WHEN Mark Pearson used to walk up the stairs he would break out into a sweat and get out of breath. Simple tasks like playing with his daughter Star became a mammoth effort as his 18-and-a-half stone frame took over his life.

WHEN Mark Pearson used to walk up the stairs he would break out into a sweat and get out of breath.

Simple tasks like playing with his daughter Star became a mammoth effort as his 18-and-a-half stone frame took over his life.

It was only coming face to face with his hefty figure in the mirror one day that Mark decided to do something about his weight.

And after going on the Cambridge Diet for three months Mark managed to lose five stone - shrinking even further after becoming a fitness fanatic to a trim 12st 12lbs.

The 27-year-old piled on the pounds after giving up smoking and when his father died, Mark again found comfort in food.

He had tried to diet on his own but after failed attempts he sought help through the Cambridge Diet.

“I first went on the Cambridge Diet in August last year and in the first week I had lost 16lbs. Over three weeks I managed to lose 25lbs,” explained Mark.

However, having lost weight quickly Mark became complacent, breaking the rules by eating solid food.

Four months later Mark decided to give the diet another go and this time he was a success.

He said: “I knew this was the diet for me. I think for a bloke you want results instantly and that is what Cambridge gives. I couldn't do calorie counting.”

Mark, of Soudan Close, Caister, has always been a bad eater, and with the family business being a busy café on Yarmouth's Regent Road he has never been too far from temptation.

A typical daily food intake would comprise of a full English breakfast, pie and chips at lunchtime, and a take away for tea. He would snack constantly throughout the day.

But now he had turned his life around becoming a regular at the gym and cooking has become a family event.

He added; “My daughter now realises food doesn't just come from takeaways. I eat a lot of pasta, salad and chicken.”

The Cambridge Diet involves substituting food for four meal packs a day which can either be a shake, soup or meal bar.

And even more amazing Mark recently completed the Great North Run raising more than £600 for the Penny Brohn Cancer Care charity.

He said: “That was an amazing experience and it was something I never thought I would have been able to do. I couldn't run up the stairs let alone a marathon.

“I was so unfit and I struggled to play with my daughter. I did not want her to grow up with an unfit dad.”

Now Mark hopes that his experience will encourage others to lose weight having become a Cambridge Diet counsellor along with partner Michelle Green, 23.