A bulky bridegroom who weighed nearly 21 stone has lost half his body weight on a crash diet – after being shamed into losing weight by his wedding photos.
Karl Indge, 25, tipped the scales at 20 stone 9lbs when he married his high school sweetheart Kim, 22, in April last year.
But he was horrified when he saw the wedding photos and felt that his massive bulk had ”ruined” the entire album.
So he joined a local slimming group, cut out takeaways and began exercising – and lost nine stone in ten months.
Karl, who now weighs 11 stone 9lbs, said: ”I didn’t realise I’d put on so much weight because the way you look at yourself every day in the mirror is a gradual thing.
”But looking at the pictures I just thought, ‘I’ve ruined them,’ because my wife looked so beautiful and I just didn’t.
”My lovely wife disagreed of course, but that was the shock I needed to force me into change.
”I feel amazing – like it’s given me my life back. I dread to think if I’d carried on eating the way I was, and not exercising, what could have happened.
”I think I’ve prolonged my life – by looking at my wedding photos. It’s quite amazing. And I’m lucky that I’ve done it while I’m young enough to really change my life.”
Engineer Karl, of Swindon, Wilts., joined his local Slimming World group in May last year after returning from his honeymoon with Kim.
He ditched the takeaways, of which he was eating up to FIVE a week, and started on a low calorie food plan coupled with cardiovascular exercise at his gym.
Amazingly, 5ft 9in tall Karl managed to shed nine stone in only ten months, hitting a stable weight of 11 stone 9lbs in March this year.
He says he can ”barely recognise himself” and his waist has also shrunk from 48 inches to a modest 32 inches.
He no longer suffers the embarrassment of being unable to pull his tray table down on holiday flights, and getting up and down ladders at work no longer leaves him breathless.
He added: ”I think the hardest bit for me was admitting that I needed to lose weight. It’s always easy to joke about it, but underneath it hurts.
”But the wedding topped it off. I knew I needed to do something. And in the future we want to have children and I want to be able to run around and stuff like that.
”I weighed 20 stone 9, and I had a 48 inch waist. Then I just changed my lifestyle totally. I went to eating four or five takeaways a week to maybe having one once a month.
”I go to the gym about five times a week now and I’ve started playing football again.
”Kim’s over the moon. She never said anything before because she always loved me for who I was, but without her help I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
”She did it with me, and even though she’s always been quite small and didn’t really need to lose any weight she’s lost just over a stone.”
Karl’s transformation saw him nominated as Man of the Year at the National Slimming World Awards last month, where he was handed a £500 cheque for his achievement.
Brenda Allen, Karl’s consultant for Highworth Slimming World group, said: ”I am so proud of what Karl has achieved.
”It takes a lot to admit you are overweight and that you need to do something about it but he has really embraced his new lifestyle and is a great source of inspiration for others.
”Seeing him standing on the podium at the awards was a great moment and he deserves all the recognition he gets for all the hard work he has put in.”
