Man battled with his weight until liver transplant helped lose six stone
HEIGHT: 6ft 1in/185cm
WEIGHT BEFORE: 18st 6½lb/117kg
WEIGHT NOW: 12st 5lb/79kg
WEIGHT LOST: 6st 1½lb/38kg
Trying to take in the doctor’s words as calmly as I could, inside I was reeling. Was I really facing a battle with liver disease? While my condition wasn’t a direct result of my weight, it was a result of my heavy drinking, and I knew I wasn’t helping matters by living an unhealthy lifestyle and being unfit.
I’d carried extra weight since my 20s, eating and drinking whatever I wanted – more focused on having fun than my health. Although I knew I probably needed to lose weight, I told myself I was just a big guy so didn’t need to worry too much.
This lifestyle caught up with me though and I became very ill in December 2019, which was when I received my life-changing diagnosis. I ended up needing urgent hospital treatment and eventually had a liver transplant in 2021.
While the transplant was what I needed to feel well again, I found the recovery very tough.
It was major surgery that kept me off my feet for a long time. As I couldn’t be active post-surgery it made it even easier for me to gain weight – especially as I was cheering myself up with sweets, chocolate, cakes and pies.
My friends and family were so supportive during this time, doing everything they could to make my recovery easier. Despite their help though, I still felt sluggish and unhealthy – even when I should have been on the mend.
The date for me to return to work was looming, so I knew I had to do something to help me feel better about myself. At first, I thought I could manage to lose weight on my own.
When I weighed myself, I found I was 19½st – the heaviest I had ever been. I started cutting back on snacks and takeaways and lost about a stone before I hit a plateau. I knew I still had a way to go before I was at a healthy weight, so I started looking into other options.
Anything too restrictive like shakes or soups was never going to work for me. I didn’t want something drastic, this was about getting healthy and staying that way. My transplant had taught me not to take my health for granted and I wanted to honour that.
After doing some research, it felt like my local Slimming World run by Consultant Sandra Forbes would be a good fit. I admit at first I thought weight-loss groups were more of a woman’s thing – so I was surprised to find out that more than 30,000 men attend Slimming World.
I even had a mate who attended a group and I found that his progress kicked me into gear a bit.
I was worried my mates might laugh at me for joining – or that I’d show up and be the only man there – but neither of those things were true. And the eating plan I’d read about, well, that was even better than I’d imagined.
Planning and cooking my meals became part of my routine, so instead of picking up fast food or mindlessly snacking I made sure I always had something healthy planned – like yogurt, fruit and oats for breakfast and homemade gammon, egg, chips and peas for dinner.
The group support was great, too. I underestimated how important it would be. Staying accountable and hearing other people’s experiences played a big part in my success. Soon after joining Slimming World I met my partner, Michelle.
She’s been so supportive of my weight-loss journey and has since joined a group herself, losing a couple of stone.
Of course, I always thought she looked great but these days she feels fantastic too, which is amazing to see.
We love cooking together and sharing recipes – it keeps us both on track.
As the weight came off, I noticed that activity became easier, running up and down the stairs all day getting my students more papers to work on became a breeze, a world away from the days where I’d be huffing and puffing after a few steps.
Losing weight has taught me how to be honest with myself.
After years of treating my body badly, I now treat it well and feel so much better for it. Hearing that I needed a liver transplant was a dark day but now I’m grateful because it set me up for a healthier and happier life.
My future is so much brighter now I have lost 6st, so I can’t wait to see what’s next.
