Rare Adventures

Category: My weight loss journey

This is the story about how I lost 3 stone in weight, and without exaggeration, really changed my life.
Some of it crept back on, but generally, I’ve been fit as a fiddle since.
Now I’m 65, over last 8 years I’ve been able to do sports and lifestyle I’d given up in my 40s.

My weight loss journey – the power of team support

Talking about weight with others on the same journey really helps

Click here to follow the res of My Weight Loss Journey

Real Madras – what the boys achieved was amazing

Men don’t want to talk about weight. Nobody is happy being fat, we all want to be fit, be attractive and do sports. What I have learned from this is that if a guy is fat then there is probably something going on, the problem is they wont talk about, because we are men and tough.

I was watching the film Full Monty again last week, apart from being hilarious, I hadn’t realised that it had touched on such a range of male self esteem issues at the time.

Most weight loss classes are designed for women, so the Man V Fat , initiative is totally unique and focused on male issues. It really works but it is down to you and how committed your team are but you need to set your own goals and objectives, it isn’t any sort of magic formula.

Initially it didn’t work for me, I was 59 and most of the guys were much younger and were judging me as soon as I turned up. I did a season and I decided to change teams as I hadn’t found the original group particularly inspirational but partly that was my fault as I had been injured a lot.

My new team were all new lads, we called ourselves Real Madras and I volunteered to be captain as I wanted to make sure we focused on weight loss, not worrying too much about football or crap chat like the other team.

This bunch of guys have been wonderful, not only have they been fantastic support for each other. We started together at the end of March 2018, I was already on a roll by then but they really gave me renewed focus. 7 years on, when we see each other, the opening line will be something like “your looking good mate”, or “how is the weight going”

In the opening 2 games we had two lads who were so badly injured they were off work for 10 days, that back to wall spirit that we found on the pitch worked off the pitch as well. By the end of the season were moved from being target practice for the others to runners up in the league and winning the cup – fantastic.

Cup winners and league runners up – I can’t begin to tell you how big a rush all this was

I had already introduced a mate (Gary who helped me run the boys team) and we were already encouraging each other anyway. Another one of the guys (Chris) was into mountain biking so we started doing a few rides, so very quickly it was more than a football team, the guys really came together as a unit supporting each other on and off the pitch.

3 stone lighter than January, I was loving life, it was like gaining 20 years back on my life

ManVFat is a framework within which you can manage your weight loss, it is your team that makes it happen. The whole team needs to be bough into the aspiration, one or two people not trying hard enough off the pitch will let everyone else down.

In the first season, Chris lost 20% of his weight, Gary lost 15%, I lost another 10% and everyone else went over 5%. That is incredible for one season, and to be fair, we couldn’t keep it up but in the second season.

By June I was able to get back into my 1988 BBC 1^st XI shirt that I kept as a souvenir of a season when we won the league, 6 months earlier it would haven’t have gone over my shoulders. Hitting 13st 6lb was big for me, that was my footballing weight in my mid 20s, I honestly still can’t believe I managed it.

The big challenge is to avoid getting hungry or into a situation where you are hungry and there is junk food around. When you are on the weight loss journey you have to stay disciplined within boundaries.

If you go over the calorie limit for the day you have to earn the calories back so find somewhere to walk it off for an hour or an extra trip to the gym will get you a Big Mac if you want. On a Sunday I regularly burn off 1800 calories by doing a 3 hour bike ride and taking the dog for a 10km work and you feel great afterwards.

I was big on carrying protein bars around with me, they are there if you get peckish, lighter in calories and more filling because of the protein, they are quite cheap if you buy them in bulk

23/04/2025
My weight loss journey – Building momentum
Getting the diet right, get the exercise moving and enjoy life to the max

Click here to follow the res of My Weight Loss Journey

By late Feb I was under 15 stone for the first time in 10 years

In all my previous attempts I had managed to lose between half a stone and a stone off, but this time, once I got the calorie counting going. The weight started to drop off pretty quickly, under 16st by the end of Jan, under 15st by late March, counting calories religiously plus going to the gym 2 or 3 times a week and walking 10000 every day.

Running the boys football team was a huge motivation, now I was fully involved in the training, working out and running with them. It was exhilarating to enjoy sport again. Showing them how them what was needed and it inspired one of the other coaches to start on a weight loss mission as well, so we drove each other on giving each other support.

My wife had also started a diet in February, using an approach developed by a clinic. It was brutal with all sorts of packaged food that she had to eat, I couldn’t contemplate taking that approach but having 2 of us focused really helped. As that diet progressed she moved on to stir fries and other menus they provided which were more palatable to we started eating similar foods.

By the end of April we had both lost 2 st in weight and were loving life again

Previous attempts at running had just produced injuries, but this time I was dealing with them, I spent a fortune on physios to help me get over problems and made sure I had a more balanced approach to the gym and exercise, this really helped for football.

Mindset changes

In 2017 I had been building up my exercise level anyway, but what made a difference this time was:
1. Not giving up when I hurt myself and dealing with some fundamental problems as I knew this was the way to avoid joint pain.
2. Counting calories intake in a structured way through the app.
3. Having a long term goal that was 9 months away rather than having a 6 weeks blast.
4. Having the weekly support of mates who were on the same journey as me.
My diet was never that bad, after dreading the Atkins Diet book 20 years earlier, I had always avoided processed food. Takeway foodwas the exception but having kids does bring some dodgy snacks and other temptations within reach, like finishing their meals !

Beer fridges are dangerous

Thinking back, the arrival of the beer fridge in my garage in 2009 didn’t help much. I enjoy a cold beer after a busy day but the issue was probably the size of my portions and I would stock up on high carb food like potatoes and I love bread so these were the sacrifices, I didn’t go cold turkey but I could see the consequences when I logged the food.

A few other things like biscuits, I just didn’t realise how many calories lurk in stuff like that, cereals for breakfast was another challenge, in fact, places like Lidl have so many tempting food so cheap its really difficult, but as I’ve learned they have cheap really good stuff as well so I eat a lot more protein and fruit now.

I very quickly understood what was going on, there were foods that had to be abandoned that were the source of my problem, rice, pasta, potatoes and bread had to be minimised, but I replaced them with protein heavy food. It sounded decadent having salmon for breakfast, but from place like Lidl, it didn’t cost much, it just meant planning.

Firstly its important not to get hungry, so you have to plan the day and the easiest way to do that is have a routine, so this is roughly when I have?

Daily food routine

Breakfast I normally have 3 eggs, boiled or scrambled, a kiwi and an orange but no toast.

Lunchtime I eat lots of protein, especially king prawns for lunch, they are very low on calories and filling, a 200g packet in Lidls is the same price is a sandwich. It’s a bit trickier when I’m not in the office but would still hunt down something like chicken. I’d supplement this with fruit and a protein bar.

Evening is more protein, fish, steak or chicken, with stir fry vegetables supporting it, mushrooms, spinach and peppers are almost zero calories so you can eat as much as you want.

By early May I was feeling absolutely great, my weight was heading for 14st and I got the surfboard out to and had a trial run at Newquay, I was going to Bali
22/04/2025
My weight loss journey – the power of dreams

Why should you change your lifestyle if there is no personal incentive, you need a dream

A valuable lesson is having a goal that will stretch you, and holding yourself to account for achieving it. Make it something so exciting that you will make sacrifices to achieve it.

Click here to follow the res of My Weight Loss Journey

In January 2018 I was still 16st 8lb, the result of beer and BBQs every night and living in the great outdoors down under. As you can see from the photo, I still had a long way to go.

The NZ trip wasn’t all fun, there had been a work element to it and whilst there we had discussed me returning for a longer work trip later in the year.

Finding the dream

Unconnected but relevant, my eldest lad had been surfing off a boat in Bali the previous year and I couldn’t believe that he had achieved such a dream experience. It then occurred to me that if I was heading to NZ I could stop off in Bali and try surfing off a boat. This was an enormous stretch from where I was at that moment, but I wanted it.

I had a goal and I went public with all my pals – “I am going surfing from one of those boats in Bali this year, just like in the videos”, and that meant getting myself sorted and this time I would lose weight.

The Man v Fat football hadn’t really helped me much at this stage, but it was largely because I’d hardly played in the previous 4 months. I bought the ManVFat book and read up on the weight loss techniques and it was quite clear to me that the only way to deal with my weight was calorie counting. I already has an exercise watch that tracked my activity and calories that I was burning, so I just needed to start counting what was going in.

I downloaded the myfitnesspal app that enabled calories tracking and got started.

I had to deal with a few more things, firstly I had to find time to go to the gym, I hate mornings but manged to coax myself there for 8.30 am and got used to it. I had an emotional issue that I felt I was letting my staff down as I wasn’t the first one in the office every day, so I started to view the time at the gym as work prep time not leisure time.

I then had to deal with my lifestyle when not in the office, working away and travelling. So I developed a “calorie trading” technique, so if I was away and wanted to have a couple of beers watching the football, I would “earn the right” by going for a 1 hour walk to earn the 450 kcals that would be in the beer.

Finally there was my all round fitness, a cortisone injection and physio fixed my shoulder but it also highlighted that my core wasn’t particularly strong from all the sitting around, so I did loads of situps. Not surprisingly I ended up with a knackered back, another 4 week layoff from running but I kept going to the gym doing any exercise I could to burn calories.

I had a dream and I was going to make it and nothing was going to get in my way.

21/04/2025
My weight loss journey – I am fat

OMG – I look like my old man was my reaction to a photo, I need to do something.

Click here to follow the res of My Weight Loss Journey

The key point of all this was that I had found inspiration, role models and a purpose for changing my life not just losing weight. I had a load of knock backs in those early months but I didn’t give in. I also set myself some really tough objectives for someone my age, obviously I was lucky that I had things like the NZ trip in the pipeline to help me focus.

This picture with my eldest lad out mountain biking on Boxing Day 2016, the day the scales tipped 17st, frightened the hell out of me, because I looked so much like my dad who was always fat in my opinion.

I went on a diet blast and had my weight back down to 16st by mid Feb, but it drifted back up to the mid 16st by the summer.

In July 2017 I took over running my youngest lad’s U13 football team. During the first training session I started to get frustrated as I could hardly run and all the joint pains meant I wasn’t fit enough to show them what was needed, I didn’t want to be the angry old man who shouted at them but couldn’t do himself.

The problem was my joints resisted every attempt to join in, I could run and get the ball but that was about it.

In the same month we took on a new member of staff (Penny), she was around 50 and had set herself the objective of running in the Bristol half marathon, I was amazed at her energy and determination, she was going to the gym at 7am every day. Not only that, her hubby was still playing competitive football at 50, how on earth was that possible. I thought, well if you can do it so can I, I had a role models.

A key piece of the jigsaw happened in August we went on holiday to France. I took the mountain bike as I thought this could be my starting point. I set my self a target of 100km during the week, I did 80km in the first 2 days, so I reset the target at 200km and did it in 5 days. As you can see, I never lack energy or determination.

200km done -= 5 hard days and a sore back side, largely inspired by my son doing a 150 miles ride the month before.

More exercise helps joints

Obviously I was knackered but what I didn’t expect was that after 3 days ALL my joint pains were gone, ankles, toes, knees – the lot were painless. 2 days after completing the rides they were all back. By accident I discovered that the best remedy for joint pain is to use them, its what they are there for.

I went to the gym a few times when I came back and after a week the joint pains were gone again exercise was clearly the medicine for my joint pains not just a way of losing weight – bingo. We had a family trip to New Zealand planned for Xmas, so I set myself a target of downhill mountain biking in Queenstown, which meant getting a lot fitter.

Inspired by my new objective I started looking for more exercises and I’d thought about walking football. My pal was doing a thing called Man v Fat (www.manvfat.com) so I joined him as it would help me with the boys football as well.

I hadn’t kicked a ball in anger for 15 years but I was back in the zone on the pitch immediately and loved every second – even if my body hurt like hell for days afterwards.

By the end of Sep 2017 I was running with the boys during training and warm ups, but at the beginning of October disaster struck, riding too hard on the mountain bike I lost control, hit a tree and broke 3 ribs. Out for 5 weeks but I kept going to the gym and pedalling and jogging.

I made a come back at the beginning of November which lasted a weekend, I had another disaster, I didn’t warm up properly with the boys on Saturday morning and tore my thigh muscle. Another 5 week layoff, but I still went to the gym, the weight wasn’t moving but I was definitely getting fitter.

I made it to Queenstown bike park, probably the most scenic place in the world, and the steepest.

Beginning of December, I was back running when another injury struck, it turned out to be an inflamed tendon in my shoulder (rotator cuff its called) from too many weights and it severely restricted my shoulder movements so I decided to take it easy in the lead up to Xmas otherwise I wouldn’t be doing the bike ride in Queenstown.

The NZ trip had a big effect, we did lots and lots of activities and I was feeling really fit and healthy, my weight was still not going anywhere but I was much fitter.

This is one of the lessons I’ve learned from this, you can be fit and healthy and still be overweight.

20/04/2025
The weight loss journey – Lifestyle vs Age

I never thought of myself as being fat, I lived life fast, happy and mostly to excess, but it was catching up with me.

Click here to follow the res of My Weight Loss Journey

The reality is that getting fatter is not a natural consequence of getting older, it is a consequence of your lifestyle and choices you make.

I’ve always been active and pretty competitive and the weight crept on over my lifetime. In my mid 20s I was about 13st 4lb, playing lots of football at a good standard and training twice a week. I kept playing until I was 40 and my weight had gradually crept up to about mid 14st, mostly attributable to post match beer.

When I finished I still did other sports but the big change was starting my own business at 42, I lost control of my own time. Two babies arrived in my mid 40s and by the time I got to 50 I was heading towards 16st.

In my 50’s, the business took off, parenting two little kids and keeping an eye on two older kids mean’t I had plenty to think about other than myself, so as my late 50’s approached so did 17st.

I also believed that the weight gain was the natural cycle of life kicking in, as all my pals seemed to be spreading in the same way so I didn’t think there was much wrong. As I did less my performance declined and it was easier to focus on work than running, it hurt less for starters.

Basically, I didn’t really have much of a problem with my appearance but in my 40s I started to suffer from a lot of joint injuries, which I put down to the legacy of football. Whenever I did any sport I would suffer afterwards.

I had various blasts at getting my weight down through exercises but they would often end in pain and frustration so generally my levels of activity were dropping.

I had a hip replacement at 50 and that gave me a new lease of life and I was able to get more active again, but ultimately the other joints were hurting and the pressure of work made it easier to do work that exercise. I put all the pain down to football injuries when I was younger.

The government uses a thing called the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a way of assessing your weight, they say a BMI of 25 is healthy. Even though my BMI of 35 or something looked bad, I generally didn’t see myself as being excessively overweight, and my family thought I was fine. I always felt there was a stone to lose, but I was always quite well built so could carry it off and being hyper active, I never lacked energy so all looked well.

Even now, I don’t think I’ve been under BMI 25 since my teens, so it doesn’t hold much cred in my view. That BMI number is rubbish, it takes no account of build or gender.

If you want to check yours, this is the link – Calculate your body mass index (BMI) – NHS – NHS

I’ll pick the story up about the change in the next blog, I don’t want you guys getting bored.

19/04/2025