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A fitter and leaner body need not just be a dream ... it can be the reward for just 12 weeks of dedicated exercise and training and a switch to a sensible diet.
Simon Bromyard, from Hamala, has walked away with prize money totalling BD1,001 after transforming himself into a slimmer, leaner, fitter fella after competing in a three-month-long DreamBody Centre fitness challenge.
A structural engineer at Gulf Steel Works at Jubail in Saudi Arabia, Simon said that the contest helped him to kickstart a life-changing healthy regime. He said: "It works on the human psyche and I would not be at 99 kilos today if it were not for the competition.
"And, when I heard that I have won the prize I was completely gobsmacked. In my eyes I had already won by looking at myself in the mirror and noting the extra holes in my belt! It's brilliant."
Although Simon had started training in January he lost just one kilo in four months. The launch of the competition gave him the incentive to work harder and lose a further 10 kilos ... and four-and-a-half inches off his waist measurements.
A resident of Bahrain for the past nine years, Simon, 37, said he signed up in a bid to tackle his weighty problem. He explained: "At first I was not really taking it too seriously. I just thought that I could turn up and massage the machines and end up like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But that wasn't the case and I really needed to enter the competition to concentrate my mind and be what I really wanted to be.
"I have a three-year old son, Joseph, and I wanted to be able to chase him around the house and do things that a father should be able to do.
"I started coming to the gym four or five times a week. Then I began to get used to the routine. I started eating properly and then I saw some real results."
Simon also started to ride to the centre on a mountain bike he had purchased for BD450 that had been gathering dust in his garage for months.
The four-and-a-half km journey added to the 23-minute exercise routine at the DreamBody Centre. "By the time I got here I would feel like I had already done a session," he said. "I soon started to see an increase in my personal results.
"After a few weeks it was clear that I was changing and going through the transition of losing fat and gaining muscle and whenever I could I came in twice-a-day and on occasions worked out between nine to 11 times a week."
Simon's competition ended one week before many of his fellow competitors which initially attracted more than 90 entries. He took a two-week vacation to South Africa to watch the World Cup finals. Despite the celebrations and unrestrained eating and festivities, Simon did not gain weight; in fact he lost an additional one and a half kilos.
An elated Simon said: "I would ideally like to go down to about 90 kilos but my wife Joanne is not happy about that. She thinks I will end up with a skinny body and a big head and big ears!"
He believes that a diet change recommended by the centre also played a pivotal role in his endeavour to become fitter and trimmer. From binging on pizzas, burgers and the biggest steaks Simon could find in a restaurant, he tucked into fruits for snacks and salad with chicken or fish as a main course.
He said: "I have started looking at things differently. I still like to eat the occasional junk food but I prefer to eat a healthier alternative about 95 per cent of time.
"I am still the same person just a little bit thinner, a little bit happier and much more energetic. I feel a lot less lethargic. I play a lot of football and I feel I can run longer ... I just feel better all-in-all."
In Simon's opinion the time for someone to begin exercising is when you try and tie your shoe laces and it hurts and you are out of breath. At the same time he warns that expecting overnight results is a myth and it can only come with a lot of hard work and dedication.
He said: "It does not happen overnight. You have to devote yourself to it and you will find that after a certain amount of time it becomes enjoyable."
Suhail Al Gosaibi, founder of Falak Enterprises which owns the kingdom's two DreamBody Centres, added: "You get out only as much as you put in. We advocate that people should make a healthy lifestyle change that will last forever. It is not about holding your breath for 12-weeks and then going back to your old ways. It is about making a gradual lifestyle change that will stay with you forever."
The centres in Hamala and Seef will be staging two more contests this year and the overall winner of all three contests will drive away with a prize Toyota Fortuner.
