Slimmer Dean sheds 8 stone in 10 months

Checkout operator Dean Hubbard weighed 27st 6lbs at his heaviest but has changed his life by losing an incredible eight stone in just ten months.

Dean, 50, had struggled with his weight for 10 years after the breakdown of a relationship and was considered for gastric surgery before he decided to make a change.

Dean said: “I couldn’t even walk to the bus stop without being shattered. Asda is two minutes’ walk from the bus stop but I would have to sit down on a wall. It got to the point where I went shopping with my mum and I was bench-hopping from one to the next.

“I just thought I would leave it until the next week, but the next thing you know, you are huge. I even thought of getting a little scooter. I took a look at myself and I was disgusted. I thought ‘I need to do something about this’.”

A free Slimming World voucher in a magazine was the first step Dean needed to join his local club in Thornhill Lees in February.

Dean, of Doubting Road, Thornhill, said: “It took me a while before I could walk through the door. It was something I thought of as a women’s club.”

But Dean said the beaming smile of group leader Sarah Marsden made him feel at home, and soon the weight started dropping off.

Sarah said: “I’m extremely proud of Dean. He has dramatically transformed his life. He is just enjoying life now – he was just existing before.”

Dean added: “It was a lot easier than I thought. It’s about knowledge – you can have chips, it’s just how you cook them. It’s not a diet, more a change of lifestyle.

“I might have lost 8st but I’ve gained so much more. I feel happier, healthier and have loads more confidence.”

Dean now weights 19st 3lbs and hopes to lose a few more stone by regularly playing badminton, cycling and walking to work.