On average, British men are now a stone heavier than they were 15 years ago. The British Heart Foundation says this represents a ticking time bomb for male health and men of all ages need to change their damaging diets and couch potato lifestyles. HILARIE STELFOX talked to two Huddersfield men who have done just that

WHAT a difference the past 10 months have made to Andrew Margrave.

In March last year the 28-year-old from Cowlersley weighed nearly 18 stones. He was out of work, severely depressed, suffering from asthma attacks and feared that his marriage couldn’t survive.

But then the news that his wife, Sheryl, was pregnant and he was to become a father for the first time forced him to take stock of his life.

“When I found out, I knew I had to do something,’’ he said. “I wanted to be healthy for my son. I wanted to be able to play with him and be a proper dad.” Andrew was also conscious of the fact that his father had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and didn’t want to follow in his footsteps.

And so, encouraged by Sheryl and his mum, Ann Williams, he joined a Weight Watchers class at St Patrick’s Centre in Huddersfield run by Katie van Diepen.

“I was quite anxious about it,” said Andrew. “But my mum said she’d go along with me because she wanted to lose weight as well. When I first walked into the class I felt very intimidated but as soon as I met the leader, Katie, she put me at ease.”

Although Katie only has three men from a register of 60 members, Andrew was not deterred and became an inspiration to others.

Today Andrew weighs just 12 stones 9lbs – having shed more than five stones – no longer feels depressed, has found a new job and is a doting dad to four-month-old Alfie.

What’s more his marriage is back on track. In fact, Sheryl, who is a midwife, said: “It’s just so much better, we’ve never been stronger. He was becoming so difficult to live with that I was struggling to know how to cope with him, but he’s got his confidence back.”

Even Andrew’s asthma has been ‘cured’. “I no longer use any asthma medication,” said Andrew, who now works as a Royal Mail collection driver.

He has also discovered that his weight was not just a problem for him – it affected his whole family.

“The weight was making me unhappy and my outlook on life was so negative,” he explained. “I was doing a lot of comfort eating and because I was out of work I did a lot of sitting about.”

Both Andrew and Sheryl say that their dietary habits were poor.

“We had a lot of takeaways, no vegetables and just bad food,” said Andrew.

“Now we have loads of fruit and vegetables. We have completely changed how we eat, we’ve cut out the takeaways and the chocolate and reduced portion sizes,” he added. “But I’ve been surprised by how much you can eat if you have the right things.”

Andrew has also started going to the gym up to three times a week and says he feels healthier, happier and more confident. “I’m no longer the butt of fat jokes,” he said.

“But I don’t think I could have done it all without the support of my mum, Sheryl, Katie and the other class members.”

Retired joiner David Tremaine admits that a lifelong love of cooked English breakfasts did little for his waistline – or his health.

In fact, three years ago at the age of 64, he suffered a heart attack.

“When I was working I’d have the tradesman’s breakfast in a café every morning,” said David, who lives in Almondbury. “My arteries were blocked from all the fatty food.”

Recovering from the heart attack, David was unable to do much in the way of exercise as he also suffered from arthritis in his right hip and was forced to use walking sticks.

And then he had hip replacement surgery, followed by yet more recuperation.

“I’d put weight on and then lost some of it before the operation,” said David. “But afterwards I couldn’t do much and the weight really piled on.”

At his heaviest he weighed around 15½ stones

But it wasn’t until he required a further operation for a hernia and the surgeon warned him that he needed to lose at least a stone that David decided to tackle his weight problem.

That was back in August 2009.

His wife, Sandra, pointed him in the direction of a Slimming World class in Almondbury run by Lynda Thwaites. Within 10 months David lost more than three stones – reducing his waistline from an unhealthy 38 inches to just 32. He has adopted a whole raft of healthy eating measures, avoids fatty foods and packs his diet with masses of fruit.

Sandra said: “I can’t buy enough fruit and it’s all gone before I get a chance to have any.”

David has changed a lifetime’s dietary habits. He no longer has three sugars in his tea and if he wants to eat bacon for breakfast he makes sure it’s grilled, not fried.

Sandra added: “He eats pasta now which is something he never did before. He was a cooked breakfast and a roast dinner man.”

“I feel much better for it,” said David, who has reached his target weight and is now more active. He helps Sandra run the Rawthorpe Luncheon Club every Wednesday.

Men make up only a small percentage of those who attend organised slimming classes. David says that walking into a roomful of women didn’t bother him but slimming clubs frequently struggle to attract men to classes.

Huddersfield Weight Watchers leader Dot Bush said : “Less than 5% of our members are men. There isn’t the same pressure on men to look young and slim that there is on women. Look at all the magazines with their air-brushed pictures of perfect women and celebrities. There is so much media hype that affects the way women view themselves.”

And yet, losing weight can make a huge difference to quality of life.

“I’ve seen men lose vast amounts of weight and be able to come off diabetic medication,’’ said Dot. “But quite often they only come along to classes after they’ve been told for medical reasons to lose weight.”

THE recent study into weight gain, conducted by Oxford University, concluded that the average male’s weight gain was not just caused by an increased food intake but also by a decrease in activity levels. In 2008, one in four men were classed as obese, compared with only 7% in 1986.

Nutritionist Jayne Wilson, who practises in Almondbury and at the Colne Valley Clinic in Marsden, says she sees male clients struggling with weight gain in their 30s, 40s and 50s who also have work and home life stress.

“Typically, they have irregular eating patterns, reliance on convenience foods, moderate to high alcohol intake and lack of exercise.”

Jayne added that skipping meals and then overloading with snack and convenience foods disrupts the body’s blood sugar balance. This can lead to weight gain and health problems such as diabetes. Portion control is also becoming an issue.