A HAMPSHIRE dad can now keep up with his children after shedding three-and-a-half stone.

PJ Putt, 37, from Holbury, is well on his way to his six-stone weight loss target after he began shedding the pounds in January.

The store manager had tried various diets when he went along to a Slimming World group in January.

“I felt quite self-conscious but what was most important to me was that I have two impressionable girls and I was aware that I wasn’t a good role model for them,” he says.

“I didn’t have a healthy lifestyle before.

“Now I feel so much healthier. I can be much more active with the kids,” he continues.

“It used to be quite embarrassing because if they started running in a park, I’d manage a few steps before I was out of breath.

“Now I can keep up with them. The weight had aged me.”

PJ had also been diagnosed with a fatty liver and suffered from back pain. He now feels much healthier and has more energy for regular work outs at the gym and to be active with his family.

“I go to the gym and climb the equivalent of the Empire State Building on the step machine,” he says.

“I could never have done that before. I feel so much more energetic and sprightly.”

Another big lifestyle change for PJ is that he has now trained as a Slimming World consultant, and is opening his own group in Blackfield on September 11.

“My girls are really proud of me,” PJ says.

“They have been part of my journey. Each week they were asking how I’d got on.”

PJ’s wife, Tracey, has also been very supportive. In fact she joined him at the classes and realised how unhealthy the family’s diet was.

Having made some changes to her diet, she has lost almost two stone and now plays badminton regularly with friends.

“I was really interested in the health benefits but obviously, it’s really lovely to be able to wear size ten clothes, that I haven’t been able to for into since before I had my children,” says the school IT technician.

“I was a 12 to 14 before. It’s been lovely to get some nice new clothes, but the health benefits are the really important thing for us.”

Clothes shopping has also become an interest of PJs.

“A big difference for me is to be able to buy clothes in normal shops,” he says.

“I don’t have to buy double extra large anymore. I can go into Holister or Ted Baker and buy really nice clothes – not just get something that fits.”