When Ryan Macdonald had a heart attack and died for three minutes, he knew his life had to change.
But rather than just cut out a few snacks and take the odd walk, he turned himself into a personal trainer – with a body to die for.
Ryan, 41, said of his wake-up call three years ago: “I couldn’t have had a more sedentary lifestyle if I’d tried.
“Working in IT from home, I spent hours sitting down, paid no attention to what I ate, smoked heavily and did zero exercise.
“Looking back I was a ticking time bomb. Every day I’d go without breakfast and by lunch was so hungry I’d scoff a sausage sandwich and four or five bags of crisps.”
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Bags of sweets and endless coffees with four sugars saw him soar to 19st 5lb, with a 42in waist.
Ryan recalled: “I was painting the hallway when this pain shot from shoulder to shoulder, as if someone was pushing a bar against my chest.
“Being 38, heart problems didn’t even cross my mind – I thought I’d pulled a muscle.” But after he was persuaded to call 111, paramedics decided to whisk him to hospital.
Ryan said: “One minute I was chatting as we drove along, the next I was surrounded by paramedics, one asking if he could cut my shirt open.
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“They explained that my heart had stopped on the road and they’d lost me for three minutes. The news hit me like a ton of bricks.”
A smoker for 25 years, he needed stents to unblock the artery to his heart. Five weeks later his dad Richard, 65, also had a heart attack – but never recovered.
Ryan said: “It was a turning point. I began to reassess my life. I swapped to healthy food and went to the gym.
“At first I could only work out for 15 minutes but it was addictive.”
Ryan now weighs 12st 9lb with a 30-32in waist – and has set up a website called Bodies Made Online.
He said: “I never push anyone into over-exercising, 70 per cent of the change comes through diet.
“But I feel I’ve found my calling – and I’ve never been happier.”
