to greet me. ‘It’s great to have you
back with us,’ she said. ‘Your mum
would be so proud of you.’ That
meant a lot to me. ‘That’s one of
the reasons I’ve come back,’ I said.
‘To do it for her.’ Later, in IMAGE
Therapy, we talked about Mum,
and I couldn’t believe how much
it helped me to be able to share
the way I’d been feeling since her death. ‘She got me
here in the first place and I know she’d want to see
me succeed,’ I told my group. ‘And I’m going to get to
target – just watch!’ Yes, I had a long way to go even to
get back to the 22st I’d been the first time I joined, but
I knew Mum would be with me in spirit, willing me on.
As I got back into Food Optimising, I was soon
enjoying cooking my own meals again, and gaining
confidence in the kitchen I started to set myself
challenges with specific ingredients. ‘What can
I make with chicken and pineapple?’ I’d ask myself,
finding recipes to match and discovering new
favourites in the process, such as a slow-cooked
sweet and sour chicken. I also gave myself themed
weeks to keep things interesting. So, one week I’d
cook Moroccan-inspired dishes, another Chinese
meals, and the next Italian. I knew the workday
takeaways had to be replaced with healthier meals
if I was going to get the losses I wanted, so I’d take
my own lunch to work – something I’d really look
forward to like a lean bacon and egg sandwich.
The other thing I knew I needed to tackle was
dipping into the chocolate, biscuits, cake and crisps
that were constantly being passed around the call
centre. I even suggested to the management that
all food should be banned from desks – and you can
imagine how that went down with my colleagues!
It made me realise, though, that while I couldn’t
make temptation go away, I could work on my own
mindset, and with practice I found I was able to say
no to those high Syn foods. To make it easier to stickto my guns, I made sure I always
had an on-plan snack handy,
such as fresh fruit or a 16g pack
of Quavers for 4½ Syns.
As the pounds dropped off,
my tachycardia improved, and
I started to feel less breathless
going about my day. That gave
me the confidence to support my
weight loss with some Body Magic, and I started
walking regularly. By the time I reached my target
weight of 13st, I felt like a very different man. I wish
Mum could have seen me, stepping off the scales
nearly 14st lighter!
Now feeling like anything was possible, I set
myself some physical challenges to raise money for
Cancer Research in Mum’s memory. I climbed the
886-metre Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons National
Park, did a 16-mile walk from Newport to Chepstow
and went cave diving in Turkey in ice-cold water.A breakthrough moment
Life at target wasn’t all smooth, though. I started to
drift away from group, and didn’t notice my weight
creeping up again. In time, I realised the habits that
got me to my dream weight hadn’t become a way of
life. I knew what I had to do. I went to group weekly,
always staying for IMAGE Therapy, and I soon got
back to 13st. I fell back in love with making healthy
meals, which meant keeping the weight off was
actually fun! Then I met someone special, Carl,
and in time we became a couple and got engaged.
Carl wasn’t the only good thing to come into my
life. Last year, I was thrilled to be voted my group’s
Man of the Year, and couldn’t believe it when
I was selected from all the winners across the
country as one of the 43 men invited to Slimming
World’s head office for the final stages of the
competition. It was a great day and I met some
wonderful people. Then something unexpected
happened – as I was telling my weight loss story
in front of the other guys, I decided to talk about the
sexual assault I’d suffered when I was 12.
They sat and listened as I unburdened myself of
the secret I’d held on to for so many years. It dawned
on me that it was the support and help I’d found at
Slimming World that had put me in this place where
I felt that I could speak about it for the very first time.
As a result, I’ve started counselling, and it’s put me
on the path to feeling so much happier.
I still desperately miss Mum. And I hope if she
can see me now, she’s proud of the way I’ve striven
to become a better, healthier, happier man – and this
time I’m not going back. I know if it hadn’t been for
her love, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Thank you,
Mum – you gave me my life back. lANDREW WEARS
p36: Jumper, New
Look. Watch,
H. Samuel
p37: Shirt and
jacket, both ASOS.
T-shirt, Burton.
Jeans, River Island.
Shoes, New Look.
Watch, as before
p38 and 39: Top,
River Island. Jeans,
Topman. Trainers,
New Look. Watch,
as before
p41: Shirt,
River Island.
Trousers, Burton.
Shoes, ASOS.
Watch, as beforeAndrew’s day on a plate
THEN
l Breakfast Nothing first thing,
then several rounds of white toast
with butter mid-morning
l Lunch Chinese takeaway with
chips, or a pizzal Dinner Fried turkey drummers,
chips and ice creaml Snacks Chocolate bars, packets
of crisps and doughnutsNOW
l Breakfast Slimming World eggs
Benedict on wholemeal toast
l Lunch Jacket potato with
home-made spicy chillil Dinner Food Optimising mac ’n’
cheese with lots of veg, or pasta
Bolognese bakel Snacks Fresh berries and melon,
a Slimming World Hi-fi bar and
a packet of low Syn crispsI’m really
enjoying
making healthy
meals, which
means keeping
the weight off
is actually fun!
40 SLIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW: KEVIN DONALD. PHOTOGRAPHS: PAUL BULLER. STYLING: SHARNA VALENTINE. GROOMING: SARAH BULLETT. SEE P113 FOR STOCKISTS ANDREW HAS WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO ANONYMITY