21
January
2022
|
09:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Ryan’s raring to go after losing 10st

Summary

- Ryan Quinn, 32, has been named Slimming World’s Mr Sleek after losing 10st

- The Strabane music teacher decided to lose weight after struggling to fit into an orchestra pit for his performances

- Since joining Slimming World Ryan has found happiness with his new partner, Kieran

A man from Northern Ireland has discovered a new-found confidence after joining Slimming World and losing an incredible 10 stone.

Ryan Quinn, 32, a music teacher, had struggled with his weight since he was a teenager but an embarrassing incident at work prompted him to change. He says: “I’d just started in a new school and went along to the morning assembly. I sat myself down on a table and it just completely collapsed beneath me – in front of 900 students. It was mortifying but I just brushed it off with a joke like I always did.

“I always used to make the excuse that I was too busy to cook or think about eating healthily, but lockdown actually meant I ran out of excuses. I had more free time than ever, yet from March to September 2020, I gained two stone. I really couldn’t blame that on being too busy.”

Ryan was encouraged to join Slimming World by a friend who wanted to lose weight for her wedding. He says: “My friend Amanda decided to join Slimming World and asked me to come along too, so for the first time ever I actually agreed. Slimming World was nothing like I’d ever tried before. In the past I’d tried the egg diet, the cabbage soup diet… they all left me feeling deprived and didn’t teach me anything about food. Slimming World was totally different.”

Ryan learned about Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan, which enables slimmers to lose weight without hunger or restriction. The plan encourages members to fill up on a wide variety of healthy everyday foods – like lean meat, potatoes, pasta, fruit and vegetables.

Ryan says: “The best thing about Food Optimising is the freedom to choose. I’d tried diets where everything is massively restricted, and they just don’t work. I made some really simple swaps, like changing oil for low-calorie cooking spray and opting for leaner cuts of meat – and it made such a big difference. I soon found that my food actually tasted better because it was fresh and home-made. I loved how I could tailor the plan to suit my own likes and dislikes – I never really felt restricted and that definitely contributed to my success. I love that I can still enjoy a drink when I fancy one or a meal out with friends.

The Strabane man has since lost an incredible 10 stone and says his life and confidence is now unrecognisable. He says: “Fortunately I didn’t really struggle with my health before I lost weight, I just always felt self-conscious about my size. I’m a music teacher and take part in musical performances, which is actually more active than you might think, so I often got quite out of breath. I remember being in an orchestra pit and just being really aware of how much space I was taking up.

“Another time, I was moving house and after a day of heavy lifting I had a nagging chest pain that really bothered me. I went to see a doctor because I genuinely thought I might have had a heart attack. It turned out to be a pulled muscle, I just wasn’t used to such physical labour.”

Soon after joining Slimming World, Ryan’s group in Sion Mills switched to an online service as the country entered a national lockdown. He says: “I really enjoyed the group setting so I was disappointed that we couldn’t continue in person. The online sessions were still really valuable though and much of my weight loss took place in lockdown. I found the other members really supportive, and it was so motivating to be surrounded by people on a similar journey.”

Ryan Quinn, Slimming World's Mr Sleek 2022

Slimming World was nothing like I’d ever tried before. In the past I’d tried the egg diet, the cabbage soup diet… they all left me feeling deprived and didn’t teach me anything about food. Slimming World was totally different.

Ryan Quinn, Slimming World's Mr Sleek 2022

“My Consultant, Sinead, was incredible too. She had a really great reputation in the area, and it soon became clear why, she is just the most caring and motivating person. I really couldn’t have done it without her. Because she has lost weight herself with Slimming World, she knows how it feels to have ups and downs along the way and always seems to know the right thing to say.

“The group setting really helped me to understand my triggers around food and find strategies to overcome any situations that were potentially tricky for me – like going on holiday. It was reassuring to know that even though I couldn’t control all of the food that would be on offer, I could make healthier choices and then get right back to Food Optimising when I got home. That kind of know-how is invaluable to me and makes the plan sustainable.”

Now just over a year later, Ryan has been named Slimming World’s Mr Sleek 2022, a competition to acknowledge members who have become happier and more confident since losing weight.

One area of life in which Ryan feels much more confident is his love life, which has certainly picked up since losing weight. He says: “When I was bigger, I didn’t even attempt online dating because I just didn’t have the confidence. Now I feel much better about myself, and I think that shows. I’ve recently started dating my boyfriend, Kieran, and things are going really well. It’s something I didn’t really allow myself to think about when I was overweight.”

Ryan’s weight-loss journey has also paved the way for him to become much more active – and he’s now a keen walker. Slimming World encourages its members to incorporate activity into their daily lives with its Body Magic programme, which helps beginners create sustainable, life-long changes to get going at their own pace – and encourages members who are already active to take it to a whole new level and build activity into their daily routine.

He says: “Before losing weight even the simplest tasks would leave me out of breath. Now I love to get out in the countryside and go for a good walk. I find it’s really beneficial for both my body and my mind. I find work a lot easier too – I think nothing of being on my feet all day.

“It might sound cliché but losing weight really has been life changing for me. Looking back, a lot of my worries were all connected to my weight. My friend Amanda, who I joined Slimming World with, got married recently and we both felt incredible on the day. She’d lost 3½ stone and looked beautiful.

“In the past, a wedding invite would have been reason for me to worry about what to wear, or dread bumping into someone I hadn’t seen in a while in case they noticed I’d gained weight. Now I can genuinely look forward to living my life. The future feels so bright now, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.”

You can view a video of Ryan’s weight-loss journey here.

VITAL STATS:

Name: Ryan Quinn

Age: 32

Height: 5’9”/175cm

Starting weight: 22st 9lbs/317lbs/143kg

Current weight: 12st 5lbs/173lbs/78kg

Weight loss: 10st 4lbs/144lbs/65kg

Waist size before: 44ins/111cm

Waist size now: 32ins/81cm

Date joined Slimming World: September 2020

Group: Ryan attends the Sion Mills Slimming World group which is run by Consultant Sinead Twells.

Before menu

Breakfast: Sausage roll and a coffee

Lunch: Pie or pasty from a hot counter at school

Dinner: A takeaway or a high-calorie ready meal

Evening: Crisps, chocolate, sweets

After Menu

Breakfast: Fruit and fat-free natural yogurt

Lunch: A large homemade chicken salad

Dinner: Homemade cottage pie or a meal from the Slimming World range at Iceland

Evening: Chocolate bar

Boilerplate

Notes to editors 

·       This story is NOT for syndication to any magazines without the consent Ryan Quinn and the Slimming World press office (details below). 

·       Slimming World and Ryan Quinn retain copyright of all images attached to this press release. 

·       For further information please contact the Slimming World press office on 07833 684131 or email lucy.fisher@slimmingworld.co.uk 

 

About Slimming World 

Slimming World was founded by Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE in Derbyshire in 1969 and has become the UK and Ireland’s leading weight loss organisation with more people choosing to attend a Slimming World group each week than any other weight loss programme. We support hundreds of thousands of people, both in our groups and online, to lose weight and to adopt new habits to stay slim for life. 

 

Over the years our founding principles haven’t changed: 

·        Our unique programme is based on a powerfully motivating support system called IMAGE (Individual Motivation and Group Experience) Therapy. Underpinned by a deep understanding of the psychology of overweight people, and incorporating the most effective sustainable behaviour change techniques, IMAGE Therapy is designed to inspire and motivate slimmers to make positive changes and to develop new, healthier habits around food and activity. 

·        Food Optimising is our healthy eating plan, based on the liberating concept of Free Food. We encourage our members to fill up on those foods that are naturally lower in energy density (calories per gram) and also highly satisfying while limiting foods that are highest in fat and sugar and are less satisfying, so they lose weight without ever feeling hungry or deprived and without having to weigh, measure or count everything they eat. 

·        Our activity programme, Body Magic, encourages members to become more active, more often in ways that they enjoy, until regular physical activity becomes an intrinsic part of daily routine. 

Above all, at the heart of everything we do, lies our passion for treating every member with genuine care, empathy and respect. 

 

 

We’re proud to work with the NHS, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), The Royal College of Midwives and others to help shape the future of weight management in the UK.  

 

For further information please contact the Slimming World press office on email public.relations@slimmingworld.co.uk