Starting weight: 32st 12½lb (209kg)
Weight loss: 17st 1½lb (109kg)
Weight now: 15st 11lb (100kg)
Height: 5’10” (1.78m)
Joining date: 14/6/06
Age: 57
Consultant: Lynne Riley, Eckington group, Derbyshire
Fifty-seven-year-old former cab driver Mike Smith nearly lost his life to a blood clot when doctors dismissed his increasing breathlessness as a side effect of his 33st weight.
In fact, he had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT)and pulmonary embolism – a direct result of his fast-food diet and long hours behind the steering wheel in his job as a taxi driver. The truth luckily came to light when his wife, a former nurse, insisted on emergency treatment.
Then his GP warned that without a change in lifestyle, Mike was at serious risk of another DVT. It was the scare the father of two from Beighton, near Sheffield, needed to turn his life around after a 30-year struggle with weight gain.
“I was living on crisps, bottles of pop and chocolate. I tried lots of diets but found them all too hard to fit into my daily routine and odd hours. As the weight climbed, my health suffered. I had sleep apnoea and found it hard to get about. I did most of my own maintenance on the taxi but I’d struggle to get up from underneath the car.
“My wife showed me an article in Slimming World magazine about a local chap who’d lost weight at Lynne’s Eckington group. It set me thinking ‘I could to that too’ so I decided to go along,” says Mike.
“The first night I sat outside the venue for about 20 minutes waiting to see if any other men went inside. Finally I followed two men in – only to find they were going to play bingo! I sat at the back and tried to hide, but still I was made very welcome by Lynne and the rest of the group. The support I’ve had from them ever since has been key to my success right from the start. I lost 7lb in my first week and haven’t looked back.
“The best thing is I’ve never once felt hungry – in fact I’m eating more than I used to. I like a good helping of meat and love curries or steak and Slimming World chips. I knew within a couple of weeks of joining Slimming World and learning about Food Optimising* that I would always eat like this and not go back to my old habits. I love the variety and flexibility of the plan. And since losing the weight I’ve got so much more energy.
“Now we Food Optimise as a family. My eldest son, who’s 30, joined Lynne’s group in May 2009 and has lost just over 7st, while my wife Sue is the chef. There’s a running joke at our group that if you want to lose weight then you should rent Sue out for the week!”
Mike has lost a whopping 28in from his 70in waist and his health problems have shrunk dramatically too. He says: “The sleep apnoea has vanished and nowadays I’ve got so much more energy. I’ve been able to build much more activity into my everyday life with Slimming World’s Body Magic activity programme.
“I can do lots of work in the garden instead of leaving it to Sue and I love being able to wear nice clothes. When you have a 70in waist you don’t get very much choice – these days I can buy clothes off the peg and the only problem I have is keeping my trousers up!”
Since losing weight Mike’s quit his job as a taxi driver and now works as a courier, delivering up to 100 parcels a day. “Often when I’m carrying a particularly heavy parcel, I can’t believe that I used to be lugging that extra weight and more around every day. I must have lost dozens of parcels!”
Mike’s weight loss has given him a new career too – as a Slimming World Consultant. He opened his own group in Halfway, Sheffield last October and now has around 30 regular members. “It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago I was hiding at the back of Lynne’s group and now I’m standing up at the front of my own. I love meeting new members, especially seeing their mouth’s drop open when I tell them how much I’ve lost or show them my ‘before’ pictures. And now I have a lifesize cut-out to show them I’m living proof that what seems impossible is possible!” – ends –
DIET BEFORE:
Crisps
Pop
Chocolate
DIET NOW:
Steak and Slimming World chips
Home-made, low fat curries
* Latest nutrition research shows that satiety is the secret to achieving sustainable weight loss. This is the science behind Food Optimising which allows members to choose from hundreds of foods which can be eaten in unlimited amounts. Satiating foods are those that fill you up the most and keep you fullest for longest while also being low in calories. They tend to be foods that are high in complex carbohydrates or proteins, high in fibre, high in volume, high in moisture content and low in energy density. Slimming World’s ‘Free Foods’ include most fruit and veg, lean meat and poultry, fish, potatoes, rice and pasta, very low fat dairy products and eggs. Members fill up on Free Foods so they never go hungry and, because there’s always something to choose to eat, slimmers never feel guilty or deprived.
There will be a photocall in London at Royal Kensington Garden at10.30am this morning. Further images will be available at lunch time today. For more details please call Jenny Caven on 07795 445004 or Megan Featherstone on 07920799106
For further information please contact the PR team on 01773 546101, 01773 546146 or 07795 445004 email to public.relations@slimming-world.com
Notes to Editors
· Slimming World’s Greatest Loser title is open to members of Slimming World groups from across the UK and is awarded to the entrant with the greatest weight loss, provided some of that weight loss has occurred within the last 12 months with Slimming World.
· Cholesterol and diet: The British Heart Foundation advises that reducing saturated fat and increasing fresh fruit and vegetables to at least five portions a day will help reduce cholestorol. Sterols and stanols, found naturally in a range of plant sources, can also help to reduce cholesterol. Following Slimming World’s Food Optimising plan limits the intake of saturated and trans fats and encourages you to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.
· Sleep apnoea: Obstructive sleep apnoea symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired concentration, choking episodes during sleep, irritability and personality change. Obesity is one of the main recognised factors linked with sleep apnoea and weight loss is encouraged part of the treatment process.
· Hypertension: The UK has one of the worst heart attack rates in the world and it is estimated that someone has a heart attack every two minutes. Raised blood pressure and cholesterol can be an early indication of health problems such as heart disease and strokes, and excess weight will also contribute to increasing these levels. Slimming World’s Food Optimising encourages healthy eating habits that will stick with you for the rest of your life. Losing just 10 per cent of your weight can bring major health benefits, including reduced raised blood pressure, cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease and stroke.
· Slimming World is the largest and most advanced slimming organisation in the UK. Margaret Miles-Bramwell founded the company in 1969 and there are now more than 6,500 groups held weekly nationwide via a network of 2,700 Slimming World trained Consultants.
· Members lose 17,857 stones every week: 2,551 stones every day, over 106 stones every hour, that’s 1 stone 10 lbs lost every minute of every day with Slimming World.
· Slimming World pioneered referral schemes in the UK and actively supports the building of partnerships with the NHS to develop effective strategies to manage overweight and obesity in the community. Slimming World works with university researchers and specialists in an active research programme to further knowledge of the causes and treatment of obesity.
· Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food OptimisingÒ, and the principles behind Slimming World’s philosophy are based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people. Slimming World integrates practical, up-to-date dietary advice with a highly developed support system. As well as food, slimmers get support to become more active and to identify emotional and psychological triggers and to find ways to build their self-esteem and confidence to succeed.
· Slimming World Consultants receive specific training in dietary aspects and the role of physical activity in weight control. The highly developed training focuses on facilitating behaviour change in a group environment, acknowledged by experts as being the most effective way to support long-term weight management.
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