STEPHEN Allen is half the man he used to be – literally.The Felixstowe man has lost an amazing 14 stone (88.9kg) since last year - and now weighs just under 13 stone.

SUPERSLIMMER Stephen Allen is half the man he used to be – literally.

The Felixstowe man has shed an amazing 14 stone (88.9kg) since last year - and now weighs just under 13 stone.

Mr Allen, 36, of Brightwell Close, began dieting in March last year and has since halved his body weight without the help of slimming clubs.

The man who designed his own diet and exercise regime has been given a new lease of life but has found that his friends cannot cope with the new confident man.

When Mr Allen split up from his wife last year he decided to get his life back on track.

Pizzas, cakes and biscuits were no longer on the menu and now eats as healthily as possible.

Instead the vegetarian cut out junk food so that he now eats a third of the calories he used consume when he was wearing size 52-inch waist trousers.

"I have just gone through a divorce. Before my wife left she called me big, fat and ugly," the father-of-three said.

Mr Allen, who now has a 32-inch waist, decided to prove his ex-wife wrong.

"It was a little bit of revenge," he said. "I have to give some credit to my older sister, she was the one who broke me, she had a right go at me."

Mr Allen now weighs under 13 stone (82.5kg) and at 6ft 3in (1.9m) he has reached an ideal weight.

He eats around 1,000 calories a day, when a man of his height should ideally eat 1,500 and he said he burns off 3,000 calories a day through exercise.

Mr Allen's achievement is all the more remarkable if you consider he has lost more weight than all the bulk of Ipswich Town's midfielder Jim Magilton, who weighs 13st10lbs, or Will Carling, who weighed 14st during his playing career.

And it's more than double the petite pop princess Kylie Minogue, who weighs just 6st.

Mr Allen used to have a fear of exercise but now enjoys going for long walks, sometimes heading out as far as the Suffolk showground. One day he walked 12 miles from Ipswich to Felixstowe.

Although his life and health has improved Mr Allen said he has lost many of his old friends.

"I have lost a lot of friends through jealousy. I'm dressing a lot smarter because I have gained a lot of confidence. They can't cope with it.

"Now I'm very forthright - in your face a little. My self esteem has gone up."

Mr Allen who describes himself as a loner has now gained enough confidence to join salsa dancing classes and the Territorial Army.

Although he is currently unemployed he also has plans to start his own internet-based hand-made leather clothing business.

However he will not be fully happy until he has the plastic surgery needed to remove the excess skin which did not shrink with the loss of fat.