In an effort to slim from a size 18 to a size 8, she survived on just a few hundred calories a day before the bulimia began – bingeing and making herself sick.

Today she manages to eat healthily for most of the year, but the prospect of baring her flesh in summer sends her eating habits spiralling out of control – until she gets down to 8st 3lb and can fit into a size 6-8 bikini.

“I feel more in control in winter, when there’s not as much pressure to be skinny,” she says.

“But when it comes to wearing a bikini, I need to lose as much weight as I can, as quickly as I can.

"I start my dieting regime around April, three months before my holiday, and carry on until I get back.

“I might have an apple and a piece of toast a day, but then I get so hungry I end up gorging on fatty foods and making myself sick.”

Sabine, who currently weighs 8st 8lb and is a size 8, is nervous about her forthcoming holiday to Latvia.

“I’ve already slimmed down from a size 12,” she says.

“But I have another month to go and I know I’ll never feel thin enough.”

A recent survey revealed that four in five women are stressed out by the thought of baring all on the beach.

Psychologist and principal of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, Deanne Jade, says: “Lots of my patients dread their holidays.

"They think everyone will be looking at them, or they try to compete with friends they think have a perfect figure.

"This anxiety can lead to a full-blown eating disorder relatively easily."

Celebs might have to take some blame for promoting the beach body ideal.

In April, actress Natalie Cassidy – who recently lost 4st – took her personal trainer with her on holiday to Portugal to ensure she stuck to a tough exercise regime.

Tina Salminen, a 22-year-old customer services assistant from London, feels the same pressure.

At 5ft 4in and currently weighing 9st, she has always been slim.

But when Tina wears a bikini, all she sees is a “mass of flabby flesh” and feels repulsed by her size 10-12 figure.

“I look in the mirror and feel angry I haven’t been more self-disciplined,” she says.

“I put on over 1st in winter because I eat what I want – and I love chocolate.

"But I take drastic action to lose weight for summer to get into my bikini.”

About six weeks before her holiday, Tina embarks on a regime to lose almost 1st, which involves a week-long fast when she eats only soups or juices to kick-start her weight loss.

“Fasting shrinks my stomach so I don’t need to eat as much to feel full,” she says.

Tina starts her day with black coffee and an orange, then eats only fruit and green vegetables, and drinks up to 31 glasses of water.

She never eats after 6pm.

“If I crave chocolate, I put it in my mouth to get the taste then spit it out,” she says.

“My regime takes self-discipline, but by the time I get back into my bikini I’m a size 6-8, having dropped from my winter weight of 9st 8lb to about 8st 2lb, and I feel good about myself.”

Deanne Jade says the best thing you can do pre-holiday is not panic.

“Crash dieting or extreme exercise is destructive,” she explains.

“You might look thinner, but you’ll feel tired, have spots, and your skin may sag from losing weight too quickly – that’s a high price to pay for conforming to the ridiculous size zero ideal.”

THE EXERCISE OBSESSIVE

Emma Watts, 28, an artist from Somerset, says:

I ditch my couch-potato ways a couple of months before my holiday and start an intensive fitness regime.

I don’t have the discipline to diet – I’d much rather hit the gym or do a five-mile run.

Once I’ve booked my summer holiday, I’m extremely motivated.

I find it easy to spring out of bed at 6am for
an exercise class, then do another one after work.

My routine involves daily yoga, spinning or a body-combat class.

If I can’t fit one in before work, I do two in the evening.

I might go for a swim in my lunch break, and I try to do a couple of eight-mile runs during the week.

I also do 150 crunches a day, and an hour’s weight training.

I’m 5ft 5in, size 10-12 and usually weigh around 9st 7lb.

That’s not overweight, but it’s not my ideal bikini body either.

I see the results within a few weeks, which keeps me motivated to get down to a size 6-8 and around 8st 7lb.

Sometimes I wake up exhausted with aching muscles, but the thought of wobbling on the beach keeps me going.

After my holiday I wind down, and in winter I go back into hibernation, but I’m always proud of my beach holiday snaps – and after working so hard beforehand, I deserve to be.

Do you worry to the extreme about wearing a bikini on holiday? When do you start panicking about what you’ll look like on the beach? What do you do to lose weight before your holiday?

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Photography: Syriol Jones Hair & Make-Up: Caroline Piasecki & Sadie Hewlett at Time Props: John Lewis