Weight loss clubs are macho

Piling on weight can easily be done especially due to our current work ethics, unless of course you’re a fitness guru or blessed with a magic metabolism! unfortunately it is just as easy to ignore, especially if you’re a bloke.

A beer belly and a bit of extra flab can simply become part of life after a certain age. But eventually, for most people, a wake up call does arrive.

For Gordon Rae, the moment he realised something had to change came last Christmas when he was setting up the Nintendo Wii Fit he had bought for his sons.

“It tells you your weight, your body mass index, the whole nine yards,” recalls the 43-year-old from Carlisle. “I realised I weighed a lot more than I thought and it was a bit of a shock I must say.

“Then there were holiday photos, too… when you see yourself in glorious technicolour you realise what you look like.”

Like many people, Gordon’s weight had slowly crept up over time, thanks to a sedentary lifestyle and eating on the go. Six feet tall, he weighed just under 18 stone.

“I wasn’t a chocaholic or anything and I didn’t drink a lot but the weight gain was down to a bit of everything, and often connected to the job I do.

“I work in sales and I’d spend a lot of time in the car so would stop at motorway services. The only things available there are sandwiches, crisps and a chocolate bar so if you had nothing in the car you’d end up eating all the wrong things.”

Reluctantly, Gordon decided to join a Slimming World group in Carlisle.

“It was a bit embarrassing joining the club,” he admits. “I did feel a bit nervous, it’s not really the done thing for males, for the macho, butch man. It doesn’t fit that profile. I did get stick from mates, about joining the fat club and so on.

“I was expecting it to be really serious, like the one you see in comedies like Little Britain but it’s a good laugh, there’s good banter.

“It is much more relaxed than I thought, they don’t set any strict targets, or say you have to be this or that.”

Now Gordon and four fellow members – John Hewitt, Jack Wright, John Raynor and Jason Watson – are celebrating, having lost a total of nine stone 3lb between them.

That is, in fact, the weight of a whole Rachel… Rachel Dawkins, the consultant who runs the group at the Conservative Club on Spencer Street, Carlisle.

“They’ve done brilliantly, I’m really pleased for them,” Rachel says. She agrees that, traditionally, slimming clubs are seen as more suited to women and it has been hard in the past to attract men.

“There is a bit of stigma attached for men, I think there is an image of slimming clubs as being a few women sitting around gossiping.

“They dread coming along and think it will involve going on the scales straight away, then that they will only be able to eat salads!

“In fact with the plan you are not ever going to go hungry; it’s more about making minor changes and sensible choices.”

Rachel says members enjoy a good camaraderie and give each other motivation, knowing they are not on their own.

Members also swap recipes, and ‘Gordon’s Cheesecake’ – made using low fat soft cheese – has become a favourite among those who attend the Spencer Street group.

“Once men come they generally do very well,” says Rachel. “Women have often yo-yo dieted over the years since they were teenagers so it can be harder.

“Men tend to reach a point where they are worried about their health, perhaps they see a holiday or wedding photograph. When men make the decision to diet they tend to get on with it and do it.”

Some men join with their wives, which means they get ongoing support back home.

John Hewitt, 63, joined with his wife Angela two years ago. He has reached his target weight and lost four stone three pounds, though will continue attending to keep motivated.

Travelling around the county for his job as a computer engineer, John found he piled on the pounds over the years.

“I was always eating on the move, I’d stop at roadside vendors and get a bacon sarnie, eat too many cakes and so on,” he explains. “Then I had two knee replacements and the extra weight wasn’t helping. It just got to the point where I knew I had to do something.”

Like Gordon, John was reluctant to go at first. “I think I might have been the only man at the time. But I went with my wife Angela which was very helpful and gave me support.

“Now there are five of us men and it’s very relaxed. A lot of it came off in the first year, then I got a bit blasé. I’ve got down to my target weight but still go once a week.

“You can eat quite a bit with the plan. You can still eat pasta and go out for meals, so long as you stick by the guidelines.”

Jason Watson, a self-confessed crisp and chocolate addict, has been going for two years and has lost just under two stone.

“I always liked alcohol, bar meals, that kind of thing, and my downfall is crisps and chocolate,” Jason explains. “I was having four or five packets of crisps and three or four chocolate bars a day.

“It was getting a bit worrying, then it gets to the stage you can’t see your toes! I’d go out for the night and see men walking through town a bit overweight, but realised I was the same. That brought it home.

“I enjoy going to the club. I have curbed the cravings and just have crisps and chocolate on special occasions.”

All of them have found great health benefits after losing the extra bulk. Gordon coaches junior football team Stanwix Hornets and can now take a more active role in the training. He got a bike as a Christmas present and has been going out on it with his sons Craig and George.

Jason notices feeling less breathless, and John now enjoys jogging, walking and swimming – activities he would never have dreamed of doing before.

Gordon adds: “I have been getting positive comments from friends, who say things like ‘where’s the rest of you’?

“I’ve started needing smaller clothes; in fact I’ve gone down four sizes with my suits… I’m back to wearing sizes I wore when I was younger!

“When that happens and you actually need smaller clothes, that’s when it hits home that you’ve really achieved something.”

View source