Half the man he used to be!
ANDY LOSES 13ST IN TWO YEARS BY JOINING GROUP
A 26-STONE lorry driver has lost nearly half his body weight in just two years – after reluctantly joining a slimming group.
Andy Warne, 58, was asked by a friend to join the Beaumont Leys Slimming World group she was setting up in 2018.
He went along to help “make up the numbers” but found losing weight much easier than he had expected.
His wife, Erene, also joined and started cooking healthier food for him at home, replacing many of their favourite takeaways, including Chinese and Indian dishes.
Two years later, he is down from 26st 8lb to just 13st 8lb and, as well as feeling a lot better and being able to enjoy exercising, he also fits in his lorry much more comfortably.
He said: “A friend of mine phoned me to say she was starting a group at Anstey Heights in Beaumont Leys and said she needed numbers, so we went along.
“I just went just to support her at first but everyone at the group was so nice, we carried on even after she had left.
“I lost 14lb in the first week alone. “Slimming World have all these great ideas for things you can eat and my wife does healthy versions of what I like – you can have the same sort of takeaway food at home but with ingredients that aren’t so fattening.
“Erene does healthy Scotch eggs, shepherd’s pie, Chinese and Indian food and even a healthy full English breakfast.”
Weight gain has always been an issue for Andy since he was a boy, having always loved the taste of good food.
He said: “I’ve been overweight for most of my life. I was quite big even as a child – it was just liking food a lot. It didn’t help that I used to live in
Devon for a while when I was younger – all the great cream teas and pasties and so on. “Since I’ve been back in Leicester, Erene and I would often go out for meals, have takeaways and cook for guests at our house most weekends, too, but now I just think about what I eat.” He said being in the Slimming World group had made it easier than he had expected to lose weight and he now finds life is better . He said: “It hasn’t really been that hard, with the group’s support and encouragement.
“I have a lot more energy now and in the summer months when the weather was better I was walking all the way from Fosse Park to the Clock Tower two or three times each week. “My wife uses a wheelchair so it’s not easy for her to exercise, but she’s also managed to lose 3st and I get lots of exercise pushing her around when we go for walks together. “I drive a lorry for a living and sitting behind the wheel was uncomfortable, but now it’s a breeze!”
I just went along as support at first, but I lost 14lb in the first week alone
Andy Warne