Super slimmer Richard Morris is convinced that losing a whopping 11 1/2 stones (73 kgs) has saved his life.
At 31 stones 12 lbs (more than 200 kgs) he suffered all manner health problems - from chest pains, repeated chest infections, severe asthma and weight-related carpal tunnel syndrome to tendonitis in his ankles - and believed he was living on borrowed time. “I was putting my life at risk,” he says, “I would have been very surprised if I hadn’t had a heart attack or stroke.”
Today, however, Richard, 34, has shed more than a third of his body weight, along with a serious take-away habit, and shaken off his ailments.
After years of repeated attempts to lose weight he is now on the right track. The four take-aways a week he used to eat have been replaced by one a month; his meals are no longer “meat, more meat and beans and chips”; he keeps away from beer and alcopops, and he doesn’t raid the kitchen every evening for crisps, sandwiches, chocolate and biscuits.
So how did the Dalton father-of-two finally manage to get his eating under control?
He says the key to a determined change of lifestyle was seeing a photograph taken at a friend’s 30th birthday party back in 2013. He explained: “It wasn’t nice at all, seeing all those double chins. I looked like somebody who sat on a settee and didn’t move. I didn’t want that. The photo showed how much my weight had spiralled out of control.”
And so began his weight loss journey, in stops and starts at first, as he and his wife Sandi tried a slimming club in Deighton, which, unusually, was run by a man. Richard, who is a butcher at Broster’s Farm Shop, lost six stones, but holidays and Christmas led to him falling off the wagon. And then the consultant gave up his class and Richard and Sandi struggled to maintain their weight loss.
Then the couple heard about a Slimming World class in Milnsbridge, which meets on Monday evenings, and decided to go along and give it one more try.
Men are rarities in slimming clubs but Richard says the fact that he went along with his wife made it much easier to walk through the door. He says the group therapy offered by classes is important to him and one of the reasons for his success. He explained: “My doctor had kept telling me to lose weight and I did go to see a dietician. You can see where you are going wrong. But, to be honest, I like the encouragement you get from class and the awards keep you going. I take note of the tips and information that we get.”
But what helped him to lose so much weight when previous attempts had failed? Richard says he has learned not to worry any more if he puts on a little weight instead of losing it. He added: “One of the biggest problems I faced was that if I knew I’d put on weight then I wouldn’t want to go to class. I had to get that thought out of my head and keep going. Also, I say to people that I use my stubbornness, not willpower, to say no to chocolate and biscuits. Think of why you started (changing your lifestyle) and why you don’t want to go back to how bad it was before.”
Richard’s wife Sandi says their struggle with weight loss was one of the reasons why she has embarked on a degree in nutrition at Huddersfield University. Still in her first year, she is already using some of the knowledge she’s gaining to produce healthy meals for the whole family. “I’ve always had an interest in food but I want to try and think of ways to help people,” she says, “after what we’ve been through I became interested in studying nutrition.”
Richard says that he’s always been “a big lad” and at just over 6ft tall has set himself a target weight of 15 stones (95 kgs), at which he believes he’ll feel comfortable. His Body Mass Index has already fallen from a shocking 58.7 to 38.6 (around 25 is normal for men). As well as following the Slimming World healthy eating plan, which allows a certain number of ‘Syns’ a week for treats, he has taken up exercise. “I go out walking most nights with my dad,” he explained. “When we first started we just went round the corner. Now we are doing up to five miles. I also go to the gym. Before, I got out of breath going upstairs, now I can play football with my kids.” He has a daughter Emily, 10, and son, Josh, 5.
Like many people with an obesity problem, Richard was overweight as a child and picked on at school for his size. “With each year I got older I’d put on a stone,” he said. As an adult he went into the food industry, working at KFC as a chef and then as a butcher for a supermarket. He was surrounded by food all day and describes himself as having been “a heavy drinker as well”. His tipple today is an occasional Jack Daniels and Diet Coke, which packs much fewer calories than a pint.
Today the whole family eats better – and cheaper. “We don’t spend as much because we’re not eating as much,” says Richard. “ We have a lot of salads and buy our fresh fruit and vegetables from Huddersfield Open Market. We try something new all the time and I’ve found that I really like vegetables.” Their favourite SW meal is an oven-baked version of ‘fried chicken’ with oven-baked chips. “We fill up on carrots, peas and broccoli,” he adds.
It’s clear that Richard is well on his way to achieving his goal but he knows from experience that weight loss can be fickle and difficult to maintain. “I will always have to go to class,” he says, “food is a habit and an addiction and yet we all need it, there’s no avoiding it.”
* This Christmas Richard and his family booked to eat out on Christmas Day. “That way we don’t buy in a lot of food and nibbles and there are no left-overs,” he says. It’s one of his top tips for surviving the festive season.
