‘Tragic loss of best pal inspired me to lose 7st’
A MAN has revealed how he lost seven stone in weight in less than a year after forcing himself out of a pit of depression following the sudden death of his best friend.
Luke Ash, from Blaengarw, Bridgend, decided to act as the outbreak of coronavirus was taking hold and spreading across the country last spring.
He weighed more than 20st at his heaviest and by that point his life was spiralling out of control. He even admitted that he “just didn’t care anymore” and would eat whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
While describing himself as “a big lad” before, Luke piled on the pounds and slid into a mental health battle after a tragic event on August 3, 2019. He had a telephone call that morning with the worst news in the world: his best friend since school, Ryan James, had been found dead at the age of 23. He had taken his own life.
“We’d been best friends since we’d met in Year 8 in school,” said Luke, aged 25.
“It was just such a huge shock. We had gone on holiday to Barcelona in May of that year and it was a time of real happiness as his brother had recently got married.
“That August, we had planned to go to see a Wales v England international in Cardiff, so he was still making plans. It just didn’t feel real. The process of going through losing someone like that is hard at anytime but being under those circumstances just made it even worse. My initial reaction when I was told was to go to Ryan’s brother to make sure he was OK, but there’s nothing more you can do when that situation arises.”
The shock and anguish which came from the loss of his best friend soon turned to a state of real depression for Luke, and his instinctive reaction was to turn to food and to seek comfort from it.
“I don’t really drink or anything so food has always been my thing,” he said.
“Food was my crutch. To be honest with you I just didn’t care at the time. I didn’t notice or pay any attention to what I was doing or what I was eating.”
This state of mind lasted several months following Ryan James’ passing, but something changed in Luke’s world when coronavirus started spreading across the world in 2020.
He admitted that the pandemic was “a catalyst” for losing weight because of the numerous reports that obesity was a risk factor with regards to the potential for serious complications from Covid-19. He said it “became more than a mental health thing” at that point, and it became a physical one too.
In order to lose weight, Luke started counting calories and took part in intermittent fasting that would see him not consume any food for 18 hours a day. Basically, he would only eat between the hours of noon and 6pm. This ensured that not only did he have a clear idea of what he was eating every day, but his new routine totally cut out late-night snacking.
“I educated myself on food,” said Luke. “I got used to the fasting pretty quickly. There were difficult periods, of course, but I just reminded myself of why I started and that kept me going. I realised that my mental health was improving as my physical health was. I started moving more because I had more energy.
“I still ate things I liked because I still wanted to satisfy my sweet tooth, but I would buy low calorie things. I set myself a daily limit of 2,500 calories whereas before that I would be eating 4,000 calories-plus every day.”
Since he started his diet in May 2020, Luke has lost 100 pounds in 10 months – that’s just over seven stone. He now weighs 13st 7lbs, and still wants to lose more and get down to around the 12st mark.
He has been to the doctor since starting his diet and said his overall health is much better as a result of his new approach. However, he does concede that his current fasting regime between the hours of 6pm and noon the following day will not last forever. He said he will begin eating breakfast in the mornings again as he continues his diet but that he “certainly won’t go back to eating and snacking late at night”.
For the first time in years, Luke said he can enjoy the simple things in life – having more energy, going for walks, going for runs – and he revealed that even his sleep is much improved, making him feel like “a different person”.
He regularly goes on 5k and 10k jogs and as a result his general wellbeing is totally different to what it was a year ago, but his best friend is still at the forefront of his thoughts, more than 18 months after his tragic death.
“Ryan is always on my mind,” admitted Luke.
“I have been on diets before and lost a bit of weight and he would always congratulate me and say I looked good.
“He would always encourage me to do well so I definitely wanted to make him proud.
“I want to work in mental health in the future and hopefully I’ve shown others that you can do something positive in such difficult times.
“If one person can get motivated to lose weight or make changes in their life because I’ve shown it can be done, then that’s great. Sometimes people just need that little push.”
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