GAZING down at his baby daughter for the first time, new dad Duncan Simpson realised his life would have to change.

At the age of just 29, Duncan tipped the scales at nearly 29 stone and knew he had to lose weight if he was to be around to watch his daughter Phoebe grow up.

Loan
He went on a strict diet, borrowed £11,000 to pay for a gastric bypass operation and is now celebrating Father's Day with a new lease of life after losing an incredible ten stone in weight. Duncan, who works as a drainage manager, has trimmed down so quickly that friends sometimes pass him in the street without recognising him.

Holiday
He is jetting out to Majorca with wife Jeanette and daughter Phoebe, who is now aged two, for a Father's Day break in the sun. Duncan, from St Martin Street, Castleton, had been a rugby player with the Rochdale Hornets Academy as a teenager but his ankle was shattered when he was 19 and piled on weight eating takeaways up to five times a week. He ballooned to 29 stone but it took the birth of Phoebe to give Duncan the jolt he needed to take action.


Portions
Because he had no underlying health problems, he could not have surgery on the NHS so he took out a loan to fund an £11,000 gastric bypass. He had the operation last November at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, which meant he had to eat pureed food for three months and after that could no longer manage the large portions he had become used to. By Christmas he had shed five stone and over the festive period he managed to drop another stone.

Gym
He is now able to exercise in the gym twice a week and also keep fit by running after his toddler daughter. Duncan, 31, has even been able to take up playing rugby again, turning out for Rochdale Mayfield. "It's completely changed my life, I feel like a different person", said Duncan. "I knew I had to do something because I wanted to be there for Phoebe and the change has been amazing."

Regime
Duncan hopes to eventually get his weight down to 13 or 14 stone and is sticking to a strict new eating regime. He says there is another benefit to his weight loss - his wife Jeanette, a 37-year-old office administrator, no longer complains about his snoring keeping her awake at night. "There is now no way back to the old eating habits for me", he added.

"This is a life change for me. It has worked really well. "Even friends and relatives haven't been able to recognise me and some have even passed me in the street."