Mark Gibbon was so mortified he decided to get fit and was later told by his doctor he had added 20 years to his life.
The 53-year-old lost 7st 11lbs, going from 20st 10lbs to 12st 13lbs, and dropped 14 inches from his waist.
He was joined in his quest by his wife Amanda Gibbon, 46, who fled a changing room in tears after failing to find anything that fit.
She lost 3st 10lbs, going from 13st 8lbs to 9st 12lbs, and dropped from a size 18 to a 10.
The grandparents, from Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south Wales, overhauled their eating habits, and took up walking and running in order to lose the weight.
They have now been crowned Slimming World’s Couple of the Year 2017.
Their achievement comes just days after new NHS figures found that a quarter of people are so sedentary that they don’t even manage a 30 minute walk once a week.
Mr Gibbon said: “It was beyond embarrassing having to ask for a seatbelt extension, you just know all eyes are on you and can almost hear people whispering ‘Look, he needs a seatbelt extension’.
“And the worst thing is that you know you’re going to have to ask for one on the way back too.
“Meanwhile, Amanda hated shopping and on one occasion ended up fleeing a changing room in floods of tears because she couldn’t find anything to fit and hated seeing herself from every angle in the mirror.
“It was things like that that made us think that something really needed to change.”
The couple, who have three children and two grandchildren, said they have always struggled with their weight, but despite endless diets, nothing worked.
But after both of their embarrassing incidents, they decided to take action and joined Slimming World last July on the recommendation of their 29-year-old daughter Rachel.
They also encouraged nine relatives to lose weight, and as a family they have now lost a total of 24st 9lbs between them.
Mr Gibbon said: “It was never supposed to be my weight-loss journey, I was going to follow the plan at home to support Amanda and that was it.
“I thought a Slimming World group would be a roomful of ladies and didn’t think that would suit me because of that, but little did I know how inspirational those ladies would be. Our group is like a family to us now.”
Mrs Gibbon said: “I told Mark I needed him to come in with me and the rest is history.
“Life is just amazing now. We’re healthier – Mark’s doctor told him that he’s probably added 20 years to his life – and so much fitter.
“We love running around after our grandchildren instead of being ‘Nan and Bamp’ who just sit in the chair or puff and pant after just five minutes of playing.
“This isn’t a diet, it’s a way of life for us now and we’re not going to let go of everything that we’ve gained thanks to Slimming World.
“We always tell people: the hardest part is walking through the doors, the rest is easy.
“We’ve learned how to cook from scratch and experiment with flavours – we often joke that we didn’t know what a butternut squash or courgette was before Slimming World.
“The biggest change we made was starting to plan our meals though.”
The pair have also started their own walking group with some members of their Slimming World group in Chepstow.
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