Prisoner in his own bed: Before his life-changing gastric band operation, Colin Corfield weighed 60 stone
It's the time of year when many of us are thinking about shedding a few excess pounds.
But the word 'slimming' scarcely does justice to Colin Corfield's astonishing weight loss - he has shed a mammoth 46 stone, and transformed himself from being bed-bound and immobile to being capable of scaling mountains.
The 41-year-old was working as a pub landlord when he bulked up to more than 60-stone on a diet of endless pints of beer, cooked breakfasts and junk food.
A gastric bypass turned his life around however, and after surgery to remove excess skin he is looking forward to an active and healthy new year now that he tips the scales at just 15-and-a-half stone.
Mr Corfield, from Runcorn, Cheshire, has seen his appetite slashed by the procedure, and tucking into a Christmas dinner was out of the question.
'I can just about manage a mince pie in one sitting, but that's about it,' he said today.
'It takes me up to two hours to eat a normal meal - I feel full after a few bites and have to wait for it to go down before I have any more.
'I've still got health problems from carrying all that weight, but the bypass has been brilliant, and the doctor says it's added years to my life.'
From being a prisoner in his own bed needing friends to bring him a relay of meals, he has this year scaled Mount Snowdon and Scafell Pike, and is planning on taking up canoeing in the new year
Timothy Spall's role in The Fattest Man In Britain mirrored Mr Corfield's experiences
The £33,000 operation was funded after his mother, Jean, sold her house, but while surgeons shrank his stomach to the size of an egg in 2006, Mr Corfield still had to face a mental battle against what he describes as his food addiction.
'I found it really difficult. I ate food because it was a comfort to me and suddenly that was taken away.
'The operation was the best thing that ever happened to me, I can honestly say that.
'But I've had a really difficult year. I had my final operation to remove excess skin just over a year ago and it's taken me until now to feel positive about everything.
'Although the surgeons tried to explain how I would feel, it's been really difficult to come to terms with how my life has changed.'
He is currently jobless and single, but is hoping the next 12 months will prove that he has what it takes to seize the second chance he's been given.
'I had hoped 2009 would be the year I would get back into employment but what with the economy and recovering from the operations, that didn't happen.
'Now I can't wait for 2010. It's going to be the start of my life.'
Mr Corfield's weight-loss experience mirrors the plot of ITV1's The Fattest Man In Britain, which aired last week.
In the comedy, actor Timothy Spall plays a man who bulks up to gain the unflattering title, before slimming down again when told the extra weight has placed his life in danger.
As he was: Mr Corfield dancing at a wedding seven years ago
He now weighs 16 stone and is optimistic about his future
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