Woman loses 140 pounds after struggling to fit in airplane seat: 'I never thought I weighed that much'

"This is the hardest thing I ever done in my life - but I don't regret a minute of it,” the fitness junkie said. (SWNS)

This is the incredible transformation of a super slimmer who lost 140 pounds to become a gym manager — after a man told her "you’d be pretty if you weren’t so fat."

Claire Murray, 35, piled on the pounds thanks to a diet of sausage rolls and fries, but even cruel comments didn't convince her to ditch the junk. It wasn't until she struggled to fit her nearly 280-pound frame into a plane seat on a girls’ trip to Turkey that she vowed to change.

"I boarded the plane on holiday in June 2015 to turkey with two of my friends but to my horror — I couldn't barely squeeze my bum into the plane seat,” she remembers. (SWNS)

She hit the gym as soon as she got home, and running and spinning helped her shed more than 70 pounds.  But she was left with heavy skin around her tummy — and her weight loss was boosted when she had a pound of flesh cut off.

Inspired, Murray got a job running a gym, losing 28 more pounds. Now she boasts huge muscles and can deadlift a staggering 280 pounds.

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"I was bingeing on savory and fatty foods. One man even said 'you would look so pretty if weren't fat,'" said Murray, of Glasgow, Scotland.

"It was at that moment that I thought to myself that I needed to change my habits and I desperately needed the urge to join the gym." (SWNS)

"I never thought I weighed that much and completely ignored it until I went on holiday. I boarded the plane on holiday in June 2015 to turkey with two of my friends but to my horror — I couldn't barely squeeze my bum into the plane seat,” she remembers.

"It was at that moment that I thought to myself that I needed to change my habits and I desperately needed the urge to join the gym. I absolutely love my body now and I now inspire others to help them shed the pounds.”

She admits she felt so insecure about her body she struggled to walk through the gym doors — but started going five times a week. (SWNS)

"This is the hardest thing I ever done in my life, but I don't regret a minute of it,” the fitness junkie added.

Murray was working as a store manager when she struggled to fit into her plane seat in June 2015.

She admits she felt so insecure about her body she struggled to walk through the gym doors — but started going five times a week.

"After six months, I even went running at 4:30 in the morning for over six miles which was extremely difficult, then straight for a second run after work about 6 p.m.," she said.

Ten months into it, Murray had lost 70 pounds. (SWNS)

"This was followed straight after by a one-hour spin class. The working out got to point where some of my friends decided to distance themselves from me because of my dedication to the program,” Murray said.

Ten months later, she had lost 70 pounds.

"I couldn't believe it, I was shedding all of this weight and my body shape began to change drastically," Murray said. "I felt like I was on winning weight streak and the exercise was having a big impact."

Murray said: "I felt extremely good and it was how I was shaping my body - my confidence kept growing all of the time. After three months, I could deadlift more than 250 pounds and now look super fit." (SWNS)

But she was struggling to lose more weight due to excess skin, and her doctor said surgery was the only option.

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Paying almost $8,000 for surgery, she had a seven-hour tummy tuck, during which surgeons removed a pound of flab. She was impressed with the results and started doing five days a week of resistance training, focusing on free weights and deadlifts.

Murray said: "I felt extremely good and it was how I was shaping my body — my confidence kept growing all of the time. After three months, I could deadlift more than 250 pounds and now look super fit."

Claire Murray, 35, piled on the pounds thanks to a diet of sausage rolls and fries, but even cruel comments didn't convince her to ditch the junk. (SWNS)

Murray finally landed her dream job in June 2017 as a general manager of Anytime Fitness in Glasgow.

"It was a hard process but showing off my physique and how I embraced my body managed to help me secure my dream job,” she said.

"My secret is a healthy balanced diet, [starting with] a clean protein source such as chicken and steak,” Murray said of her healthy new life. "If you have the confidence to achieve something like this, then you should certainly go for it."

This story was originally published by SWNS.