A man ate 5,000 calories a day for 30 years has dropped a massive 14 stone in weight. Barrie Stewart said he was "surprised I'm still here".
Barrie once lived on a diet of crisps and takeaways, combined with six to eight cans of beer or cider a day. But one day his doctor gave him a wake-up call and since then he's dropped a huge 14st 7lbs.
Barrie said: "I'm shocked now that I've changed my life that I got myself in that position. I'm surprised I'm still here or my bones never crumbled.
"The start of the journey was the doctor telling me all my stats were in the red. I said to him 'don't sugar coat it just tell me.' I think he was going around the houses trying to get the point to me but not shock me, but I just wanted to know.
"I said 'what are you telling me?' He said to me 'all your vitals are in the red' - and that was enough to kick me into shape. It feels like your life is going down a plug hole and if you don't sort it out you're not going to see your kids grow up and my granddaughter."
Barrie weighed in at more than 26 stone at his heaviest, taking a size 5XL in clothes. He initially lost three and a half stone after he decided to stop drinking alcohol, but his diet stayed the same, reports the Liverpool ECHO.
However, since joining his local Slimming World group in Birkenhead in October 2019, the dad-of-two has now lost 14st 7lbs and gone from a 58 inch waist to 32. Barrie said he has also managed to reverse his type two diabetes and has completely changed his life.
He said: "The last time I was this weight it was 1979 when I was 15 years old. I broke my bed - it was just the weight of me over time, it just collapsed in the middle of the night. I thought it was happening in my dream until it was happening really.
"I had a blood sugar of 91, my blood sugar was scarily high, I can't remember the number - it was terrible. I was on three types of medication and I'm on nothing now."
Barrie's diet on a typical day before he lost weight:
Breakfast: sausage 'bin lid'
Snacks: Crisps
Lunch: Chinese takeaway
Dinner: Mixed grill washed down with 6-8 cans of cider or beer
Barrie's diet on a typical day now he's lost weight:
Breakfast: Boiled eggs
Snacks: fruit
Lunch: Fat free yoghurt with shreddies, nuts and fruit
Dinner: Slimming World ready meal such as a chicken curry or a homemade meal
Barrie said people often don't recognise him now he has lost weight and he's now keen to help other people who are in the same position he was a few years ago.
He added: "I didn't think I would ever achieve anything like this. When you see the scales and the results, and when I started my walking and saw I was able to achieve it, I could do it, it just spurred me on and I just became maybe a bit obsessed about it and I just loved the results."
