IF you thought weight loss king Mark Maden’s drop of six stones in six months was astonishing, meet Vickie Howe.

The young mum has lost a whopping 10 stones in weight in as many months.

Less than a year ago Vickie Howe was a size 28 regularly eating chocolate and takeaways without exercise.

But after paying £115 for acupuncture treatment Vickie’s has binned the junk food and is now a sleek size 14.

Mum-of-one Vickie, 28, of Lodge Street, Accrington, said: "In seven years I went from a size 14 to a size 28.

"Ten months ago I was 23 stones and 4lbs but I’m now 13 stones and 5lbs thanks to acupuncture."

And customer service supervisor Vickie said inspiration to fight the pounds came from friends and family.

But she believes her biggest help came from acupuncture treatment.

Vickie gently had needles inserted into key points along the medians – which roughly correspond to the 12 major organs in the human body – to release the flow of blocked energy.

"I had tried everything but finally decided to pay for the acupuncture treatment to be done despite feeling sceptical about it," she said.

"They put a stitch in my ear and it stopped me over eating.

"I don’t know the exact science behind it but the weight just dropped off me.

"It stopped me thinking of food. I think it’s brilliant."

Vickie, a life-long vegetarian and former Mount Carmel High School pupil, had the stitch taken out of her ear in July last year and now exercises regularly on both a cross trainer in the gym and her Nintendo Wii.

"My body has been trained not to binge," she said.

"I was working full-time at Sleepmasters, doing no exercise and just eating convenience food like chocolate and takeaways because I couldn’t be bothered cooking healthy food.

"It was obviously the wrong thing to do.

"I want to keep losing weight now but only as long as I’m healthy while I’m doing it."