'I was 47 stone - now I'm competing in a world championship bodybuilding competition'

In April 2022, at just 25 years old, Jack Ako tipped the scales at 47 stone (298.5kg).

Virtually every part of his life had become an impossible task, as his friends and family worried about his future.

After his mother told him she was struggling to sleep at night, Jack, from Wakefield, decided it was time to turn his life around.

Now, he’s just a few weeks away from competing in his first bodybuilding tournament - and he’s hoping to show others that anything is possible.

“I've always been big,” 29-year-old Jack told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“I was 13 pounds when I was born. I was an overweight child at school. I were always told it was my genetics, and I was a big, big lad.

“I ended up getting up to 47 stone by the age of 25, just through food addiction and drinking.”

The turning point, he said, was that Christmas.

“I remember my mum telling me she was struggling to sleep at night, my best friend saying they were worried about me, and my partner saying that she knew I could be better,” he recalled.

With the support he received, Jack lost 30 stone and completely turned his life around through diet and exercise.

He soon started to enjoy life at the gym.

“Everything's changed: my mindset, my relationships with people, my life, my outlook on everything, and my relationship with food, most importantly, has changed,” he said.

“I really started enjoying this side of life, realising there's so much more to live for, and then I decided to become a personal trainer and research nutrition and qualify.”

Through his business, AkoTrainz, Jack shares his story and the lessons from his transformation, aiming to help others improve their health and lifestyle.

He also documents his final weeks as he prepares to compete at the Pure Elites World Championship bodybuilding show in High Wycombe - something he would have thought impossible just a few years ago.

“It’s a transformation category where they put a photo up of you at your worst, and then you come out as you are now,” he said. “You show the world what you've done, and hopefully you win because you've got the best transformation.”

For Jack, the competition isn’t really about winning a trophy. It’s about standing on that stage knowing he once weighed 47 stone.

“This is about showing people who are sat at home who don't think their lives are worth anything, or don't think that they could achieve such a thing, that anybody can do anything,” he said.

“Because if I, after 47 stone, can compete in a world championship category, then you really can literally do anything.”