WHEN sales manager John Greer states he is not half the man he used to be - it's not just his latest pitch.

The man who has helped tens of others cope with the weighty problem of excess fat is a living testament to lifestyle change.

This is the man who turned 50 by shedding 10 stone in 18 months - more impressively, he's kept it off.

Now, John, 55, of Cookley, helps others realise there's no slimline tonic to weight loss, just healthy eating and exercise.

He said: "At my peak I was grotesque, always breathless and sweating. Then I went on an eating plan and it changed my life.

"I lost the weight and became alive again. Now I play football, circuit train and enjoy life - I've never looked back."

John has never looked back because he has not forgotten the pain of obesity.

He feels many others suffer the tears of a clown in an attempt to hide their true feelings.

He said: "My nickname was Slim - it was all a great laugh on the surface. One day I went into a large, open-plan office after climbing some stairs.

"I was sweating so much my glasses steamed up and I could not see across the room but I could hear lurid comments about my obesity. That's when I decided to take action."

Birmingham-born John has undergone more than one lifestyle change.

After leaving school he became an engineer, a job he loved for its technical idiosyncrasies.

He worked in everything from metal-bashing to plastics but his career totally changed in his 40s when he became a salesman.

His affable nature and native wit is made to measure for his role as sales director for a national plastics firm but that was not always the case.

John said: "When I started I did not have natural flair as a salesman. My naivety saw me taken to the cleaners a few times!

"Now its second nature. You have to be tenacious and never take no for an answer but always be professional."

John has applied his never say die nature to his Boysown Family Choice club, based at the Glades Leisure Centre, Kidderminster, and Birmingham.

He has been an inspiration to dozens of men in the battle against the bulge and now his club involves wives and children too.

John's own family affair has seen him married to Joyce for 31 years.

They moved to Cookley 14 years ago and have happily settled in the area.

His great passion is West Bromwich Albion whom he has been watching since the tender age of six months.

He takes his father Lionel, 79, to home and away games and tonight they hope to see the Baggies clinch a promotion play-off final place for the Premiership at Bolton.

John said: "It's in my blood. It's been a tremendous season - let's hope we play Birmingham in the final."