Living Well Hero Mohammed
To prepare for a family wedding Mohammed needed to buy some new clothes, after gradually gaining weight since childhood he had reached a point where he found it difficult to buy clothes from regular shops. After visiting every clothes shop in the area Mohammed realised the only place he would be able to buy clothes would be from a specialist shop that sold much larger sizes. Mohammed was shocked to find he now had a 52” waist and this was the moment he realised he needed to start trying to do something about it.
Mohammed joined a local gym and started to exercise. He also looked at his diet and made changes to not only what he was eating, but when he was eating.
In the past Mohammed’s eating habits consisted of breakfast at home and then croissants or doughnuts mid-morning, followed by lunch. In the evening he would come home and eat a meal with his family. Later on he would socialise with friends and they would eat fast food together, they all considered this normal behaviour. Mohammed realised that to tackle his weight this would need to change.
He started his new regime by exercising at the gym first thing in the morning then returning home for a healthy breakfast of porridge, Weetabix or eggs with avocado. He stopped eating fast food with his friends and made sure he stuck to a home cooked meal each evening which he ate before 6pm. If he found he was hungry afterwards, he allowed himself some fruit or unsalted nuts as a snack and made sure he went to bed early to enable him to get up in the morning to exercise. After eight months he could see a huge difference, simply from exercising and cutting out junk food.
After Mohammed reached his target weight he felt more confident and also happier in himself. He could shop at any high street clothes shop, knowing they would have his size, rather than specialist shops that limited his choices. He had more energy and was naturally more active, walking without running out of breath. Being less shy about his body enabled Mohammed to learn how to swim, something he previously didn’t feel comfortable doing. He also felt able to approach people and talk to them with confidence and consequently he is now married with a child!
Mohammed’s advice is that if you set your mind to it, anything is possible, you can do anything and it really is achievable. Mohammed says; ‘One day you just have to go for it! Just stay on the path because it is a life long journey’.
