TWO Gwent businessmen have shed more than 20 stone between them while raising £7,000 for charity at the same time.
Friends Lee Price, from Oakdale, and Nigel Castle, from Machen, both weighed more than 20 stone and were living on a diet of takeaways, pasties and crisps when they came up with a novel way of beating the bulge.
Although both had tried Slimming World and a range of diets in the past, they decided to try the weight loss group again but this time round vowed to give up alcohol for a year.
Mr Price said: “My day was a blur, I just ate all day.
It would be easier to count the times when I wasn’t eating.”
He said: “At 39 I knew I was going to be 40 and had a bit of a wobble. I thought it was the right time to do something about it .”
Mr Castle said he was drinking about three bottles of wine a night and that his life was getting out of control.
“With the drinking comes the snacking and the takeaways.
The drinking was the catalyst for a poor diet,” he said.
The friends, who met 15 years ago through work, named their ambition the Fat Boys Challenge and asked for sponsorship to raise money for the Stroke Association and Ty Hafan.
In January last year, Mr Price, 40, weighed 26 stone eight pounds.
He joined a Slimming World group in Pontllanfraith and by December that year had lost more than 12 stone and weighed 14 stone, three pounds.
Mr Castle, 49, started the challenge in March last year when he weighed 21 stone, four pounds and now weighs 13 stone, ten pounds.
The friends set an initial target of losing four stone each which they said they “smashed” early on.
Father-of-three Mr Price lost the four stone in just seven weeks and Mr Castle in ten weeks.
Mr Price said: “My knees were shot. They hurt so much I couldn’t sleep. I would take a painkiller effectively as a sleeping tablet. I haven’t had to have one for 18 months.”
Mr Castle, who now plays five-a-side football, said: “I’m probably about 75 per cent calmer than I was. I was going into work with a bad head every day. I’ve always worn a suit but when you’re 21 stone you don’t feel smart. Now I feel and look smart.”
Since losing the weight the friends have continued going to their Slimming World groups so they keep off the pounds and Mr Price has been nominated for the Slimming World Man of the Year competition.
To sponsor the friends, see the link on lenstec.co.uk
Dire diets have been ditched
MR CASTLE’S average day before his weight loss included:
- Breakfast - McDonalds breakfast
- Lunch - Chicken curry and rice or chips
- Dinner - Curry and three bottles of wine
- Snacks - Crisps and peanuts
Mr Castle’s average day now includes:
- Breakfast - Fruit and yoghurt
- Lunch - Slimming World sandwich
- Dinner - Meat and vegetables and fruit
MR PRICE’S average day before his weight loss included:
- Breakfast - No breakfast because he said he ate so much the night before
- Snacks - By 10.30am Mr Price said he was eating pasties and sausage rolls
- Lunch - Sandwiches and crisps
- Dinner - Takeaways
Mr Price’s average day now includes:
- Breakfast - Cereal and a banana
- Lunch - Fruit and a yoghurt
- Dinner - Fish and salad or gammon and vegetables
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