At over 27st, Paul Holmes
was losing the thrill of
riding his motorbike, and
worried for his health.
Now more than 12st lighter,
he’s enjoying more energy
than ever and living life
at full throttleeaning into a hairpin bend,
I clicked down a gear on
my Suzuki Bandit 1250 and
twisted the accelerator as the peaks
of the Austrian Alps opened up before
me. I’d just ridden through the
breathtaking Silvretta pass, enjoying
the speed and responsiveness of my
bike as I blasted up the steep inclines.
It was a completely different feeling
to my last trip to the Alps in 2015,
when every long ride in my too-tight
leathers felt like a feat of endurance.
Back then, weighing over 27st,
I knew my size wasn’t helping things.
I’d managed to lose a few stones over the
years by depriving myself of my favourite
food. So it didn’t take long for my weight
to creep up again once I went back to
my regular takeaways. My family were
worried about my health and now I was
starting to worry, too. I was already onblood pressure medication and when it
continued to rise, a nurse sat me down
and said: ‘I think you’d benefit from
losing weight. Would you like a referral
to Slimming World?*’ Although I was
nervous I’d be the only bloke there,
I knew I really needed to give it a try.
As soon I walked into group, my
worries dissolved. There were men
there, but it wouldn’t have mattered
if there hadn’t been, as everyone was
really friendly. Straight away I loved the
filling recipes: steak and chips, pulled
pork and a slimming version of my
favourite full English breakfast – and
I still lost 8lbs in my first week!
As the pounds came off, my blood
pressure began to lower and I noticed
I wasn’t feeling as exhausted after
a long ride. It seemed like my bike was
getting faster, too! Enjoying being out
on the road again, I treated myself toa new set of smaller bike leathers and
booked a spur-of-the-moment trip back
to the Alps. Where, after each adrenaline-
charged day on the road, I still had lots
of energy to explore the local sights.
I’ve got so many things to look
forward to now I’m in the swing of my
healthier lifestyle. And I’ve even found
the courage to take on a challenge that
used to scare me far more than hairpin
bends – I’ve started dating! There’s a
whole world of exciting opportunities to
explore and I can’t wait to get out there. ●Over to you Have you got a photo of a special moment since hitting target? Email it to us at [email protected]
L
Paul, 43, is a systems analyst for a utilities
company and lives in Kingswinford, West
Midlands. He is 6ft tall and lost 12st 2lbs
to reach his target weight of 14st 13lbs at
Joanne Wassell’s Slimming World group
in Brierley Hill, West Midlandshitting the
open road
Freedom is...
‘‘
‘‘
THEN My weight
was starting to put
a dampener on the
thing I loved most:
heading out for
long, scenic rides
on my motorbikeNOW After an
exciting day on
the road, I still
have energy to
spare – and my
bike’s even
handling better!INTERVIEW: MATT BURTON*Turn to page 102 for more information about
the Slimming World on Referral scheme.106 SLIMMING WORLDin the picture
Over
12st
lost!