Obese teen uses cruel taunts to inspire her to lose weight and become pageant queen

A formerly obese teenager has told how cruel taunts from bullies inspired her to get fit and become a beauty pageant queen.

Keli Kryfko, 23 - the current Miss South Texas titleholder - weighed more than 200lbs when she was at middle school and wore a U.S. dress size 24.

But at the age of 14 she decided to get in shape after hearing another student refer to her as 'the fat girl' when she failed a P.E. fitness test.

'I knew that that’s not what I wanted my definition to be anymore,' Miss Kryfko said.

In a bid to battle the bulge, one of the first things the Houston native did was ditch sugary sodas for water.

'I decided that I needed to make a change and I started by kicking out Dr Pepper which I always say was my toughest break-up to date.'

From there, Miss Kryfko started making other small changes to her diet.

'I just used logic,' she recalled. 'I thought, well I probably need to eat less fried foods and maybe I can eat the burger without the cheese.'

In a year-and-a-half she managed to lose around 70lbs and 100lbs in total. The natural brunette's transformation was complete with the addition of platinum blonde hair. 

With a newfound sense of confidence, Miss Kryfko decided to explore the world of beauty pageants and witnessed quick success.

Her biggest wins so far include Miss Allen 2012, Miss Limestone 2013 and Miss South Texas 2014.

There is no better revenge than becoming better than your adversaries ever thought you'll be.