A Bristol Evening Post reporter has told how turning 30 – and being told by a doctor that he might not live much past 40 – prompted him to change his lifestyle and lose 4st in weight.

By his own admission, Simon Peevers had drank too much, smoked too much and ate “like an American teenager locked in a burger bar with the keys to the store cupboard”, and a year ago he weighed 16st.

He was also born with two holes in his heart which meant his situation was even more of a concern.

But after giving up the lager, switching to a sensible diet and getting more exercise, Simon has now lost 4st and completed a half marathon in Bristol earlier this month in two hours and ten minutes.

Before and after

Simon, now 31, said: “I knew it was time to do something about my lifestyle and ever-expanding waistline after seeing pictures taken by a friend at my 30th birthday celebrations in March last year.

“Despite being pictured in the pages of the paper getting up to all manner of bizarre stunts at the behest of the newsdesk down the years, I had chosen to ignore the fact that I would fill the frame a little more each time and that the Balloon Fiesta organisers were considering putting me on a tether and using me as a barrage.

“But there was something about seeing those pictures at such a landmark moment, hitting 30, and realising where my life had gone that finally spurred me into action.”

But having resolved to do something about it, it still took a visit to his doctor and a timely reminder of his dire physical condition to give him the motivation that had previously been lacking.

Simon said: “In no uncertain terms I was told that if I continued to live the way I had been for the next ten years, I probably wouldn’t be around to see much more of my life after that.

“It was enough to get me to face up to the state of my health and experience a road to Damascus style turnaround in my lifestyle – better that than a road to Canford Cemetery experience for my family.”

To give him the guidance he needed, Simon joined a weight loss club and was able to make changes to his lifestyle such as giving up alcohol in the week and switching from calorie laden pints to shorts at weekends.

His post-night out burgers and hangover helping fry-ups also went out the window.

Simon said: “I knocked lager on the head, don’t eat so much and did some exercise and low and behold it really works!

“The hardest part was starting it. It’s easy to find excuses to put it off but when I started to see resutls that pushed me on.

“I’m thankful because if I hadn’t my future wouldn’t have been too rosy and I would be heading for real health problems further down the line.”