Dad sheds half his weight after son encourages him to join martial arts group
wanted me to go along. I used to do karate when I was 13 but I only did it for six months. Kaven kept asking me to go back so eventually I went.
“I loved being back in training and now I’m lighter than I’ve ever been as an adult.” Shane soon found his martial arts skills were better suited to kickboxing and so joined nearby club Cold Fury Kickboxing Academy in Dumfries.
And despite almost passing out during his first intensive training session, he has since gone on to win two national trophies in the sport.
He said: “It felt great to be winning. I was so nervous to even do it because I had only been training for four or five months before I competed so everything was new to me.”
Now, less than two years since his weight loss journey began, Shane weighs just over 11 stone and is more confident and fitter than ever.
Wife Nicolle, 27, said he is a changed man.
“It was Kaven that inspired Shane to go back,” she said. “He is a lot more confident now. They do wee routines together.”
The whole family took part in a trek up Ben Nevis to raise £1,200 for the National Autistic Society – a charity close to their heart given the couple’s other son Miller, seven, is autistic and deaf.
And that’s not the only activity the Saunders do together. The whole family, including three-year-old daughter Alleah, follow the routines in fitness videos together most days and take regular walks.
Shane said he couldn’t have done it without the love of Nicolle who prepares most of the family’s healthy meals and has supported him every step of the way.
He is looking to progress further in martial arts and won’t go back to his junk food ways. “Days away with the family are so much better,” he said. “We go for walks and I play with the kids. I feel like I don’t have to cover up when I go places.”