A FORMER aircraft technician struggled to keep the weight off after leaving his job at Brize Norton in 1999.

Michael Hindon, 55, has lost three stone in just over three months after he joined Slimming World in Royal Wootton Bassett.

He had weighed almost 19st when he started but that's quickly been falling off.

Michael of Shakespeare Road said: "I joined partly because my twin brother Peter who lives in Chudleigh joined Slimming World and he lost five stone and half, that inspired me to do it.

"We were both significantly overweight and then I went and the team there have been fantastic and I haven’t looked back since."

He was in the forces for 14 years before he left and went on to be a service engineer commissioner in Abingdon.

Travelling around all day made it difficult for him to keep active and meant he was snacking more often.

But it wasn't until he noticed he had health issues such as feeling tired more often and getting out of breath easily that he became committed to the challenge.

And life felt more positive and was confident within himself again.

He said: "It was a bit daunting to begin with to be honest but walking through the doors and making that commitment and doing something about it is worth it.

"The encouragement and the plan they’ve got is quite simple and works well when you start seeing the results you realise it was worth while and you got to keep it going.

"I’m enjoying life more, it’s much better and more positive. I get good feedback from everyone and it makes you feel good gives you a boost of confidence."

Since joining in November he's gone down to 15st 3lbs but it hasn't been easy.

He said: "Since I left the air force in 1999 I kept the fitness up but got into bad habits staying in hotels and eating the different range of foods I would lose the weight for a while and then put it back one but I've kept it off since November.

"I guess the biggest challenge about it all is changing the mindset, changing your foods and exercising because I used to overeat and snack."

Despite coming so far Michael won't be happy until he reaches his goal weight of 13st 4lbs.

"I've still got a bit of my journey to go but I'm very lucky I haven't put on weight this time. I even lost so weight over Christmas which is quite an achievement I think," Michael said.

Royal Wootton Bassett Slimming World is run by Lou Robins and Lisa Legg and can be contacted through the Facebook page if you want to join.

Or you can visit the website at slimmingworld.co.uk.