Stuart McDonagh before

AT 40 years old, Stuart McDonagh should have been happy marrying the girl of his dreams, but inside he was miserable.

Stuart McDonagh after

Stuart was nearly 19st and had tried to lose weight for the big day but nothing worked and so, despite losing a few pounds, he was overweight on his wedding day.

A small niggle in Stuart’s knee turned into a “massive problem” as he began to be unable to walk long distances or walk upstairs unless he went sideways, and playing on the trampoline with his young children was completely out.

But, now 43, Stuart has shed nearly 6st and works as a personal trainer and gym instructor at Gosling Sports Park, in WGC.

So how did Stuart turn his life around?

He told the WHT: “I went to the doctor to speak about my knee and he weighed me, looked me up and down and in not so many words told me I was too fat.

“I told him that I didn’t eat that much. In return he chuckled to himself and told me to do a food diary and see the practice nurse.

“The anger and indignation soon turned to action as I became obsessed with learning about the human body and why it stores fat, how it does it and what can be done to stop it, avoiding mainstream diet advice, it hadn’t worked before and I saw no reason it would now.

“I devoured any book I could find on the subject of obesity. One book turned to 15 and then more, soon the information started to make sense and as I adapted what I had learned to my own diet I began to lose weight at a good pace.

“I then decided I needed to strengthen my body and help it along, it then progressed to me achieving qualifications in fitness instructing and personal training.”

But Stuart attributes his knowledge of nutrition as the overriding factor in his weight loss. He added: “I want to pass all of this knowledge onto others so they don’t have to live a life of misery because of weight problems.

“I’ve lost five-and-a-half stone so far without counting calories or points, without having green days or red days or any other quick-fix fad diet, just real food eaten in a way so that your body uses the stored fat rather than keep storing it.”

On his weight loss and new career, he said: “Not bad for a guy who 16 months ago never went to the gym and couldn’t get up a flight of stairs. If I can do it then anyone can with the right instruction and knowledge.”