Man's ridiculous interpretation of the 'Special K' diet see him eating 8000 calories a day

We've all believed the hype and ditched our regular meals in favour of a bowl of Special K at some time or another. Who doesn't want to be the woma in the red dress?

But one man's interpretation of the Special K diet has led to quite the opposite effect, seeing him tipping the scales at more than 18 stone, after eating upwards of 8,000 calories a day.

Murray Young, 56, from Essex, started his day with what he thought was a healthy bowl of cereal and fruit, but despite the zillions of programmes and articles made about healthy eating, he still didn't realise that smothering it in double cream was a weight loss no-no.

Appearing on Channel 4 show Secret Eaters, Murray revealed that many of us still don't know what to eat to stay slim and healthy.

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Murray explained: "For breakfast I'd have Special K with bananas and sultanas and then pour double cream on top.

"I thought it was healthy because of the Special K in there.

"I was eating semi-correctly or believing I was. I thought I was eating plenty of fruit and salad. I thought if I ate one piece of fruit a day, then I was eating healthily."

Hasn't the five-a-day message been rammed down our throats enough yet?

But the show's hidden cameras told a different story.

Nutritionist on the programme Lynne Garton explained: "Murray’s calorie intake was huge, mainly as a result of his huge portion sizes at meal times, snacking and picking on fatty foods between meals, his regular takeaways, drinking sugary drinks and his alcohol intake."

On the show Murray is confronted by the true number of calories he consumes, in an effort to change his ways.

He said: "On one particular day, I'd eaten more than 8,000 calories. "I was shocked to the core. I felt disgusted to tell you the truth."

Murray has now been given an 'idiot-proof' diet, has lost weight and feels like a new man.

"Helena [Murray's wife] and I talk about healthy eating a lot and we always say that people don't know enough," he said.

"I think there's a lot of people like me out there, who started putting on weight in their early 20s and don't know how to get rid of it and avoid things like diabetes."