{"id":6385,"date":"2023-02-22T15:40:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T15:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slimmingworld.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/?p=6385"},"modified":"2023-02-22T15:40:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T15:40:39","slug":"i-lost-7st-after-minor-heart-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/i-lost-7st-after-minor-heart-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"“I lost 7st and cycled 3,000 miles in a year!”\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Secondary school teacher and dad of two Greg, 63, learnt a valuable lesson when he was hospitalised with minor heart failure. Read about how he stepped his slimming efforts up a gear after joining his local Slimming World group and getting back into cycling. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

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In October 2019, weighing 25st 5lbs, I had the biggest wake-up call of my life. My day appeared to start as usual, it was a school day and I was due to teach. While I was getting ready, I noticed I was very out of breath. I remember thinking to myself, \u201cWow, I must get back in shape, this is terrible\u201d. I arrived at school and my breathing was getting worse. It got so bad that an ambulance was called \u2013 and at the hospital I was told I had minor heart failure. The doctors made no secret that being overweight was a major contributing factor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discover 7 ways to help keep your heart healthy here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d known for a long time that I needed to do something \u2013 my doctor had been saying it to me for years. My wife, Gail, had also been worried about my health, so as she sat next to me in hospital she said: \u201cThis is it now, you\u2019re losing weight.\u201d She found a local Slimming World group<\/a> and we joined together. The group were so friendly, and as soon as I heard Nina, the Consultant, explain the variety of food I could eat on Slimming World\u2019s healthy eating plan, I knew it could work for me.   <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Slimming<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If I think back to what I ate before joining Slimming World, I know I made a lot of unhealthy choices. I\u2019d eat for comfort and typically have two or three greasy burgers for lunch, with cakes and biscuits for pudding. The idea of depriving myself or going hungry was what had always put me off trying to lose weight before. With Slimming World, it was nothing like that. The plan is generous as well as easy to understand \u2013 I can eat the foods I love and I\u2019m never hungry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By joining Slimming World, I\u2019ve changed my mindset and when it comes to my relationship with food, I\u2019m in control now.  I cook things in a much healthier way using lean meat and low-calorie cooking spray. I’ve always loved vegetables and salads, and I’ve learned how to make them tasty without pouring mayonnaise or dressings all over them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Greg\u2019s menu <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEFORE <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breakfast: Hash browns, two takeaway egg muffins, large diet cola  
Lunch: Two greasy burgers, large fries, large onion rings, ice cream, large diet cola 
Dinner: Meatloaf, mashed potato made with butter and cream, salad and dressing, American cake with ice cream
Snacks: Crisps, roasted or salted nuts, beer or wine <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFTER <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breakfast: Slice of wholemeal toast, poached egg, apple, fat-free yogurt 
Lunch: Roasted, skinless chicken in a wrap with boiled egg, lots of salad with lemon juice and red pepper, cucumber, grapes, orange, water or diet cola 
Dinner: Slimming World chipotle steak with sweet potato chips and lots of vegetables, with fruit salad for dessert 
Snacks: High fibre bar, fruit
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Try Greg’s favourite steak recipe here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losing weight has given me so much more confidence to be able to live the life I\u2019m living now \u2013 I\u2019m a parish councillor, as well as a teacher. Along with the support of the other members in my group, Nina has been amazing \u2013 even through lockdown she was always there to help me stay on track with tips and advice to keep me motivated. I still refer to one text Nina sent me that said: When you\u2019re about to make an unhealthy choice, stop and ask what you want more<\/em> \u2013 that, or your weight loss<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d enjoyed cycling a lot when I was younger. Six years ago, I bought myself an expensive bike, but I couldn\u2019t ride it because I was so overweight the tyres went flat when I got on it. As I began losing weight, I learned about Slimming World\u2019s Body Magic activity programme<\/a>, which supports members to move more, in a way they enjoy, whatever their starting point. I heard other members talking about how they\u2019d discovered or rediscovered exercise. It was exactly the inspiration I needed, and I decided to get back into cycling.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved it, but my first journey of just over two miles was too far at that time \u2013 a little red-faced, I had to get Gail to come and pick me up. I\u2019ve realised the importance of taking things at my own pace and gradually I\u2019ve built up my energy levels and ability. Now I\u2019m incredibly proud to say that, as well as my doctors confirming my blood sugar levels have reduced, last year I reached my goal of cycling the Hadrian\u2019s Wall \u2018Coast to Coast\u2019 151-mile cycle route from Whitehaven to Tynemouth. Later this year I aim to complete the 180-mile \u2018Castle to Castle\u2019 route from Newcastle to Edinburgh. It\u2019s incredible to think that only four years ago I used to get out of breath walking down the garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nina Fowler runs the Alvaston Slimming World group in Derby and is Greg\u2019s Consultant. She says: \u201cIt\u2019s been such a pleasure to be part of Greg\u2019s weight loss journey. I remember when Greg and Gail joined my group \u2013 he said to me that he couldn\u2019t believe he\u2019d still be able to eat the foods he loved and lose weight. Now he cooks everything from scratch, and we all love trying out the Slimming World-friendly spice rubs and smokes he creates. Although Greg needed to lose weight for health reasons, he had a personal goal to cycle again and it\u2019s been so good to see him do that. He\u2019s a huge inspiration to the whole group.\u201d <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Leigh’s story: “I had two heart attacks in one week \u2013 at only 38!”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Join Slimming World<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover how Greg went from being \u201ctoo heavy to be active\u201d to getting back on his bike \u2013 now there’s no stopping him!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22,25,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slimmingworld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}