ITV The Chase's Mark Labbett cut two things from diet and lost 10 stone

ITV The Chase's Mark Labbett cut two things from diet and lost 10 stone The Chase star was told by doctors that surgery could be risky - so he did it the hard way Best known for his appearance on The Chase, star Mark 'The Beast' Labbett looks drastically slimmer than his early days on the ITV quiz show. In recent years, he lost a significant 10 stone, claiming two things had to go from his diet to achieve this massive weight loss. The TV regular, now 61, previously shared that he weighed 'around 29 stone' at his heaviest. The process was not quick and took a lot of hard work to maintain, but it involved cutting down on two specific things that were problems in Mark's life. To start his full-on lifestyle reboot, he made sure to cut back hard on carbs and sugar - particularly pub-style meals and sweet treats. He later began scaling down alcohol, too, as he says the results started to show. Health fears were a big driver behind the change, with Labbett previously revealing he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in 2016. He previously said on X: "I was 29 stone when I was a full-time teacher in 2003, and I was in danger of high blood pressure. I've been around 26 stone up until lockdown, and then a few things happened quite nicely and came together. I started losing weight." But it wasn’t just food doing the heavy lifting. Labbett has credited the chaos of lockdown parenting - chasing after a “hyperactive” toddler when nurseries were shut - for replacing late-night fridge raids with pure exhaustion. Speaking on Loose Women back in 2021, he said: "I found at the end of the evening instead of going to the fridge for late night snacking, all I could do was collapse on the bed." But the exercise didn’t stop there. He’s joked that the family Labrador, Baloo, became his unlikely fitness coach after his wife nudged him into doing the walks she’d originally promised she’d handle. Speaking to Dermot O'Leary and Joanna Page on ITVs The Pet Show, he said: "I was walking him around the fields, taking me places... I think he's helped a lot, simply because I'm doing more activity." Labbett has also previously indicated he didn’t use weight-loss surgery to get there. He’s said doctors warned a gastric band could be risky for him because of how his body processes sugar, so his drop came from diet changes and moving more instead. What happens when you stop eating carbs and sugar? When you stop eating carbs and sugar, your body shifts from burning glucose to burning fat for energy. It won't be plain sailing from the start. Experts suggest that the initial shock to the system of losing the usual 'fast' energy source causes tiredness and brain fog. Withdrawal from sugar can also lead to things like headaches - but these are only temporary. Eventually, your body flushes out stored water because carbs retain water weight, leading to less bloating and a quick drop on the scale. The pace of weight loss slows after the first week as your body adapts to steadily tapping into fat stores for energy. Removing something completely from your diet is extreme and should not be done without consulting a medical professional first. Restrictive diet changes can pose health risks for certain people, like those on specific medication or people with kidney/liver conditions.