Man enjoying new lease of life after losing 20 stone in a year

A man who lost 20 stone - half his entire body mass - in one year is enjoying a new lease of life with an “amazing” new girlfriend.

28-year-old Darren “Dibsy” McClintock embarked on his weight loss regime last year, calling on the help of a personal trainer who banned him from local takeaway establishments.

The doctors warned him he was “eating himself to death”, which spurred on his drastic change.

He logged his progress online, which is how he met his now girlfriend, trainee nurse, Jade, 28.

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Dibsy credits his new self-confidence for enabling him to get on with Jade so well from the offset. The pair spoke over Facebook before going on their first “official” date to a bowling alley.

“My mindset now is completely different to how it was 18 months ago,” he said. “Before I wouldn't have tried anything new because I was scared about what people would think of me.”

“But now I feel comfortable in my own skin and like I can just be myself, it's an incredible turnaround.”

He initially went to personal trainer, Mike Hind, because he wanted a girlfriend to settle down with like his friends do.

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He embarked on a healthy eating and exercise routine which his personal trainer said “turned his life around”.

“Dibsy suffered a setback last month when an irregular heartbeat, which he had dealt with previously, returned and sidelined him from the gym.”

“He underwent an operation to fix the problem last week and, miraculously, he is already back on the treadmill continuing his weight loss journey.”

The process isn’t over for Dibsy just yet, though. Next year, he plans to undergo three surgeries to have his excess skin removed.

As far as he’s concerned, he’s on the right track. He said: “It’s onwards and upwards from here.”

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