A man lost 11 stone in just nine months by ditching his £2k a year Pepsi addiction - and learning to cook healthy meals watching YouTube turtorials.

Taylor Robertson, 27, used to guzzle 12 cans of the fizzy drink everyday - costing £5.35 for a pack - spending £37.45 per week, around £150 each month and £1,947.40 ever year.

At his heaviest, he tipped the scales at 23st 2lbs and was a waist size 46ins, and says he weight piled on due to his alcohol drinking problem.

Taylor found himself drinking everyday, and always waking up with a hangover.

After his fiancé, Hayleigh Cass, 24, had to shake him awake when he stopped breathing in his sleep, Taylor got sober in October 2021 and began to lose a few pounds.

Wanting to "be a better person", Taylor decided to use his new-found spare time to focus on his health and started eating one healthy meal a day instead of fast food and joined the gym."

Now Taylor has dropped to 12st 4lbs and a waist size 32. He is running 5k races and hopes to complete an Ironman challenge this year.

Taylor, who owns a plumbing company, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US, said: "I used to wake up hungover every day."

"I would talk to girls at a bar when I was drunk - I realised it was a detriment to my relationship."

"I thought – I’m going to lose my fiancé."

"I lost some weight after getting sober and had spare time that used to be spent drinking and started researching weight loss and healthy eating on YouTube."

"I found a diet of one meal a day and decided to give it a go."

"Before I was drinking about 12 cans of Pepsi a day – using it as a chaser after an alcoholic drink."

"I started at the gym and the weight just fell off me."

"I’m trying to be the best person I can be."

Taylor had fallen into a cycle of drinking after finishing college and realised he had gone too far when it started to affect his relationship.

His habit had seen him adopt a "lazy" lifestyle where he ate fast food like KFC for lunch and dinner, instead of cooking healthy meals."

Taylor’s health was worrying – as he struggled breathing and even stopped in his sleep.

"My fiancé had to wake me up and say hey you’re not breathing," he said."

Wanting to turn his life around, Taylor made the decision to go sober in October 2021 and started to see the difference immediately.

He decided to work on his diet after losing 1st 4lbs just by ditching drinking.

"I started doing one meal a day," he said."

"At first I was having a Chinese for the meal which did work but I realised that wasn’t very healthy and now cook myself easy meals like chicken and rice."

Taylor joined his gym and started by walking on the treadmill and now spends two hours working out each day.

He’s now dropped to a slender to 12 stone 4lbs and a waist size 32 and can’t believe the difference.

Taylor still sticks to one large meal a day – but makes sure it’s healthy and home cooked.

"It’s happened so fast," he said."

"It’s crazy."

"I now want to do an Iron man."

"It’s my life and I realise I can control it."

NICE TO HAVE A QUOTE FROM HIS SUPPORTIVE FIANCE

Weight before: 23st 2lbs

Size before: waist 46

Weight now: 12 stone 4lbs

Size now: waist 32

Diet before:

Breakfast: Skipped

Lunch: KFC chicken sandwich meal

Dinner: Chicken sandwich

Drinks: 12 cans of Pepsi a day

Diet now:

One big meal a day: salad, chicken, salmon, green beans, squash