I’m no longer living on borrowed time
Phil Peck, 55, is a warehousing and transport general manager. He lives in Levington, Suffolk, with his wife Jo
No sooner had I closed my eyes than I was fast asleep. The only thing was
– I was at work. As a manager for a busy transport and warehouse company, my lunchtime power nap was the only way I could get through my working day without falling asleep on the job.
At nearly 26st, just getting around wore me out, and I used snacks to keep me going – sausage rolls, chocolate, and four takeaway burgers followed by two apple pies and a milkshake. Then I’d go home to toad-in-the-hole and chocolate or sponge pudding with custard.
My wife Jo and I would laugh that our only real hobby was eating and it did seem funny at the time. Then in 2017, after a holiday to Las Vegas, I had a heart attack and needed surgery to insert three stents.
Afterwards I became very low and I turned to food for comfort. Soon I couldn’t bend down to tie my shoelaces. When my doctor took my blood pressure and found it was dangerously high, he warned if I wanted to live a long life, I needed to lose weight. Jo, who had been to Slimming World in the past, suggested we join together.
In August 2019, weighing 25st 11½lb, I attended my first group. I’d barely eaten vegetables before, but it soon felt strange not to have salad or veg with my dinner. I lost 13½lb in the first week, which didn’t seem possible. We carried on and by September last year, Jo had reached her target weight of 10st and I had a 34in waist – down from 60in.
As my weight went down, weekends were spent taking our grandkids on bike rides, and I started roller blading and going to the gym.
When everyone started shopping online during the pandemic, work got really busy.
So it was just as well I was no longer fighting to keep my eyes open and could make sure all the goods that passed through our company were headed in the right direction.
Last October I hit my target weight of 13st 10lb. Now I cycle six miles to work and back each day and you should see me moving around the warehouse at high speed. I no longer worry I’m living on borrowed time – instead I’m making plans for a future with Jo I had never dreamed possible.