that this weight meant I was 'morbidly obese'. I was mortified - I knew I had to change or I might die."
Rees completely overhauled her diet and drastically cut down the large number of calories she was consuming every day.
Before her health kick, Samantha would eat two slices of toast with butter for breakfast followed by a Mars bar mid-morning.
She would then eat two cheese sandwiches with a packet of crisps and another chocolate bar at lunchtime, followed by a pizza for dinner.
For snacks, Rees would get through half a packet of biscuits every day - washed down with five cups of milky, sugary tea.
But despite ditching her fatty diet for healthy food, the biggest boost for her weight loss was when she stopped drinking builders' brews - and took up the herbal bags instead.
She said: "I was moaning to a friend about my slow progress and she suggested starting the day with a green tea, as it's rumoured to speed up metabolism.
"At first I laughed it off, I thought the green-tea weight-loss was a fad. Plus, I hated green tea.
"I've always loved my super-sweet cuppas and the thought of replacing them with anything green made my stomach turn. That first cup of green tea tasted so bitter, I had to force it down."
Samantha Rees credits green tea for her weight loss transformation
But after the first month, Samantha had lost a stone - and she's never looked back since.
"I was amazed," she revealed. "Obviously I'd been eating well and cutting out my milky teas had probably helped, but my metabolism must have sped up, too - and I was certainly snacking less."
Rees woke up to a green tea and lemon, and then had them every hour on the hour until she got home from work - before relaxing in front of the telly with one final herbal cuppa.
This month - having drunk 2,160 green teas since September - Samantha hit her target weight of 9-and-a-half stone and her BMI has dropped from 46.3 to a healthy 24.8.
She added: "I look better now than I ever did in my twenties. I can't believe I had to force myself to swallow those green teas at first.
"Now my cups of green tea get me through the day. For me it's not a fad - it's a lifestyle."