Tom's Story

My wife is my inspiration. She has consistently improved herself for years and always found what works for her. If something stopped working, she’d find another way. 

I, on the other hand, was stubborn, always believing I could exercise my way out of weight gain trouble. I was in denial about my general health and fitness until early 2017 when I noticed I was starting to lose a bit of weight, mainly down to eating weight watchers friendly meals with my wife at home. And it inspired me to take control of the situation. 

Calorie counting worked for me, using myfitnesspal for tracking/logging and a spreadsheet I devised based on readily available information about what and how much I should be eating/drinking. The crucial thing was to keep monitoring and adjusting as I lost to ensure I was maintaining my loss targets.

It was about this time that MANWELL arrived in my life, so I was geared up and ready to take on a challenge and was happy to share my learning and learn from others. 

The Results: 

In January 2017 I was 15st 13.4lbs (223.4 lbs) By September 2017, when my MANWELL journey began, I was 15st 3.2lbs (213.2 lbs)

Now, in March 2018, I’m around 13st 3lbs - 13st 5lbs (185-187lbs), which has been steady since the end of January.

Overall, I’ve lost 16.3% of my weight in just over a year. Under a third of that I did on my own, over two thirds of that loss is down to the motivation and support gained through MANWELL.

Not only have I lost weight, but I can now run and play football confidently. Clothes shopping is fun, not a chore. Cooking and food shopping is something I enjoy, not dread. 

Shifting the weight and changing my lifestyle required effort and determination, particularly on the difficult days when food can offer comfort. But there’s always a healthier option (generally), and having a better understanding of the relativity of different food and drink helped me make decisions on a day to day basis about what to have.

And in all this, I’ve not stopped eating ready meals, takeaways and chocolate and I’ve not stopped drinking beer or whisky. I’m just much more aware of the need to have balance and about the hurdles you potentially put in front of yourself by making the wrong choices.

I want to judge myself on 5k and 10k times how many passes I can make in a game. I don’t (ever again) want to judge myself on my waist size, my hangovers and the number of takeaways I’ve had in a week or month.

Most of all though - I’m happier. I feel less insecure, more confident and know I can do a hell of a lot more in life than I used to give myself credit for. And I tell you what - if you haven’t seen a friend for a while and they notice your achievement without you saying anything, it’s a fantastic feeling.