Fareham father-of-three in running for £10,000 prize after weight loss success

Craig Stern, 34, who works at GE Aviation, has managed to fight off depression and anxiety to transform his body as part of the 90-day challenge from Herbalife Nutrition.

After dropping his weight from 21 stone to 16 stone and reducing his body fat from 41.5 per cent to 25 per cent, Craig’s achievements could see him pick up the prize in the final of the nutrition company’s Level 10 competition on Saturday.

Craig said: ‘I was prompted to lose weight because I was massively lacking in self-confidence.

‘I was always short of breath – even walking up the stairs.

‘I woke up one day, took a long look in the mirror and thought “I don’t want to be me any more”!’

The father-of-three said his lifestyle was ‘poor’ before he undertook the challenge, as he battled depression and anxiety as well as a ‘dreadful’ diet.

He discovered the programme after being tipped off by a work colleague.

Craig has already won his regional heat and is looking forward to Saturday’s big event.

He added: ‘A competition for doing something I wanted to do anyway was just an added bonus for me!

‘I never expected to do so well and winning my regional heat was such an achievement.’

The programme is divided into an 80 per cent focus on nutrition and a 20 per cent focus on exercise.

Craig said: ‘Once I got my nutrition right, I started swimming and going to the gym.

‘This really helped with maintaining my muscle mass while reducing my body fat percentage.

‘The comments and praise are all I need to keep me on track.

‘The improvements I’ve made are life-changing.’

Craig is determined not to lose all his hard work following the final.

He added: ‘I don’t want to return to the former me. So I continue to set goals and challenge myself to become the best version of myself that I can.

‘I was struggling doing most things with my kids – walking, playing, running with them and just having general fun. Now every time I’m not working and I take my son to school we race to the school gate!’

Level 10 is a body transformation challenge that utilises ten steps, focusing on nutrition, exercise and support.