GETTING stuck in the bath was the lightbulb moment leading to a depressed, obese alcoholic turning himself into a healthy, five-times-a-week gym fanatic.

David MacAuslan, 65, shed nine stone in as many months and got his old happy personality back after ditching the booze, taking up exercise and watching what he ate.

He is now free of the symptoms of diabetes and depression and hasn't touched a drop of alcohol in over a year.

Mr MacAuslan, of Trinity Road, Taunton, who will always remember September 17, 2015, as the day he decided to change his life, said: "I feel like a man half my age.

"I had no idea you could make such a change.

"I noticed a difference within three months and I want other people to know you can completely turn your life around without using NHS resources."

He had ballooned to 23 stone after a decade of overeating, drinking two bottles of wine a night and never walking anywhere, while his GP told him he had never seen a worse case of depression.

"None of my medication made any difference and every time I saw news of someone dying, I felt it could be me soon," said Mr MacAuslan, who became withdrawn and introverted in public.

"I was sedentary. It was hard to do any kind of exercise and I could hardly walk.

"Two things made me decide I had to change - I couldn't get out of the bath when we were on holiday in Falmouth and then I was sitting in my chair with a biro on my stomach, which was a big mound.

"I thought, 'This isn't right, not how it should be'."

He immediately embarked on a three-point plan - giving up alcohol, limiting his food intake to 1,200 calories a day and joining a gym.

"I don't miss drinking at all, I eat more healthily and savour it rather than wolfing it down and I push myself in the gym, progressing from a shuffle to a jog, to running on the treadmill," said Mr MacAuslan, who previously worked for a record company, then ran a hotel and worked in the wine business.

"The gym is hard work and boring, but the rewards are wonderful. I've got so much energy now I walk everywhere and use stairs rather than lifts or escalators.

"It's turned my life around completely.

"I put a real strain on my wife and two children, but now they've got their husband and father back.

"I've got permanent nerve damage in my feet from the diabetes, but it could have been worse - I could have suffered amputations or even gone blind. But my eyesight has actually improved."

Mr MacAuslan is so delighted with his transformation he plans to become a motivational speaker for Diabetes UK.

He said: "Are people like I was aware they can change things? Wouldn't they like to do something about it?"