A BARRY man is celebrating a new healthier life - after shedding more than seven stone in less than five months!

Jeremy White, who weighed in at more than 20 stone, realised he needed to lose weight when he was turned down for life insurance.

Approaching his 30th birthday, it proved a turning point for the Waterfront resident, who decided the time had come to get fit.

He joined the Fighting Fit gym at Ty Verlon industrial estate, and through a change in diet and hard work has lost an impressive seven and a half stone so far.

Jeremy, who works as an IT manager at 123 Telecom Ltd in Barry, started the exercise programme in August and has seen the weight fall off, now weighing a healthy 12 and a half stone.

He has also been approved for life insurance and has enjoyed a 'massive boost in confidence'.

"I'm going to be 30 in March, and I didn't want to be overweight when I reached that age," he said.

"Also I was declined on life insurance because of a height to weight ratio, so those factors encouraged me.

"Initially it was such a struggle to do anything being that heavy, and then the diet became the hardest part as training got easier and I got a bit fitter.

"The best thing now is just being able to do things that I couldn't do before," added Jeremy, whose target weight is about 11 and a half stone.

"I can go out running and recently got my life insurance approved.

"Everyone says I'm a different person now!"

Steve Anning, who set up the Fighting Fit gym last year, praised Jeremy's work ethic.

"He's had the best results I have ever seen, as he did everything one hundred per cent," said Steve.

"Some people take on training but only put half as much effort into conditioning, but he's trained and eaten exactly as he should have."

Fighting Fit runs bootcamps every weekday morning (6.15am-7am), as well as other training and fitness sessions. For information go to www.fightingfitwales.co.uk