18st 5lbs (116.6kg) and a BMI of 40.3. Officially morbidly obese.

The dangers of being morbidly obese are well documented, and worrying reading for a man like me.

A man my height should be 11st 5lb (72.1kg) or less.  I need to shift 7 stone (44.5kg).

It’s time I prioritise my health.

Why am I fat?

Probably obvious, but I like food. Which is fine if you’re burning any excess calories you’re consuming, but I work at a desk and I’m not particularly active away from it.

Over the years I’ve cycled to and from work, dieted, etc, but have always found it hard to maintain. Consequently, at various stages, my weight would rebound and I’d put a little more on than I had before. 13st, 14st, 15st…I stopped looking at the scales at that point.  I knew I was overweight but I didn’t feel that worried about it.

What’s the solution?

It’s almost three years ago since I saw Man v Fat, a weight loss programme centred around football, and was very keen to join, but travelling with work, life in general, and political activity meant I wasn’t able to commit to it. At other times I would miss the deadline for signing up for the upcoming season, and I’d promise myself I’d sign up at the next registration period, only to miss it again for various reasons.

I know playing football is a great way for me to lose weight as I really enjoy playing, and yet have gone long periods without playing over the years. I played daily at school and college.  Then after college, there were a few five-a-side leagues and weekly Sunday morning sessions. But we were all getting older, having families, and it became harder to get enough committed players to turn up. I’d also play in a corporate 5-a-side league with work colleagues, but after that, it went downhill.  There would be the one-off match I’d get involved in here and there, perhaps once a year, and then casual 5-a-side with work colleagues in 2008, but not often enough to regain the speed and agility I used to have.  Then there was a massively long barren period till last year.

I started playing 5-a-side football on Sundays with a group of lads and renewed my desire to join the next Man v Fat season, But my return to football ended prematurely when I tore my meniscus – ironically not through football. This wasn’t diagnosed straight away and ultimately required an operation 6 months later.

By now I was now feeling uncomfortable about my weight, trousers and pants splitting far too often, t-shirts that used to fit me were now belly tops.  I didn’t like the look of it but now I was also feeling out of breath for minor tasks. I knew I needed to do something about it pronto. The first step was getting on the scales to see how heavy I was. It was worse than I expected. I’d put another two stone on in the year since I’d last weighed myself.

So, having tested the knee to see if I could now kick a ball in anger again, I was pleased to see the registration period for Man v Fat was just a week away. Time to play football and lose weight.

If you’re interested in joining Man v Fat, you can use my invite code:

JOHNS9617