Colchester Zoo's keeper Matt Hughes is celebrating a fantastic weight loss having reduced his body weight by half!
After reaching 25 stone Matt decided to change his eating habits and as a result he has successfully lost 12 and a half stone - more than the weight of a new born baby rhino!
Having already lost 7 and a half stone Matt tried Slimming World and in 38 weeks managed to lose the final five stone to reach his goal weight!
Matt said: "It has massively helped with my job too. I feel confident and can go into a shop knowing I can fit in the clothes, I used to swim but I used to hear young boys and girls laughing and making comments which really knocks your confidence. I have a little boy, Blake, who is two, and I didn't want him to hear those comments. Now I know he won't and want to make sure he doesn't say them too when he is older. I do feel like a snake or insect emerging from one part of my life to the next and I’m now ready to do anything I want."
Matt looks after a large number of species here at the zoo from our Amur tigers to our wolves and lemurs and the weight loss has certainly helped him to live a more active life both at work and home!
Matt is now launching a Slimming World in Braintree.
He said: "Having lived the life of an overweight person and lost half my body weight and now weighing under 12 ½ stone, I now want to help others in a similar situation by becoming a Slimming World consultant so I can help them feel as fantastic as I do."
Congratulations Matt!