A MAN who was overjoyed to discover he has “reversed” his Type 2 diabetes is encouraging others to rethink their lifestyle choices.

Martin Beck, from Buckley, said he “has his life back” after losing three stone in weight, which has fundamentally reduced his insulin levels and allowed him to regain his driving licence.

The former tanker driver was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2006, when he said: “I got to a point where I was putting weight on and I was almost 20 stone.

“Whatever weight I lost, I was putting back on.

“The amount of times I’d go to the nurse for my diabetes review and say ‘I’m going to the gym, I will lose weight’ and then going back heavier and heavier – I was getting a telling off.”

When Martin questioned his GP about whether diabetes was reversible following his diagnosis, he remembers the doctor saying it was “impossible”.

He added: “I was always told when I was diagnosed that once you got it, you had it for life.

“It was the first question I asked.”

Martin was put on a restrictive driving licence for three years as a result of his high levels of glucose, which could become “dangerous” during his job as a medical oxygen transporter across the country.

When his wife, Sharon, began a weight loss club in Mold, Martin said he was “classed as a saboteur” as he would always collect her from the club and take her to Wetherspoon’s across the road where they would consume “all the calories we had lost”.

But Martin said that his wife’s approach and the support from the strangers at the weight loss group was the crucial step in the right direction.

He is now encouraging others to make the most of advice and support from family, friends and other like-minded people in the community.

He said: “There is always a bit of a stigma around this sort of thing. I felt very uneasy as the only bloke doing it on my own, and it’s really bizarre because you can get so scared of a new diet.”

For Martin, part of the resolution is to accept the support given by other people and to be open about progress and setbacks, or as he said, “that you can’t avoid that night out or party or Christening”.

He added that a healthier lifestyle is not about restriction, but about consuming the right kinds of fats, oils, and even the ideal portions of fruit.

Martin said: “The mindset has changed – there’s no food I can’t have, I just know now how to do it. Before I would eat anything put in front of me, but now I like looking for recipes and ripping them apart seeing what I can swap and change for healthier options.”

He is now encouraging others to make the most of North Wales’s beautiful rambling hot-spots such as Loggerheads and Moel Famau.

“I’d done the gym thing before when I was grossly overweight – and it does hurt when the doctor says you’re morbidly obese and your BMI level is completely off the scale.

“That’s when you have to do something about it. Now I’m walking like I’ve never walked before.”

Make the most of North Wales’s rambling hot-spots is Martin’s message, and he urges anyone who can to get out and enjoy the scenery which contributed greatly to his health success.

He said: “This has been life-changing. On December 18, I renewed my driving licence, and now it’s gone through the GP and medical board.

“I’ve just had it back and it’s spotless.

“I am chuffed. I’ve got my life back and there’s no restrictions.”

Martin’s life has taken a turn for the better and he aims to heed the advice of his diabetes nurse: “Whatever you do, don’t stop going.”