My life became small because I’d got so big
Father-oF-two Stephen Bielby lost 6st 11lb and put his type 2 diabetes into remission after joining ww. Stephen, 48, is a company director and lives in Sutton-in-Craven, near Skipton, North Yorkshire, with his 46-year-old wife Dianne, a secondary school director, and their son tom, 17, and daughter emily, 22. Stephen is 5ft 7in tall and dropped from 22st 7lb to 15st 10lb, and from a 54in waist size to 38in in nearly two years. he says:
MY PROBLEM was that I didn’t really recognise how big I actually was — or how small my life had become — until I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by my GP in October 2019. I wish I’d known when I was younger how los-ing weight would transform my life.
But it took the diagnosis to give me the shock I needed to take action.
I took a long hard look at myself after being told I had developed diabetes and needed to take the drug metformin to control my blood sugars. I’d also started to suffer numbness in my foot which I later learned was a symptom of diabetes: the high sugar levels start to dam-age nerve endings, causing numbness. I also had high cho-lesterol. It was all down to being overweight.
I gave myself a talking to and knew I had to change my atti-tude to food. I felt ashamed I’d let myself get into that state and joined WW.
At that point, it was so hard find-ing clothes that would fit me in the shops. Although I was self-conscious — and my wife urged me to lose weight from time to time because she was worried about my health — I managed to ignore being overweight most of the time.
I was always snacking in the car — on crisps and sausage rolls in particular — and on Friday nights I always had a massive takeaway with kebabs, naan bread, chips, onion bhajis and samosas.
I did play with my children when they were smaller, but I was a bit of a couch potato otherwise.
But WW changed all that. When I joined, it was the first time I had really thought about what I was putting in my mouth. I loved the fact that the programme wasn’t restric-tive. If I wanted to eat chips I could, so long as I didn’t exceed my day’s SmartPoints budget.
I quickly learned to make swaps, choosing low-fat bacon medallions over fatty rashers, for instance. And I loved the fact that I could have a massive weekend brunch of bacon medallions, low-fat sausages, mushrooms, a poached egg, low-carb bread and tomatoes, all for only 5-6 SmartPoints.
As the pounds dropped off, I started to get more active — it helped me earn extra FitPoints that I could use to boost my SmartPoints Budget and I found I was enjoying it. I took up spin classes and lost enough weight to go horse-riding again, something I’d loved as a child. It was brilliant and liberating. In my head I was Indiana Jones all over again!
I bought a cross trainer to use at home. At first I only did ten or 15 minutes a couple of times a week, but now I’m on it for at least 30 min-utes every day.
By May 2020, I’d lost four-and-a-half stone and blood tests showed my blood sugar levels had dropped dramatically. I no longer needed medication and my cholesterol levels were also back to normal. The numb-ness in my foot had gone, too.
I was delighted — and resolved to keep going. My wife says I’m like another man and my kids are very proud of me.
Now I’m another 2st 4lb lighter and love my new life. On top of every-thing else I adore walking Cleo, the Pyrenean mountain dog we got as a rescue dog last year. We’re out together for 40 minutes twice a day.
I also bought a classic Mercedes SLK 320 convertible recently: I’d wanted one for many years but they’re low slung so I could never get in and out of them. But now I hop in with no problems at all.
I’m a whole different person now — and I am definitely making up for all that lost time!