A REDDITCH man has revealed how he turned his life around with "diet by stealth".

Manish Chaudhry, a 39-year-old regional sales manager from Redditch, has successfully reversed his type 2 diabetes.

He returned to India last year and admitted his family thought a miracle had happened as reversing diabetes is unheard of in parts of India.

Manish said: “I came to the UK as a student in 2004 when I was 25 and in 2013, I settled in Redditch.

"My family in India had a history of obesity and diabetes. At 17 stone, I also had type 2 diabetes, a condition which South Asians are prone to when there is a family history of the disease.

"I had never been under 15 1/2 stone in my adult life and I was warned in India that diabetes was the likely outcome.

"My family didn’t know that I had been losing weight, so when they saw me in 2017, they were shocked, it was diet by stealth."

He added: "They had never heard of anyone reversing their diabetes before and they thought it was a miracle.

"When I explained about type 2 diabetes and how simple changes in lifestyle could change it, they were in disbelief."

It was thanks to his wife that Manish's weight loss journey began.

His wife Poonam began attending a wellness group in Redditch as she wanted to be healthier and began learning how to cook her favourite meals with lighter and healthier options.

She said: “I began serving up the adapted recipes with Manish and he never noticed the change. After one month I asked Manish to weigh himself and he was astonished to see his weight had dropped by 9lbs.”

Inspired by his weight loss, Manish went on to adapt other parts of his life, choosing healthier options when on the road and when dining out with his wife.

Manish found that it wasn’t just his weight that changed.

“In my job as a regional sales manager, I had to deliver regular presentations," he said.

"During the presentation, I constantly found myself thinking about what I was wearing and whether the people were listening or looking at how fat I was.

"Now instead of baggy clothes, I wear nice fitting suits and my confidence has soared.

"Once I saw how easy it was to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle, I carried on. 11 months later I weighed 13 stone and in February this year I had my last diabetic check which confirmed that I am now a non-diabetic.”