A man who struggled with alcohol all his life, drank two litres of spirits and eight beers every weekend has quit the booze and is now becoming a personal trainer.

Kevin Lamb, 47, started bingeing on cheap cider when he just 19 before moving on to vodka and other spirits.

He piled pounds with weight ballooning to 217lbs.

But he finally decided to quit the booze after he collapsed in pain and ended up in hospital for 12 days and doctors warned he would kill himself if he did not stop.

And to cap it all Kevin, who has shed four stone, is studying to be a personal trainer.

He said: "The worst thing was when I was sitting there on a Thursday and Friday drinking whiskey until 5am."

"I was told I was high stroke/ heart attack risk due to high cholesterol/triglycerides and I could develop chronic pancreatitis which is a life changing and"

threatening condition if I carried on in that state."

In September, 2018, Kevin was travelling up to Glasgow, Scotland, for a job then he experienced stomach pain and his stomach bloated to double his size.

He went to Kirkcaldy Hospital, where he was put on morphine for 12 days - to try and stop the pain.

Kevin said: "It felt like someone was sticking a knife in me and I used to get major flashbacks from those 12 days in hospital."

Kevin then had an MRI scan at The Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, every six months and monthly blood tests -to just observe and monitor your heart and to make sure all the levels had gone down.

He then took it upon himself to stop drinking in January, 2023, and lost four stone in five months.

Kevin Lamb, a health and safety manager, from Whitehaven, Cumbria said: "I came out of Covid, and I'd be sat there looking at a wall and four hours had gone. "

"I didn't want to get out of bed, and I had no motivation."

"The worst thing was when I was sitting there on a Thursday and Friday drinking whiskey until 5am."

"I'd get home on Thursday night, and I would have a bottle of whiskey, vodka, have 8 cans. "

"I got to work on Monday morning, and I was only thinking about drinking on Thursday night."

Kevin started binge drinking when he was studying French at Lancaster University.

Originally, Kevin would only drink White Cider because it was cheap but that soon spiralled into spirits.

Kevin said: "I've always lived for the weekend for most of my adult life. "

"I never drank during the day I was working, but I would always be out on the weekend."

After graduating in July, 2000 Kevin continued to binge drink on the weekends with his friends.

He would often be found in the pub drinking until 5am.

"If I were drinking with a group of friends, I would be the first one to move on to the whiskey."

The wake-up call for Kevin came in January, 2018, when he went to Dunfermline, Scotland for a job.

After he was discharged, Kevin was told he would need to attend scans at Whitehaven Hospital every six months and have monthly blood tests.

Kevin needed scans to monitor himself to measure the damages he had put himself through as well as assessing the internal organs after acute pancreatitis.

In January, 2022, Kevin transformed his life by quitting drinking and starting the gym.

He completely overhauled his diet and lost four stone in the process - going from 15st 7lbs to 11st 7lbs.

Kevin said: "14.5 was my cholesterol when I joined the gym, and I didn't realise the magnitude of how bad I actually was."

"I felt better after I took a stone off."

Now, Kevin is training to be a personal trainer and says he can easily go out drinking for months.

He said: "There's no more uncontrolled drinking and I am careful enough to limit myself at any occasional event."

"I make sure that on the rare occasion I still have a couple of beers, mostly alcohol free."

Kevin said: "I'm being mentored through my PT qualification. I'm working with people who are overweight and with health issues and bringing them back to healthy."

"I've learnt that it's all about a mindset and to stay disciplined to the point of I know what to eat and when to treat myself every now and then."

"I've got a whole new outlook on life. I'm bouncing out of bed every day."

In January, 2023 Kevin signed up to work with Toni Taylor Performance who provided him with a training plan which started to turn things around.

Kevin said: "It's involved a lot of mindset work and Toni and I would spend a lot of time talking about discipline, consistency and how to turn bad habits into good habits."

Kevin's diet now:
Overnight oats or pancakes every day with 60g of protein
Mid morning snack of fruit or protein bar
Rice and Chicken or beef for lunch
Chicken or fish salad and protein shake at night.

Kevin's diet then:
Breakfast: normally a pie or fry up
Lunch: would have been something from the work canteen or chip shop
supper: mostly fired food and six packets of crisps.
Weekends: was 3 or 4 either Chinese, pizza or Doner Kebabs

Kevin's weight then:
Weight: 15st 7lbs
Body fat: 31%
Cholesterol: 14.5
Waist: 38

Kevin's weight now:
Weight:

11st 7lbs
Body fat: 11%
Cholesterol:

4.5
Waist: 30