A Scots man has shared his incredible weight loss transformation after shedding more than 7 stone following the death of his dad.
Andrew Bussey, from Glasgow, was left 'shocked' when he stepped on the scales to see he weighed 18 stone and nine pounds.
The 39-year-old was at his heaviest when his own dad's death forced him to take action about his own health.
He has now shed over seven stone and dropped from a size 38-inch waist to a healthy 30-inch.
Andrew's dad had struggled with weight, and had type two diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
He suffered from heart problems and eventually passed away from them.
Married Andrew feared he was 'walking the same path' as his dad, and knew if he continued he would soon face health problems of his own.
He said: "In the back of my mind, I realised, if I continued down this path, then I could potentially end up the same way, with lots of health issues, and I saw how it had affected him, especially towards the end of his life.
"I realised I was half his age, and that I was basically walking the same path of slowly gaining more weight, never really doing anything about it.
"Maybe if he had lost weight, which again he'd always talked about but never succeeded in, that he might still be around."
"I didn’t want to end up there myself."
When Andrew's pal Stephen lost 9 stone through WW, formerly Weight Watchers, Andrew was determined to follow suit.
He said: "I was at my heaviest ever, and was shocked when I stepped on the scales to see over 18 stone.
"I thought I was maybe 16 stone. It took me by surprise. I thought 'what happened there'?"
He added: "Stephen and I always talked about weight loss, and he went on to do something about it.
"He managed to lose an amazing nine stone, and this just told me that I could do something about my weight too.
"Seeing him convinced me that maybe I just didn’t have to continue down that path of 'well, you’re getting old and you’re not very active, so you’ll be fat'."
Andrew's first priority was not only to lose weight but understand his portions sizes.
He admits he used to graze on takeaways and sharing-sized bags of crips.
"I used to eat toast and butter, rolls and meat with crisps, lots of rice, pasta and potatoes.
"Most Fridays it was a takeaway, and crisps used to be a large sharebag, but I wasn’t sharing them.
"Adjusting at the start was hard, catching those moments when I wanted to snack between meals but once I got out of that habit, or instead switched it to something that’s better, like an apple, it became much easier", he said.
He's now making 'better choices' and opts for fresh fruit and vegetables as snacks, while his main meals are served in smaller portions.
Andrew admits progress has been slow but steady and his wife Laura has even joined him on his weight loss journey.
Speaking of how it has changed his life, he said: "Since the weight loss I’ve noticed that walking is easier, and something I’m happier doing.
"We’ll now walk into the centre of Glasgow rather than taking the car, it’s maybe around 2.5 miles, which I certainly wouldn’t have considered doing before."
After losing more than seven stone, Andrew binned his extra-large clothes and now fits into a medium.
He added: "I’ve felt a bit more confident in terms of my appearance, especially as having to get a new wardrobe with a lot of my old clothes no longer really fitting or looking pretty baggy on me.
"I no longer feel restricted to things like the usual black t-shirt as they do a better job at hiding my weight, but going for some different things."
He has encouraged anyone to wants to take the plunge when it comes to losing weight - before it impacts their health.
He said: "My advice to anyone thinking about losing weight is, do it.
"I spent years telling myself that I was going to cut back on my eating, lose some weight, and it never happened.
"If it’s something you want to do, then go for it, before it gets to the stage of health implications, or making them worse.
