AFTER: William Mahfood looks much leaner now. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer BEFORE: William Mahfood before he lost 30 pounds.

William Mahfood took a very radical route to losing the excess pounds he had gained over the last few years.

He and a friend made a bet to see who could lose the most weight. In the end, Mahfood won, losing a whopping 30 pounds to date. The chief executive officer of the Wisynco Group told Flair that the bet was made on June 12.

"Within six weeks, I lost 24 pounds. I went on a low-calorie diet and played squash three days per week and I walked and ran up in the hills on the other days." Plus, as a businessman, he travelled a lot but he would workout on the treadmill during his travel period. He told Flair that his radical weight loss route was not something his wife Franny, who is a nutritionist, would have recommended.

As a boy, and even as a young man, Mahfood never had weight issues; he was always slender. But, for the last few years, his weight began increasing and, before he lost the weight, the scale read 216 pounds. His extra pounds resulted from a lack of exercise and not watching his diet. Also, in the last 15 or so years, Mahfood's waist measured 38 inches. Today he is proud to say he wears a 33.

Mahfood noted that now that he has been practising good eating habits and exercising regularly, he feels much better, more energetic and healthier.

"It has really given me a whole new lease on life. At first it was hard but after a while it got easier and now I have made diet and exercise a part of my daily schedule."

He said to lose weight and to get healthier takes discipline and dedication. Currently, he is not dieting as much but he practises healthy eating and has cut out all fatty foods and limited his starch intake. He said when he was overweight it was very difficult, especially for his wife.

"I was bad for her business but, now she is very proud of me. Likewise, I am proud of myself and I feel great."