A NEWPORT man with a muscle condition that leaves him bound to a wheelchair has overcome his condition to lose five stone in little over a year.

Gareth Middleton, 30, has muscular dystrophy, which makes his muscles weak and means that he has to rely on a wheelchair to get around.

However, this didn’t stop him from cutting down from 17st 4lbs to 12st 3.5lbs, without being able to exercise.

Mr Middleton said: "My weight was having a bigger impact on me because I have muscular dystrophy, a progressive muscle wasting condition that gradually is making all of my muscles weak.

“I use a power wheelchair to get around, I can stand and walk a bit in the house but am not very steady on my feet and fall a lot.

“I was finding it harder and harder to get out of my wheelchair into an armchair or onto my bed. I was conscious that I had put weight on, so I decided to try and lose some weight.

"Because my mobility is very poor I am not able to exercise, but this has not been a barrier in anyway. It is definitely what you eat that makes the difference.

“It is normal every day foods and meals that I enjoyed. I started making much better choices about what I ate, I stopped drinking fizzy pop and mainly had water, or sometimes diet pop. I didn’t find it hard to stick to the plan and even ensured I had chocolate every day."

Katie Thomas, who runs the Ringland Slimming World group that Mr Middleton attended said she’s incredibly proud of Gareth.

She said: "He has done brilliantly, and we’re all amazed by his transformation. He’s a real inspiration to the group. We know that many members believe that they won’t lose weight if they cannot exercise, but Gareth shows that if you stick to food optimising you will do brilliantly."

The Ringland Slimming World group is held at Ringland Labour Club every Monday at 9.30am, 11.30am, 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Anyone interested in joining the group can pop along or for more information they can call Katie on 07511 948096.