A care home employee from Birmingham has explained how his weight ballooned to more than 30 stone – prompting him to make a pact with a colleague to shed their weight together. And some 18 months later he has lost almost half his body weight and gone from being unable to walk the two to four minute journey to the shop, to being able to walk for hours with no problems.
Gareth Shields from Kings Heath used to avoid looking at his body in the mirror when his weight spiralled upwards, after a diet of Uber Eats takeaways and guzzling full sugar Cherry Coke and Pepsi. Gareth said he worked long hours and took the easy option of ordering take-outs, with Chinese being his go to meal.
The 36-year-old had not been slim since he was a kid. But he heard about Slimming World at work, after a manager’s partner had had some success. And together with his colleague Jane, they vowed to give it a go in a bid to shed pounds.
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And Gareth managed to shed almost half his peak weight, from more than 31 stone, down to a svelte 16 stone 10 pounds. After his dramatic weight loss, Gareth has now bought his first-ever suit – something he got to wear at his works Christmas do.
‘I used to order four or five takeaways from Uber Eats a week’
He spoke to BirminghamLive to explain how he achieved his incredible weight loss, and he still enjoys the odd takeaway, without ruining his diet. Gareth said: “I have always been big lad. The only time I was skinny was when I was a lad.
“I used to eat easy food that was unhealthy. I work 12 hours a day and sometimes 24 hours. I used to order four or five takeaways from Uber Eats a week.
“Always a Chinese. I didn’t always go for the healthy option! I was not taking accountability. I was living my days ignoring the issue and the problems. And burying it with more unhealthy foods.”
Gareth Shields used to be more than 31 stone, wore 6XL clothes and avoided looking at photos of himself – but now feels good about the way he looks after losing 15 stone in 18 months
‘My mental health was affected. I would avoid going out’
Gareth explained he put the weight gain down to ‘working so much’, eating takeaways, drinking full sugar Cherry Cokes and Pepsis, and devouring cakes, biscuits and chocolate bars. He had a 54-inch waste and wore 6 XL clothing. He couldn’t go to shops to buy clothes. It all had to be online.
The born-and bred Brummie said: “You give yourself a blindness to it. I didn’t look at myself in the mirror, other than my face, or look at photos of myself. You know you’re embarrassed by everything, like if you saw videos of yourself and you’re shutting everything out.
“I had health problems. Lower back pain. I couldn’t walk to the shops that were two to four minutes away. My back felt like a rubber band that had been stretched and wanted to snap.
“My mental health was affected. I would avoid going out. Avoid meeting friends. Avoid going to clothes shops. And avoid going to my doctors as I knew what they would tell me. I would be silent.”
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‘The first thing I had to be was honest with everything I was eating’
The team leader at a residential car home continued: “When I first started Billesley Slimming World I was 31 stone two-and-a-half pounds. It was the beginning of July 2023. I started with Jane [Duggins] and if I wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be where I am. She’s lost over five stone, down to nine and half-a-pound stone from 14.
“I have a friend at work and we always talked about needing to lose weight. I was not happy with my lifestyle. My manager’s partner was losing weight. And my friend, Jane, said we should join Slimming World. They have a buddy system so you encourage each other.
“The first thing I had to be was honest with everything I was eating. At first I went cold turkey. I cut out all the sugary drinks and pops. I cut takeaways out. I cut out Snickers and Mars bars, cakes and biscuits.
“Basically I said to myself I need to stop. These are trigger foods. I followed the plan. With Slimming World you’re allowed sins – 15 sins a day, maximum. Every food can have a sin value. Some have no sins like vegetables, meats. For example a biscuit might be four sins.”
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He continued: “At first though I cut those things out completely. I cut them all out for the first five months. But I had more vegetables, called speed foods, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, meats, pasta. Foods that make you feel fuller for longer.
“You can have ham, chicken, lamb – take the skin and fat off. Then cheese might be a healthy extra part of your plan. You can go and have a takeaway within your sins. Like a lamb rogan josh might be 10 sins and boiled rice is sin free. One of the things is if you need to go over your sins for one day, you can.
“But the thing you have to stick to is go to the group each week and go to the weigh in. Slimming World focus on the food aspect. But they have body magic. It helps to be active.”
Gareth Shields from Kings Heath is now almost half his original weight, a little over 16 stone, 34 waist, medium clothes size and wearing his first ever suit bought for his work Christmas party
Gareth had a gym membership that he paid for but hadn’t used ‘for years’. He started again at the end of 2023. His waist size is now 34 inches. And he’s gone from a 6XL to a medium.
He can also now go to regular shops, Next being his favourite. He said: “It’s an experience. A happy experience to buy a new wardrobe. Something I did for the first time in the summer with Jane’s help.
“I couldn’t wear the clothes I had as it looked like I was wearing curtains. Jane got rid of every bit of the clothing I had. I went out shopping and had to buy a new wardrobe of clothes.
“Before I wouldn’t try anything on. If I bought anything I took it home to try. I had to get over that. But I tried on large and extra large clothes and they were too big. I buy a medium, which still shocks me.
“I joke with Jane I find stuff that looks good but it’s too big now. People say ‘you have lost so much weight’. But I never take anything negatively. I take it positively.”
‘I have bettered myself. I am proud to look at myself now’
Gareth said his health has improved. His back pain has gone and so has his tiredness and fatigue. “I feel better in myself. Before I would suffer in silence. Now I go out and feel so much better about myself,” he added.
He doesn’t have to talk himself into going to the shop. He said if he has a full sugar Coke now it tastes too sweet.
Asked his advice on losing weight he said ‘join Slimming World, always go to the group, speak to people’. He recommends their meals and ‘Hi-fi’ bars too. But also a roast chicken dinner or chicken pasta.
He also said ‘don’t ruin your own night out’ by avoiding food. “Don’t let it take over your life if you have one meal.” Be ‘mindful’ of what you have and careful in the days after. He said: “I still have a Chinese meal occasionally.”
He has one last goal. He said: “I have got a stone and two pounds to lose until I am half the weight I was. I can say to myself I am happy with how I look now. I have bettered myself. I am proud to look at myself now.”