The ultimate test of willpower? Morbidly obese father bins his XXXXXXL T-shirts after losing 22 STONE... then gets a job as a CHEF!

• Russell Robinson, 43, from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
• Weighed 35 stone when he put on weight after losing job and wife
• Father-of-four could barely leave house and suffered from sleep apnoea
  
• Former forklift truck driver is now 13 stone after NHS gastric bypass
• Now works as a chef in a secondary school canteen
  
• Is hoping for funding to remove excess skin
  

By Martha De Lacey

PUBLISHED: 04:14 EST, 15 May 2013 | UPDATED: 09:01 EST, 15 May 2013

No, thanks! Russell manages to avoid cakes, despite working in a school canteen

If you've had ever a problem with your weight, a school canteen - where you'll be surrounded by chips, apple crumble and creamy custard - is probably the last place you'd want to work.

But that hasn't stopped Russell Robinson, a former morbidly obese forklift truck driver who once weighed a scale-cracking 35 stone, from getting a job as a school chef.

The 43-year-old father-of-four started his new job after losing a colossal 22 stone - excess weight he piled on after losing both his job and his wife.

The once morbidly obese driver from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, used to drink up to 40 pints a week and gorged on takeaways.

He felt so self-conscious of his bulk - which he attempted to shroud in size XXXXXXL T-shirts (made for him at a specialist shop) that he could barely leave the house.

Russell started piling on the pounds in 1998 after splitting up with his wife and mother of his two daughters, Paige, now 20, and Megan, 18. He quickly went from 15 stone to morbidly obese.

He developed the life-threatening condition sleep apnoea, which meant he stopped breathing up to 50 times a night because of his colossal build.

Having failed miserably on different diets, Russell turned to his doctor as a last-ditch attempt to fight the flab. He was told he was eligible for a gastric bypass on the NHS and has now slimmed down to a trim 13 stone.

Now, Russell has a new job as a school chef and has even found love with a new partner. He said: 'My life was a mess. I didn't feel like doing anything.

'I couldn't afford to buy fruit and vegetables so I ate c***. I didn't really go to the pub but I'd drink can after can of lager at home.

'I didn't own a pair of scales and had no idea how much I weighed. It was terribly embarrassing. I'd go into the canteen at work and hear people's snide remarks.'

Regular shops didn't stock his size so he had to buy his clothes from specialist stockists.

Russell, who works at Filey Secondary School, North Yorkshire, said: 'I just fell into this cycle and couldn't get out of it. I missed my kids and felt really depressed.

'I was eating all the wrong things. I ate foods like Chinese take aways, burgers, pizzas and chocolate. I just loved my food and it was my only comfort really.'

Hard at work: Russel working in the school kitchen at his new job

After another relationship, he went on to have another two daughters, Imogen, nine, and Nuala, eight, but when that failed in 2007, his problems with his weight only got worse.

His weight rose to more than 35 stone, and his BMI was critically high at 72.9 - more than three times what it should be.

Russ also developed sleep apnoea, which causes sufferers to stop breathing in their sleep, diabetes, leg ulcers, high blood pressure - all caused by him being severely overweight.

He said: 'I wasn't sleeping properly so would nap when I felt like it. I lost interest in everything. I used to like going fishing and shooting game but I didn't feel like doing anything.

'Exercise was a no-no because of my size. My mum was really concerned. She kept pestering me to do something about it. I tried lots of fad diets and even slimming pills. All they did was give me a bad tummy.'

Out of desperation, Russell turned to his GP for help who agreed he was a suitable candidate for weight loss surgery.

Russell opted to have the operation at Spire Leeds Hospital after reading about the surgeon's high success rate.

Back in the day: Russell pictured before his gastric bypass

The long wait: Russell waiting for his NHS gastric bypass

He was put on a strict diet to help shrink his liver and managed to almost a stone.

In February 2011, he had a gastric bypass operation, which involved re-routing the digestive system past most of his stomach. Russell has since lost 90 per cent of his excess weight and now has a more healthier BMI of 29.

He now works as a chef, making lunch for the school's students and staff but he says being around food is not a problem.

Russell said: 'I know what to eat and am now more careful about the choice of food I eat.

'My diet is much healthier, more fruit, high fibre and wholegrain foods. I have to take food in smaller quantities so it's important to make sure every calorie is nutritious.

'I'm smaller now than when I got married. Sometimes it's hard to believe it.'

Me at last: Russell now weighs just 13 stone and says he finally feels himself, and his children say they finally have their father back

We could both get in! Russell and his current partner Sarah hold up a pair of his enormous old trousers

Russell has been dating partner Sarah Cooper, 41, for five months and they are now planning to move in together.

Russell said: 'Before surgery, I'd practically become a recluse. I wasn't comfortable with myself and the way I looked.

'I'd known Sarah for years through her sister. She knew me when I was big before my operation.

'She's not superficial and says she'd love me whatever weight I was but it definitely gave me the confidence to talk to her.

'Life is brilliant now. I've got my motorbike licence. I'd not been able to get on a bike before because I was so big.

'I do so much more with the kids. I love taking them camping or for long walks. They say they've got their Dad back.'
Russell is now hoping to get funding for another operation to remove his excess skin.

Sweet denial: Russell, pictured with partner Sarah, is still very careful about what he eats so his weight does not sky-rocket once more

Russell said: 'Life is brilliant now. I've got my motorbike licence. I'd not been able to get on a bike before because I was so big'

Back in the day: Russell Robinson with his niece on her wedding day, before he had the gastric bypass and lost 22 stone