IT’S been a long battle against the bulge for Darren Bassett, but thanks to a decision he made at the start of this year he’s completely changed his life and his waistline.

The 43-year-old overweight catering manager from Wordsley applied to take part in a challenge issued by personal trainer Sally-Ann Wood and has shed just over six stone from his bulky frame in six months.

Darren, who works for Debenhams at Merry Hill, was put on a strict exercise regime and healthy eating plan by Sally-Ann, of Fit4Life Personal Training in Amblecote, after he was selected as winner of her weight loss competition – which invited people looking to lose at least five stone to apply for 26 weeks worth of free personal training.

Having achieved his target and dropped from a 54 inch to a 36 inch waist, Darren says applying to take part in the challenge which has transformed him was one of the “best things” he’s ever done.

He said: "I was massively obese and weighed 24 stone and four pounds. Added to that, I was a type 2 diabetic. But since I've started losing weight, I've been able to reduce my medication and my blood sugar levels are the lowest they've ever been.

"My GP has been so impressed, that she even asked for Sally-Ann's details herself.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Darren, who wrote a weekly blog about his experience. He admitted: "I felt completely knackered all the time when I first started the challenge.”

And he says he was, at first, “horrified” at the thought of being a “big fat wobbly man training with a group of women” when Sally-Ann invited him to attend her women-only Boxercise classes at her gym on the Platts Road industrial estate.

He said: "I really didn't want to do it and tried everything to get out of it.

"But failure wasn't an option. I knew I would have to stick to the plan when taking up the challenge because it was in the public domain. I had a huge number of followers on Facebook and not doing it would have been letting them down, let alone Sally-Ann.

"Now it's got to the point where I've got the bug and I will continue with the training.

"People now describe me as an inspiration, but I'm not. I'm really an example of how not to live your life.”

He added: “As a catering manager, I work with food all day long and that has proved quite challenging because I do have to taste the food for its quality.

"But a great deal of it comes down to will power and that should never be under-estimated. I now feel so much better about myself, have much more energy and I'm much more confident as a person.”

Darren, who used to play rugby for Brixham, Teignmouth and Newquay when he lived in the South West, is now considering venturing back onto the pitch following his weight loss success – something that he says “would have been unthinkable six months ago”.

He is also continuing his fitness training with Sally-Ann and will be helping his mentor to choose her next weight loss candidate when the competition is re-launched in November.

Anyone interested in taking up the challenge next time can find out more online at http://www.fit4lifeptuk.com/ or email fit4lifept@hotmail.co.uk.

To read more about Darren’s weight loss challenge go to https://fit4lifept.wordpress.com/