Chris Hollis shed five stone with a 'radical' weight loss routine so he could become a special constable for Hampshire Police

But fed up with being a fast food addict, Chris Hollis wanted to turn his life around and he was prepared to take drastic measures.

He not only signed up to a gym for a gruelling fitness regime but took the fasting diet to the extreme - by completely giving up food during the week.

He typically ate his last meal on Sunday night and would not allow any food pass his lips until at least Friday evening before he ate whatever he wanted all weekend.

To spur him on, he turned to Twitter for support, posting pictures of his rapidly shrinking waistline to document his dramatic transformation.

The radical routine paid off.

In less than four months, Chris shook off nicknames such as 'Higgy Piggy', ‘Chins' and ‘Fatty’ to lose four stone and became fit enough to fill in his dream job application.

Today five stone lighter, Chris, a manager at home improvement chain Screwfix, is celebrating after passing police fitness tests and is now undergoing training to become a special constable for Hampshire Police.

His determination to slim down to join the force comes after Britain’s most senior officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe recently told how fat and unfit police must improve their physical condition or ‘we haven’t got a job for them’.

Chris, 31, said: “If you want something enough you just learn to push on through the wall as they say and I wanted to work for the police.

"I’d eat nothing Monday to Friday then enjoy what I wanted at the weekend so if I wanted to go out for pizza and ice cream, I would.

"Yes it is extreme and not everyone will agree with it, but I know deep down if I’d done the more traditional weight loss route, I’d still be 18 stone, if not heavier so it may have been drastic but it worked."

It was on January 1 last year that Chris, from Bitterne, Southampton, decided the new year would be the perfect time for a new start.

Tipping the scales at 18st 2lbs and wearing XXXL, Chris said he hated his reflection and after a lifetime of being overweight, wanted to change.

He said: “I looked in the mirror and said ‘this is it’ I didn’t want to be fat anymore. I love nice clothes and the fashionable stores just don’t make anything for big people.

“I had always been tubby as a kid and had always wanted to join the police but my weight crept up and up and up until I couldn’t believe how fat I was. I may have entered my thirties but I wanted to change my life once and for all and see if I could make those childhood dreams come true. But if I knew if I wanted to join the police, I would need to lose the weight."

Having tried and failed on various healthy eating plans, Chris decided to completely give up his typical calorie-laden diet altogether which would typically include a bacon roll and pancakes for breakfast, chocolate bars for snacks, McDonalds for lunch and two large takeaway pizzas for dinner washed down with 10 litres of full fat cola.

Having never stepped foot in a gym before, Chris joined PureGym Southampton to devise a fitness regime and decided rather than changing his diet for healthier alternatives, he would cut out food completely certain days of the week, drinking only water.

He explained: “I’d tried diets before where I lost weight gradually but it just didn’t work. I knew I had to go for something drastic."

Chris admitted the diet did at times take its toll mentally as well as on his energy levels.

“The first two weeks were very difficult,” he said.

“I posted so many pictures online to keep me going. My body changed shape drastically, the moobs went and the fat was dropping off while I was building up muscle.

“I used it as a diary so I knew where I was and a few friends and even strangers would comment saying I was unrecognisable, which felt really great.”

His extreme fasting though was met with concern from his girlfriend Zoe, who studied nutrition at university.

He explained: “She said to me ‘I’m not so sure about this’ it’s not healthy and it’s drastic but after doing it for a year and a half now, I am perfectly healthy and I am not dying “I did go to the doctor but I was fine in the checks. He said to me ‘well sometimes Chris, it’s not about the way the goal goes in, it’s the results that count.

“I had a lot of fat around my body when I was doing this drastic starvation diet so I was living almost off this fat during the week.

“Sometimes opinions can get in your way if you are not careful but for me it needed to happen and I had to go for it and I wasn’t going to let anyone change my mind.”

Chris, who hopes to start his new voluntary role in the force by September, beat the bulge so much that at one point he was forced to put on more weight for his 6ft 1inch frame.

Today his waist has dropped from a size 40 to a size 32 and he maintains his 13 stone physique by following the more popular 5:2 or 4:3 diet means he will fast for two or three days as well as working out most days.

He said: “People walk past me and don’t recognise me. They don’t believe the difference between the fatty me and the new me.

“I feel a different person now, a million times better. I wish I never got fat at school because who knows, I could be a full time police officer but I’m proof anything is possible and I am really looking forward to helping the community.”

Fasting techqiues 'not advisable'

• Annemarie Aburrow, a nutritionist and registered dietitian from Southampton, comments: "Using fasting techniques to lose weight rapidly is not advisable.

Not only could it have long term effects on your health, but also we know that only 5 percent of people who lose weight rapidly will keep their weight off in the future.

"Fasting during the week and eating unhealthy foods during the weekends is certainly not a balanced diet, meaning you will miss out of key nutrients like calcium, iron and vitamins from fruits and vegetables.

"We know that rapid weight loss can make bones more frail and affect the immune system by making you more susceptible to illness.

"There is also evidence to suggest heart health can be affected. In short, we don't know the full extent of the health implications of these sort of diets.

"The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to lose 1-2 lbs a week over several months. After all, no-one wants to put all their weight back on after their hard work!

"However there is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to nutrition, which is why different solutions work for different people. Joining a gym and starting a heavy workout routine may not fit in with many peoples' lifestyles, and is probably not sustainable.

"The best way to get fit is to consider the sorts of exercise you can fit into your daily routine - the sort of exercise you will still be able to do in 5 years time.

"For some people this may be a daily gym workout; for others, it may be daily brisk walks to and from the school gates."