‘I would buy two chocolate bars, the big ones, and big bags of crisps...and I’d scoff the lot’
CABBIE Ian Handley used to tip the scales at 21 stone, gorging on takeaways and junk food.
But he reached a turning point after a visit to his GP last year which transformed his life.
Ian, 53, was having difficulty breathing so booked a checkup. Tests showed his bloodsugar readings were “off the chart” and he was close to suffering from diabetes – like more than 13 million other people in Britain.
He said: “Everybody has their own vice and my passion has always been food. It has been my comfort – cream cakes, biscuits, all of that. Sometimes I would buy two chocolate bars, the big ones, and big bags of crisps, and I’d scoff the lot.” But in less than a year, he shed four stone after ditching fast food and snacks while exercising. Ian, of Southport, Merseyside, said: “I’ve been told the little adjustments I made have added 15 years to my life.”
He has been taxi driving for 23 years and would finish work late and head to a takeaway.
He would start the day with breakfast on the go – usually a double order of fast food washed down with a large caramel latte – with a large chocolate bar in between. He added: “After the visit to the doctor, I was told I was on the precipice of being diabetic because my blood sugars were off the chart. I was told the two main things to cut were sugar and carbs. Most people will know this as the keto diet.
“I can have fruit only in the form of berries, not bananas like before. I absolutely credit keto for getting my life back. I am as healthy now as I was in 2015 and weigh 17 stone.
“I had to change my life or I would have ended up dead. I always thought a little bit of what you fancy does you no harm, that you only live once.
“The truth is you do only have one life but you have to look after it.”