Colchester MP Will Quince has used his time in lockdown as an “opportunity to reset”, dropping more than five stone and running 10km in less than an hour after battling with his weight for more than a decade.

Mr Quince, 37, shared his impressive weight loss transformation on Facebook over the weekend, to encourage others who struggle with their weight that it can be done.

The Conservative MP said he had always battled with his weight and decided to make a change around a year ago, focussing primarily on his food and drink consumption.

He started off counting calories and got to know the calorie content of everything, becoming a “diet bore”, as his wife kept reminding him.

Mr Quince said: “The hardest thing is taking the first step, taking the decision to try and shift the weight is particularly hard when it’s cold outside and all you want to do is to put your feet up on the sofa with a beer, a pizza and a tub of ice cream.

“But now I feel a thousand times better, I’ve got more energy, I feel fitter and healthier and I sleep better. It’s not easy, but it’s all about making sure you stick to it.”

Mr Quince found he really started to shift the pounds when the country was put into lockdown back in March, using the time as he described to “reset”.

He said his success is all down to making the time for it and squeezing in some exercise wherever he could, monitoring his eating and generally thinking about eating less and moving more.

He said his weaknesses have always been bread, cheese, chocolate and wine, but said that “nothing is off limits” once you learn your calorie limit.

After a while he dropped the strict calorie counting as his diet morphed to healthier choices and smaller portion sizes and he switched from cycling to running and joined the gym.

Now Mr Quince is even running 10km twice a week in less than an hour. He says he would have laughed a year ago at the thought of him running that kind of distance.

“It’s not been easy,” said Mr Quince. “Especially when your weight plateaus it is hard to keep motivated. But after more than 10 years I finally feel like I have cracked it.

“But I know I will always have to watch what I eat and exercise to keep the weight off.”

Mr Quince is urging others to take the plunge and start their weight loss journey, adding: “If I can do it, anyone can.”