One of the brains of TV favourite The Chase has revealed how he managed to shed a whopping 10st by making lifestyle changes.
Mark Labbett, a chaser on the ITV programme, lost the weight during the covid pandemic after tipping the scales at 29st when he was at his heaviest.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Beast’, Mark was given a diagnosis of diabetes in recent years and had skin that did not heal on his legs properly due to his weight.
Before he appeared on television Mark worked as a teacher but saw his weight spiral out on control and was on the verge of being put onto pills for reducing high blood pressure.
He managed to lose some weight here and there over the next few years but he admitted it was just before lockdown that he started losing weight dramatically.
Mark said: “Several factors came together nicely and the weight has just fallen off. The principal thing has been running after a hyperactive three year old in lockdown when the nurseries were shut.
“Instead of going to the fridge for a bit of late-night snacking all I could do was just collapse on a heap on the bed.”
Mark changed up his diet and instead of eating ‘pub meals’, he swapped this for a high protein diet as well as reducing the amount of sugar he consumes.
However, he has admitted that he misses his old diet which consisted of onion rings and garlic bread, according to Mirror Online.
The quizzer tested positive for Covid at one point through the pandemic which he admitted also helped him with his weight loss journey.
The star lost his sense of smell and taste for two weeks which caused him to eat less than he usually would.
Mark has now managed to get himself down to 19st, while he stands tall at 6 foot 6.
He appeared on Loose Women in March 2021 where he revealed how he managed to shed 10st.
He explained that it was a gradual process where he dropped ‘Xs’ off his size, starting at 5XL but at that point he thought he’d be shopping for XL trousers the next time.
Mark explained that despite getting a huge result, it was just small changes that got him to where he is.
He described it as ‘small thinks but important things’.
After being diagnosed with diabetes back in 2017 due to his leg issue, he lost enough weight to almost be diagnosed again as non-diabetic.
However, he said he ‘let himself go a bit’ because he didn’t know how close he was to this at the time but he is still determined to stay fit and healthy.
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