An obese student who tipped the scales at almost 30 stone after feasting on 'anything bread and cheese' has dropped more than half his body weight by copying his mum's diet.
Kaya Tuncar, 20, lost so much weight that his lecturers at the University of Manchester assumed he was a new student.
He ballooned while at uni studying politics after scoffing a takeaway every night and cheese toasties between lectures - coupled with at least two bacon butties every morning.
But he managed to shed the colossal amount of weight after he started suffering chest pains - and saw his mum start to slim down after signing up to the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.
Mum Michelle O’Neil, 46, who weighed 20 stone, signed up to the diet after she was in an accident and had to have a knee replacement surgery due to her size.
But after losing 12lb in the first week, soon son Kaya decided to join his mum in her quest for a new body.
Michelle, who also lives in Manchester, and now weighs just 14 stone, said: "I'm so proud of my self and my son.
“We both stuck to it rigidly, but my biggest achievement was going from a size 24 to a size 14.
“My bad eating habits didn’t help Kaya - my biggest downfall was takeaway and pizza, and on a weekend, I’d have lager too.
“At one point, I was drinking six litres of Pepsi Max a day.
“But together we literally just changed our diet, and walked our dogs, Mani and Butcher.
“Now we get to do talks and inspire others – I’m so proud of us both.
"It seemed quite a strange thing, having a son and mum lose weight together and I think that's why we're asked to do talks and things like that.
"Because what we achieved has been so inspiring.
“Kaya had gone from a moth to a butterfly.
“Before, it was like my son had gone.
“Seeing him lose the weight, he’s like my hero – I never thought he could do it."
Kaya lost an impressive 16st in 11 months, after joining the plan in August 2018.
He said: “I used to binge eat, to the point where I wouldn’t eat in public.
“My biggest things were cheese sandwiches or toasties – basically anything involving cheese and bread.
“But being so overweight left me unhappy and I knew my mum was worried about me too.
“But losing all the weight gave me such a confidence boost.
“When I returned to uni, I kept getting asked if I was a new student –people just didn’t recognise me.
“I was so impressed by my mum, and I knew that she’d struggled with her weight - but she lost 12 pounds at her first weigh in.
"It made me more determined, seeing my mum lose the weight and stick to it - the fact we were family, and could see each other's results spurred us both on."
Yet just 11 months on, Kaya now weighs 15 stone and Michelle 14 – and still looking to lose more.
