Now I’m the dad I always wanted to be... after losing over 10st
‘I was so nervous the day I went to my first Slimming World group but I’ve been amazed by the support’
rry driver. Things didn’t change hen he moved to his current job as ransport manager for a skip-hire mpany. Every day he’d eat burgers, zza and chips, all washed down th litres of sugar-loaded fizzy inks.
WHEN bosses bought him a special reinforced chair for his work he tried to laugh off. “They told me it was so I’d be mfortable,” says John.
“But the box the chair came in vertised that it could take up to st so I knew why it had really been ought in.”
John hated feeling sluggish and not liking what he saw in the mirror.
“But most of all he hated not being able to be the kind of dad he wanted to be.
He adds: “Tegan was always asking me to go and kick a ball with her or to take her swimming and I’d constantly make excuses.
“Not because I didn’t want to but because I didn’t have the energy.
“Occasionally I would take her swimming but I’d drive for miles to a pool out of our local area so that no one would know me. “And once I was in the water I’d stay there, I didn’t want anyone to see me. “It was horrible feeling so ashamed all the time and so guilty because I wasn’t being as active with my daughter as I’d have liked.” These days it’s a different story. Now a keen cyclist who will often head off for a 20-mile ride after work, John says Tegan struggles to keep up with him now. He smiles: “She’ll moan at me and ask, ‘how far are we going today, Dad?’ It’s funny to think how different things were. “I’ll never go back to being that 22st guy. “I like this new guy far too much, I like this new dad far too much.
“Simple things like clothes shopping are a pleasure now. I’d never try anything on in a shop before, I was a 46in waist and I was too embarrassed. I’d buy everything online.
“Now I’m a 32in waist and I can go into any shop I want.”
John says joining Slimming World has truly made him enjoy food. Instead of eating high-fat, high-sugar junk that wouldn’t satisfy him, he stays fuller for longer cooking healthy meals the whole family can enjoy, such as spaghetti bolognese or a Chinese dish called Shanghai chicken.
Instead of two rolls with sausages for breakfast, he enjoys porridge oats soaked overnight in low-fat yogurt and piled high with delicious berries.
Multiple sandwiches at lunch have been replaced with chicken salad. And instead of a large pizza at night he’ll have grilled chicken or a salmon fillet with lots of vegetables and potatoes.
He adds: “Gayle has helped so much by cooking Slimming World recipes for the family and I cook too at weekends, I’d never have done that before.
“I’d love more men to join Slimming World as I’ve done. It’s a decision you’ll never regret and I’m the proof that it’s not just for women.”
JOHN’S MENU BEFORE HIS MENU AFTER
● To find your nearest group, visit slimmingworld.co.uk or call 0344 897 8000.
● Slimming World is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019.