A morbidly obese man shed half his body weight in 16 months – and left his mates £10,000 out of pocket.

Junk food-loving Peter Ajello had ballooned to 203kg (32st) by bingeing on burgers, pancakes and pizza.

His initial weight loss of 22kg in a month was so astounding his closest friends bet him he wouldn’t lose double that in five months.

As the pounds kept falling off, they even tried to sabotage his slimming regime by having chicken wings and pizzas sent to his house every night.

But Mr Ajello refused to crack and came in even lighter than the target weight to collect his wedge of cash.

‘I don’t think they thought I could do it, but I was determined to prove them wrong,’ said Mr Ajello, of Florida.

‘I was known as the guy who could eat and eat. In college, my friends would set me eating challenges – it made me feel popular.’

The diet, combined with pounding a treadmill in his basement, saved his life after he suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with diabetes.

He cut out all junk food and alcohol but allowed himself the occasional square of chocolate to satisfy his sweet cravings.

Today he weighs in at a svelte 88kg (14st). ‘It was tough, but I kept rewarding myself with bits of chocolate and the fat melted away,’ he said.

The money he won from his mates helped him to pay for a £6,000 operation to remove a huge fold of excess skin from his belly that was left after his extreme dieting.