Slimmer Tim sheds 10 stones in a year

A slimmer from Whitchurch is unrecognisable even to his friends after shedding 10 stones in just one year.

Tim Collins, 32, was 22-and-a-half stones in July 2011 but is now a slim 12-and-a-half stones and people walk past him in the street without realising it is him. He has dropped from a 46ins waist to 32ins and lost all the weight by simply exercising and eating well.

He said he was spurred into action when he split up with a long-term partner.

"I wanted to lose weight because I split up with my girlfriend after eight-and-a- half years and when I joined the gym my friends thought I would only last two or three weeks, so I wanted to prove them wrong," he said.

"I wasn't eating particularly badly but I was just eating at the wrong time and the wrong type of things. I am now eating little and often instead.

"I have had help and support from my family but didn't go to any organisation, just off my own back.

"I have people that don't even recognise me as they walk past me in the street."

Mr Collins was going to the gym five or six times a week when he was shifting the pounds and still works out two or three times each week.

But he still eats a chocolate bar a day.

He said beforehand he was eating a lot of bread and crisps but now he eats more sensibly.

"Now as long as I'm sensible I can eat pretty much whatever I want," he said.

"I have not had to cut anything out of my diet.

"I do have smaller portions and I eat more salads now but I still have a chocolate bar every day."

Mr Collins worked as a landscape gardener for 12 years but has since worked as a prison officer at Shrewsbury Prison and now works at Image in Market Drayton, a confectionery firm making gingerbread biscuits for the likes of Costa Coffee.

"Working in the food industry is fine," he said.

"You get sick of it pretty quickly so I'm not tempted. I feel completely different now."