A personal trainer who ate nothing but pasta for 21 days has lost 3.5lbs (1.6 kilos) and is now leaner than when he started.<br /><br />Ryan Mercer, 34, ate pasta for every meal - even breakfast - took on the challenge to show people can enjoy their favourite foods and still lose body fat.<br /><br />"I’m hoping now that people will now understand that it’s not about what foods we eat, but eating in moderation," said Ryan, from Bangor in Northern Ireland.<br /><br />"Calories in versus calories out is what matters most when it comes to fat loss and when it comes to fat loss, enjoying food should be a top priority."<br /><br />Ryan's usual diet is a flexible approach to eating, with a healthy protein intake, and seven to 10 portions of fruit and vegetables each day.<br /><br />But for the challenge, Ryan ate nothing but pasta.<br /><br />He consumed 2,000 calories a day for five days of the week and 2,700 calories a day for the other two.<br /><br />Throughout the challenge, he also maintained a proper exercise routine and was working out six times-a-week.<br /><br />The challenge was also cost effective as Ryan only spent £3-a-day on food and was able to batch cook up to 12 meals at a time.<br /><br />He added: "I cooked everything from scratch. I found the prep side of things quite easy.<br /><br />"There was a little bit of variance week to week, but as I was batch cooking, I would have consumed the same meals 3-4 days in a row."<br /><br />Ryan previously completed a similar challenge where he only ate pizza for 31 days and achieve similar results.
