As far as the 31-year-old is concerned it doesn't matter what she finds under the tree on December 25, because she already has the best present – a new body and a fulfilling new career to go with it.

Amy, who was born in Halifax, is for the first time in her life, what she describes as a "normal size." She was a big child, and carried on growing until she topped the scales at a staggering 18-plus stone. She wore size 28 clothes.

She says she had no idea how to shop for clothes because it wasn't a option. She simply bought whatever she could get to cover her huge frame. Now however the world (or should we say the shops) is her oyster because she has shed almost eight stone with WeightWatchers and it really has changed her life. It has given her the confidence to start her own business, a haberdashery and trimmings shop called Ribbon Circus in Hebden Bridge.

Amy worked as an au pair in the US after leaving Brooksbank School, Elland, but returned to this country to go to university. After graduating she got a job with the BBC in the documentaries and history department and worked her way up the ladder.

She spent the next seven years making documentaries about people changing their lives for the BBC and Channel 4. They included Jimmy's Farm, Apply Immediately and Life Begins Again. "I discovered making television with real people was far more interesting that working with celebrities, and I built a niche for myself making documentaries about people transforming their lives, never realising that one day I would be in their shoes," says Amy who lives in Luddenden Foot with her mum, Helen Leader.

It was a health shock that send Amy into freefall. "I went to see my GP and he thought I might have diabetes. As it turned out I didn't, but the shock was enough to make me do something about my weight. I knew if I had had diabetes I would have caused it myself and that there was something I could do about it."

She joined WeightWatchers two-and-a-half years ago and says not only is she now more fit and healthy but she would never have dreamed of going it alone and starting her own business.

She says she couldn't have lost the weight on her own. "WeightWatchers deals with the whole package and helps you get your head around the reasons behind your weight gain.

"It's not about food, hunger or dieting, it's about what's going on in your head. Once you have got your mind round what you are doing and made that decision to lose weight, it is much easier than you think to succeed."

She is now a member of Denise Weston's Tuesday evening class at Hebden Bridge and says the support she gets from Denise and other members is crucial. It helps keep her on track.

She now weighs 10-and-a-half stone and takes a size 14, and believes she won't regress because of her attitude and the fact she has lost her weight slowly.

Fashion and embellishing garments and accessories are now among her passions, and she couldn't be in a better spot.