A gaming addict who ballooned to 32 stone and spent 14 hours a day playing video games is now a life coach after shedding 18 stone.
David Breaker, 36, became suicidal before he turned his life around to help others.
His GP warned that his weight could kill him and following his transformation he now offers lifestyle and healthy eating courses to help people like him.
David, from Gillingham, used to wake up at midday before settling into marathon gaming session and his weight ballooned in the process.
He said: “I used to be a gaming addict. I would spend 14 hours a day playing World of Warcraft, and let myself get to 32 stone.
“I was quite suicidal about it and thought I had nowhere to go in my life.
“People will say their friends are gaming addicts if they play a couple of hours, but gaming addicts are people who are spending 60-80% of their day playing.
“They do everything around gaming and don’t do anything apart from that.
“Normal things like going to work or spending time with the family become second to playing the game and it’s quite scary when it happens.”
It was only when a doctor gave him a stark warning that David downed his console and sought to change his ways.
He said: “My GP basically told me if I carried on I’d be dead by 35. He explained it would most likely be a violent heart attack and I needed to make a change.”
David, who is now a life coach, said the hardest part of battling his addiction was believing in himself.
He said: “I didn’t believe in myself and was telling myself I wasn’t worth it but I am and I have something to give to the world.”
The 36-year-old added that he didn’t want to “demonise” gaming, claiming that it was his addiction – rather than the games itself – which drove him towards a “scary” place.
He said: “I don’t want to give the impression that gaming is the worst thing in the world, and that I didn’t enjoy myself or that it ruined my life.
“My addiction to it ruined my life, but gaming itself isn’t a bad thing.”
David explained he still games to help him relax, as well as having a snack or two.
He now lives by the mantra: “It’s okay to have a doughnut, but don’t have the whole packet.”
David lost five stone through healthy eating and exercise before shedding the excess weight with the help of a gastric bypass.
He now fears children are getting into gaming too young, and are being enticed to spend too much money on them.
He said: “It’s certainly worrying because they’re learning their framework from these games and they’re achieving lots in these games, but not much in their lives and that’s where I got to, the problem I had.
“The really scary thing when you look at these games is when they have ‘loot boxes’ – where you pay real life money for something in the game, but it’s not recognised as gambling.
“It’s leading to very addictive tendencies and preventing people from getting on with their life.
“Awareness needs to be increased. It’s not just ‘oh my friend plays for a couple of hours, so he’s an addict’.
“Don’t dismiss it, it’s a true addiction and is ruining people’s lives.”