Duane is a 27-year-old technical consultant whose role went from office-based to permanently working-from-home during the pandemic. He had a knee operation in late 2021, which limited his ability to exercise — causing him to put on a bit of weight. He went to his GP for an unrelated appointment (about a blocked ear) and was told about our programme which kick-started his weight loss journey.
Giving it a go
He said: “I thought I’d give it a go and see what happens. I was basically just looking for an opportunity to get out in a group and do some activity, and maybe learn something new about weight loss.
“Before my knee op I played a lot of football — training on Monday, five-a-side on Thursday and a game on Saturday.
“Sometimes I go for walks with my partner at the weekend too. But my eating habits consisted of pretty much whatever I wanted and whatever was easiest.
“I would rotate the same 10-15 meals every couple of weeks. Some would be fairly healthy like chicken, rice and some vegetables, others would be less healthy like a stuffed crust pizza with garlic bread.
“My portion sizes would vary quite a lot, some meals would be big and others not as big. I didn’t tend to snack much, but when I did it would usually be chocolate or biscuits.”
Feeling less hungry
One of Duane’s biggest changes was to drink more water, which has helped him feel less hungry during the day.
“I also focus more on my portion sizes, I pay a lot more attention to the traffic light system on food packaging and I go for things with the most greens where possible,” he continued.
“I have found a new healthy snack I enjoy too — rice cakes with peanut or almond butter and I even throw on some raisins for a bit of fruity flavour.”
While he still hasn’t been able to exercise much because of his injury, he is looking forward to getting back to training soon.
“Hopefully, this will boost the weight loss even more,” he added.
Small changes add up
“The best thing I learned is that small changes will eventually add up,” Duane continued.
“I never knew about this approach to weight loss, and probably wouldn’t have without the programme. I would’ve stuck to the mainstream thinking of extreme dieting and intense exercise. But I feel I have achieved my goals.”
“I really liked the nature of the whole programme. It wasn’t in your face, and it was at your own pace. It felt like it was there for you.
“The weekly sessions helped me realise it isn’t just me with these problems, even the guys running the programme have them and it’s okay.
“It’s so helpful seeing everyone in the same boat. I felt 100 per cent comfortable sharing my goals and what I went through each week.
Well done to Duane on the success of his weight loss journey.
