From 16 Stone to 12 Stone in 4 Months
It was not easy
Let me start by saying I have never been thin, this was a combination of genetics and an unhealthy lifestyle both in my childhood and now as an adult.
Ironic really, as I played rugby all my life and went into nutrition as a career for six years (the same time that I was running.)
I was 16 stone, working 60 plus hours a week, eating unhealthy, but had plenty of coin in the bank as they say. I was single at the time, but playing the field if you know what I mean.
My career was going very well and I had plenty of friends, however, they could see my health declining. I was eating take away food, drinking a lot of alcohol and of course working long hours.
I decided that now was in my 30’s maybe I should start to settle down a bit and turned to a dating website. I found some really nice women and dated a few. One woman that I dated was a tri-athlete and asked me what sports I was into, there was a bit of silence before I started to talk about my rugby career.
She laughed, “great, what about now? what do you do sporting wise?” I was stumped and told her I went to the gym, she laughed and said in no uncertain terms that she doubted I had been in the gym all year.
Now that comment could have gone either way, however being a positive person and maybe the fact I am a man, I took this as a challenge, I told her being a triathlete was easy anyone can swim, run and cycle.
Being the fiery woman she was I got challenged to a race over 10k, a little frustrated I agreed, knowing I could probably not even run 1k without a lot of encouragement.
I started with two, ten minute walks a day and felt I was making good progress, a week later she had registered me for a “Park Run” which is a local 5k run/walk event designed to get people a bit of exercise with similar struggles to keep fit. There were some serious runners but most were like me, overweight and could hardly run.
I managed it in around 28 minutes, which was respectable, however struggled to walk for two days after, another few weeks past and it came to race day with my then-girlfriend.
10k, I can do this, it is mind over matter, I’m not going to let a girl beat me, famous last words. I started the race far too fast, less than 500 yards in I could hardly breathe and had to slow to a walking pace.
She taunted me by running backwards next to me with a smile on her face, at that point, it was clear who the winner was going to be however I was determined to at least finish, only another 9.5k to go, gulp!
So I basically finished the 10k and ached for almost a week, my birthday was the week after and as a present, she gave me an entry into Hell Runner, let's just say I was not exactly over the moon by what I received.
She was a clever cookie, I needed to lose weight and this was her way of inspiring me, and it worked. I joined a running club, Tuesdays and Thursdays I was running with a group of like-minded people.
My mental health improved, my eating habits improved, my weight started to drop off and my sex life was amazing. It was down to her approach to me and my willingness to accept her challenges.
My running was improving each week and I was now training on my own, along with my two club nights. I started running around 120k — 144k a week (80–90 miles) my base stamina was phenomenal.
I completed Hell Runner in around an hour and my 5k par runs were now under 20 minutes, shower there was a storm brewing and my relationship failed. Sad as it was I now had another mode of transport, my feet, something I had never thought about before.
After the relationship I continued to run and eat healthily, I typically had fish 4–5 times a week, with plenty of rice or pasta with lots of salad and vegetables. I only drank on rare occasions and cut junk food out almost completely.
I tend to be an all or nothing type of guy and was able to spend more time on my fitness than I did on the other sex, this led me into nutrition (a story for another time). Whilst my relationship was short, it taught me some very good lessons and I will always be grateful for that.
Just to finish the story off, it’s a guy thing so I can’t leave it out, I entered a race maybe a year later, coming to the end I passed a woman who was holding her hand out (runners did this to ask for fluid or a surgery sweet to help them finish a race.
I had an “energy gel” that I had not used, I handed it to her and she thanked me, I had to take another glance, as I run past I saw it was my ex-girlfriend, I simply smiled, turned around for about ten seconds and run backwards.
It was a bit childish, but I could not resist it, payback time, that was the last I saw of her, I do hope she is well, no matter what happens in life we learn lessons. Mine was a good one and I appreciate it could have been one that adds an extra few years onto my life.
Written by Robert Ralph
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