James is half the man after shedding 11st 7lb

After years of stuffing himself with takeaways, the teacher had ballooned to 25st 11lb – and barely recognised himself.

His waist was a massive 60 inches, and although he was aged 25, the man staring back at him looked years older after piling on the pounds.

The stark reflection was the catalyst he needed to transform his life – and now he is unrecognisable after shedding 11st 7lbs, almost half his body weight.

James, who is from Hednesford and a teacher at Oldbury Academy, said: "I decided to lose weight over the summer holiday and just saw it as a short-term thing.

"I went along to the Weight Watchers meeting in Brownhills on a Saturday morning and was surprised when I lost one and a half stone in just six weeks.

"I decided to carry on and the weight has managed to keep coming off and now I feel much better."

James says he fooled himself into thinking he had a low calorie and low fat diet as he used not to eat any breakfast or lunch and would just binge in the evenings.

"During the day I would just have fizzy drinks, no food at all, but then at night I would have an Indian, Chinese, pizza or go to the chippy," he said.

"Now I usually have porridge for breakfast, a chicken wrap for lunch and then a steak and jacket potato for dinner.

"I do still have treats like an Indian meal but I tend to go for a lighter option."

James, who was a pupil at Pye Green Valley Primary School and Kingsmead Technology College, says it was leaving home to go to university in Liverpool which led to him piling on the pounds.

"I'm 6ft 2in which probably means I could get away with carrying a bit of extra weight, but now I feel much healthier," he says.

"When I put the weight on I was quite happy in myself and felt I didn't need to diet.

"However, one day I looked in the mirror and thought 'who is that person?'" James has joined a group of other slimmers who are doing the Coast to Coast bike ride to raise £6,000 in aid of The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity.

In April they will cycle 136 miles from Whitehaven, across the Pennines to Tynemouth in three days.

"Now I weigh 14st 8lb and my goal is 13st 13lb so I haven't got too far to go – also now I've got a 36 inch waist," he said.

"When you are used to seeing yourself every day you don't notice the change but I do think it's ridiculous when I look at photos of myself from a few years ago, or I get my big trousers out.

"Also the children at school tell me that they can see I'm losing weight – they think my face has changed quite a bit and people are always telling me I look younger."