Richard's slimming success

Richard McDonald, 30, decided to join the weight-loss group after discovering that most of his clothes no longer fitted him. After enrolling with his wife Bernadette, Richard admitted that he was embarrassed at first as he was the only man in the class.

He said: “It was hard to begin with and I did get some stick from the other women. But I was also made to feel welcome and soon started to build up my confidence. It became a bit of a competition between all of us to see who could lose the most weight.”

Richard was described as a “star pupil” by his group leader, Sarah Leavey. “He is an inspiration to the rest of the class. It must have been tough for him being the only man, but he persevered and has achieved fantastic results. I am so proud of him and he seems so much happier in himself now. Richard really deserves it as he has worked so hard.”

The Ballygally man has revealed the secret to his fantastic weight-loss. “Bread was the real killer for me and I had to give that up,” he added. “But it is important not to deprive yourself. If you are craving something really badly, it is better to just go ahead and eat it and then work harder the next day to make up for it.

“I also had to cut down on fatty foods and alcohol. I like my beer and I still go out and enjoy myself - just not every weekend!”

Having dropped from just over 16 stone to about 13-and-a-half stone, Richard intends to persevere until he reaches his goal of 13 stone.

The father of two added: “I am feeling great now after losing all that weight. I am much more active and enjoy being able to jump about on the trampoline and play football in the garden with the kids. Before losing weight I was embarrassed doing this, as I got out of breath and the children were running rings around me."

Richard joined Slimming World at the start of the 12-week Beat Obesity in the Community campaign. In those 12 weeks, Sarah revealed that her morning group has lost over 47 stone, while her evening group lost almost 60 stone, making a grand total of more than 107 stone in lost weight. The group plan to throw a party in celebration of this fantastic achievement.