Shaun Carrington, 31, from Dorset, weighed almost 34st at his heaviest and struggled with back and joint issues, skin infections and breathing difficulties.

He became self-employed because he was too self-conscious to get a job and wore 8XL clothes with a 66-inch waist.

His mother, Karen, convinced him to join Slimming World in February 2016 and Mr Carrington has since lost more than 20st 12lbs - with his waist slimming to 31 inches.

He has rediscovered his love of cycling, takes part in 20-mile rides and has been named Slimming World's Greatest Loser 2018.

"My weight was affecting every aspect of my life - so much so that I hadn't been to the doctors in years because I was so scared of what they'd say," he said.

"At work I'd snack throughout the day on chocolate, crisps and cake and wash everything down with a fizzy drink.

"Then once I was at home, I'd order a takeaway of some sort followed by ice cream and biscuits.

"It was the classic cycle of eating unhealthily and being very inactive. Suddenly, the scales were at 33st and I just couldn't see a way out."

Mr Carrington, who is 6ft tall, had been overweight since childhood but his weight spiralled from 2011 until he joined Slimming World.

His mother encouraged him to join the weight loss group after losing almost 6st herself through attending.

"I must admit I did think I would have to restrict myself and go hungry to lose weight," he said.

"In fact, I'd never even really tried to lose weight before because I think I'd just accepted that I'd be big forever."

He used to eat two bowls of cereal followed by buttered toast for breakfast, snack on chocolate and then have sandwiches, crisps, chocolate, cake and a pasty or sausage roll for lunch.

Dinner was a takeaway with ice cream and biscuits to follow.

Now he has a full English breakfast of grilled bacon, low-fat sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms with eggs cooked in a low calorie cooking spray.

Lunch is homemade pasta salad, chilli con carne or curry, with fresh fruit. Dinner is also homemade from one of Slimming World's recipe books, followed by fruit or a small chocolate bar.

Mr Carrington, who admits his health was in a "terrible state" before he lost weight, also rediscovered his love of cycling.

"I loved my bike as a teenager but eventually I just became too big to ride anymore," he said.

"Now that I'm a healthy weight I love going for a long ride at the weekends with my mates.

"A year into my weight loss I treated myself to a new bike and I haven't looked back since.

"Life is totally different now and I have so much more energy to do the things I enjoy."

Mr Carrington attends the Broadwey Slimming World group in Dorset and also runs his own groups in Weymouth.