Super slimmer up for award after losing more than NINE stone
ASUPERSLIMMER first realised it was time to lose weight when he saw a photo of himself at a Stone Roses gig.
Mark Buckley shed over nine stone in around 12 months and has now been nominated in a ‘Man of the Year’ competition.
Mark, from Disley, says his dramatic weight loss programme was sparked by a picture of himself at a Stone Roses concert at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium last year.
The 47-year-old, who at his heaviest weighed just over 23 stone, said: “That photo was the trigger, I decided I had to do something about it. I started off just doing it on my own and I lost around a stoneand-a-half, but it took ages and I found it really hard.
“I went to the doctors to get some advice, but they just told me to eat less. I’d figured that part out for myself!”
The turning point for Mark came when he got a leaflet for Slimming World through his door and decided to give it a go.
After speaking to Emma Camm, who runs his local group, he went along to a meeting.
That was in September last year and since then Mark has lost another eight stone. He reached his target weight at the end of April and has now extended it so he can lose another half a stone.
He said: “I kept ringing Emma before I went along because I had loads of questions – including, ‘will I be the only man?’ – and she said ‘don’t worry, just come down, it will be fine’.
“I lost a stone in two weeks and that was when I realised there must be something to this.”
Mark says he now feels ‘amazing’.
“I go out walking and do lots of photography, all stuff I would never have done before,” he said.
“It sounds weird, but when I catch sight of myself in the mirror I sometimes don’t recognise myself.
“I keep expecting to see the person I was before.”
He has been nominated for Slimming World’s ‘Man of the Year’ award and will attend the ceremony on Sunday (July 22) where the winner will be crowned.
He added: “I would definitely recommend Slimming World to someone wanting to lose weight – for me the proof was in the pudding, as it were and I would never have been able to do it without a supportive group leader like Emma.”