A Nottingham man has shared his stunning nine month journey from 'dreading seeing people face-to-face' to winning 'slimmer of the year.' Mark Barry, who lives in Basford, managed to shed more than 10 stone between October 2021 to July 2022 after deciding enough was enough ahead of returning to the office after lockdown.
He commented that he and his partner had no planned diet once the pandemic hit and that takeaways were the usual option. Mark said he "knew I had to do something" to regain both his health and his confidence and met virtually with a 1:1 dietician to set up a structured diet plan.
His 1:1 diet consultant, Jo Turner, helped motivate Mark, but says that he never would have attended the meetings if they were not initially done online and he felt too embarrassed and ashamed. At the time of his first meeting with Jo, Mark weighed 24 stone, he is now down to 13 stone and one pound.
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And Mark now says he feels 'validated' in his decision to make a change after winning the national slimmer of the year award at the One2One Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan in Birmingham.
When asked about his decision to change his diet, Mark said: "We were in the process of returning to the office after lockdown and the thought of seeing people face to face filled me with dread. Walking to a local shop would make me out of breath, I would be sweating and my back would be hurting so I knew I had to do something to regain not only my health, but my confidence.
"My diet wasn’t planned or considered. Myself and my partner work full-time and neither would feel like cooking so take-out was the usual option. My current diet is now planned and structured. I am still following the 1:1 diet at the moment with step by step change back to how I explore the right food choices.
"It (winning slimmer of the year) still hasn’t really sunk in. It was great to be with other people at the awards who have been through the same struggle. I guess winning is the validation I needed to show I’ve made a positive health change in my life and I look forward to this year, being an ambassador for the 1:1 diet."
Jo eventually convinced Mark to attend meetings face-to-face by December 2021. She says she feels "very fortunate" that she has managed three winners of the slimmer of the year awards, with Mark being the first man to do so under her guidance.
When speaking of his journey, she said: "Mark contacted me last October. Now because of Covid, the way that we run our business is that it had to be adapted.
"Prior to Covid we were a one-to-one diet because we saw all of our clients face-to-face. It was individual appointments with your individual consultant.
"But then Covid came and we became a virtual diet consultancy. Now that was why Mark came on the diet because he was at the time nearly 24 stone, was so embarrassed and ashamed of the way he was feeling, he actually couldn't bring himself to come in and see somebody.
"So he said he would never have done the diet if he had to attend somewhere. So Mark, even though he literally lives, five minutes up the road from me, became a virtual client in October.
"We let that carry on for a few months and he did really well and then in December it was like 'you know what, you need to come in.' So I managed to convince him to come into the office and he actually hit his goal at the end of July. He's 13 stone 10 pounds now.
"So it's 10 stone and one pound he's lost from October to July!
"Mark's diet before was very very takeaway heavy. He was a big guy before but Covid just meant that he put even more on and because he was working from home he never actually had to get dressed and things like that so he was wearing very baggy clothes and things like that.
"So he actually didn't realise how much he put on until he got back to the office. One of his colleagues mistook him for someone else because he'd put on so much during the first lockdown.
"It makes our job so worthwhile. I'm fortunate that I've had a few slimmer winners who have had equally inspiring stories, but Mark is my first man of the year."
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