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‘Up Close…’ is a new section where the personal experiences of Health Users are shared in their own words.

Warning - Please read the following (in addition to the disclaimer at the bottom of the page):
The views and feelings contained within this ‘Up Close….’ section are the thoughts and experiences of individuals who may not have any medical training. These are not the views of the Health of Men Healthy Living Initiative. They are not recommendations and we do not necessarily endorse any content. If you have any problems, queries, concerns or symptoms please consult with a Health professional.

Weight Management

I am a 66 year old retired male. The last 32 years of my working life I was a sales rep in the textile trade working in the North of England.

My job was to take hand & machine knitting yarns made at the mill and sell them to retailers small & large. As in all job’s there are highs and lows. Chasing Sales targets, keeping to your call schedule, regardless of weather conditions, a worry at the back of the mind for the Salesman. Basically no Calls equals no Sales and no Sales means targets missed and commission & bonus badly hit. Whatever the weather conditions, Snow or Fog, it was always transport in a car, no trains etc.

The highs? I covered North Wales, Cumbria, The Lakes and The Dales – whether Summer or Winter these were areas of outstanding beauty all year round.

When the main tool of your trade is the company car, this is not only your means of transport but your office, canteen, snack bar, and restaurant as well. Making the most of your working day meant stopping for lunch was not feasible, so lunch was anything that could be eaten easily. Sausage rolls, savoury pasties, flake pastry, cheese pasties etc were certainly not the best way, I quickly found, to hold your weight down. Add to this the odd bar of chocolate plus a couple of pints in the hotel bar (I spent approx 3 nights a week away in hotels) and the lbs soon started to show. Buying new suits so the trouser would fit, became a regular occurrence and of course a drain on the bank balance.

On being given early retirement at the age of 61years I found I was now 243 lb’s or 17_ stone. I worked at B&Q for 2 years and this helped to hold the weight steady with a little bit of give and take. When I stopped working for B&Q to give more time to my hobby, the weight slowly started to creep on, even with lots of walking and only using the car for short trips When the range of clothing in my wardrobe became very limited as to what I could wear, and the weight was now 264lbs or 18 stone 8lb, I knew something had to be done.

Through a member of the family (a nephew working as a Paramedic) I heard about the Bradford Men’s Health Weight Management Clinic, this is run by North Bradford Primary Care Trust. This is not in anyway a slimming club; There is no joining fee and no weekly charge as it is part of the NHS. It is all first names and very friendly and, being all men, there is no embarrassment at being overweight. It was all very friendly – if you put on weight there wasn’t a lecture from the Men’s Health Worker Andrew but a general discussion about what you had not done or had eaten and what others had done to lose weight. I found that if you needed a spur and an incentive, the thought of going to the meeting on Wednesday to be weighed with the rest of the club really provided it.

On that first visit my height was measured, waist size taken and I was weighed to give me my starting weight. Weekly visits were only for 1 hour, Wednesday 6 till’ 7, which didn’t interfere much with the rest of the evening.

We were given a chart showing the different categories of food, high fat/low fat etc. At one point there was a talk from a dietician to explain how to use the charts to suit your way of life; other features were a male nurse who gave a talk on healthy eating for the heart, a fitness instructor on General fitness, and all delivered as talks not lectures.

When I started at the health club I weighed in at 264 lb or 18 stone 8lbs. At the end of the 2003 Winter’s session I had lost 19lb, giving me a weight of 245lb. I can see no reason at all why I cannot carry on losing more lbs this Winter in 2004. I still like a beer and have not stopped drinking! The whole reason of the Health Club is to be slimmer and therefore fitter and in better health, not to be miserable.