I’ve always been self-conscious about my weight. Despite numerous attempts to tackle it, I’d often find myself reverting back to my old routine of grabbing a quick dinner after work and lounging in front of the telly until bedtime. That was until a social media ad led me to a life-changing decision.
The advert was for ManvFat Football, a programme designed to encourage blokes to get moving – playing 28-minute small-sided matches – while shedding pounds simultaneously. After each game, teams are awarded combined scores for both weight loss and goals scored on the pitch.
At first, it might seem a bit tricky to wrap your head around, and like many other lads who signed up, I hadn’t booted a ball in what felt like forever.
I won’t lie, I was a tad nervous initially. There was a genuine chance that I’d be more likely to stumble and faceplant than actually boot a ball into a net, especially considering I hadn’t even attempted to kick a ball in years.
However, the competitive aspect provided something unique that I’d been missing. I’d managed to lose some weight – four stone to be exact – following the Slimming World plan before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Like countless others, my daily commutes and lunch outings were replaced by short walks to my dining room table and the ever-present temptation of the nearby fridge during lockdown.
So, I took the leap, shot the coach a message, and soon found my name on the new players list. I was allocated to a team – the greens – and was gearing up to make my debut as a sprightly 29 year old.
Of course, this was after a frantic trip to the sports shop to pick up shin pads, boots, and all the other gear needed to look the part. I just had to hope my legs still knew what to do.
Arriving was intimidating, but sometimes you just have to puff out your chest, rip off the band-aid, and dive into the unknown. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before I was welcomed by the other players and got to participate in my first match.
I quickly discovered what it felt like to be an almost 30 year old journalist with chronic unfitness trying to run. I experienced a new level of exhaustion as muscles that hadn’t been properly used for years began to remember they still existed.
But as the weeks and months passed, I started to gain more fitness and even more confidence with a ball at my feet. I wouldn’t be competing for the England captain’s armband with Harry Kane, but I wasn’t making a fool of myself either.
And with that came a drive to lose weight as well. Your team gets extra goals if you achieve a percentage – 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent of your body weight lost and so on. It was amazing how quickly that influenced my weekly outlook, I’d sit thinking “I could have a treat after a long day, but I want that 10% on Monday”.
Motivated by the goals and supported by teammates, I reached my five, 10, 15, and 20 percent weight loss milestones. And then, almost a year after joining, and possibly for the first time in decades, I reached my healthy weight – a final certificate proudly declaring “BMI Boss”.
When I first started playing football at ManvFat, I weighed around 17st (108kg). By the time I received my final certificate, I was down to 12st 9lb (80kg). In just 11 months, I’d managed to shed a whopping 27kg or 4st 3lb.
This was a stark contrast to the days when I would look at old photos of myself before deciding to make a change. At my heaviest, I weighed in at 19st 4lb – meaning I’ve lost an incredible total of 6st 9lb.
My teammates were a source of inspiration for me, and I didn’t want to find myself out of breath after a 28-minute football game. This led me to develop a newfound interest in running.
I had tried it before and dreamed of completing my local three-lap parkrun in Cheshire. Every Saturday, I would watch the crowd of runners warming up for the weekly 5k and think to myself, “I wish I could do that”. So, just days before my 30th birthday, I decided to download the Couch 2 5K app.
At first, it was a struggle. I may have muttered a few choice words under my breath as I completed my first 60-second run. But I persevered and eventually managed to complete the parkrun that I had once watched with longing.
I wasn’t concerned about my time; I was just proud that I had done it. Before long, I found myself wanting to push further, leading to my 25th, then my 50th, and now my impending 100th run.
My increased fitness level and newfound love for running remained. I had walked our local half marathon, the notoriously hilly Potters ‘Arf in Stoke-on-Trent, twice. After the second time, I declared, “I want to run this”.
Last year, I achieved my goal. In the process, I found myself searching for local sports clubs online and, on a colleague’s recommendation, I joined a running club – it was almost unbelievable.
Incredibly, I’d transitioned from scrolling through social media on my phone and seeing an ad for overweight men wanting to lose weight, to becoming a member of a running club. The thought of strapping on my trainers every Monday night to run up and down a hill would have been foreign to me in the past.
If that wasn’t surprising enough, the idea that I would want to run a marathon never even entered my mind. I could never have imagined running 26.2 miles – that’s a distance you’d drive, right?
However, earlier this year, I found myself doing just that, running 26.2 miles along Blackpool’s coastal seafront. This was the result of months of long runs, short runs, interval runs and training.
I never thought I’d do it. Just a few years ago, the idea of doing any form of exercise was unthinkable.
But thanks to picking up a ball for the first time in years, I now find myself running four or five times a week, always looking for the next race.
What is ManvFat Football?
ManvFat Football is a football club for groups aiming to lose weight. Each club’s league table consists of points from both match scores and pounds lost.
This means players needn’t be shining stars on the football field because it’s primarily a weight loss programme, where what you do away from the pitch really counts. It says: “It doesn’t matter if you’ve never kicked a ball, or haven’t played since school, no one is going to judge you for not being a pro.”
Targeted at blokes with a BMI of 27.5 plus, getting more active through football is key in the scheme, but watching your diet is equally pushed. Something that struck a chord with me – out go the easy grab-and-go meals, and in come the wholesome home-cooked dinners.
What the NHS says about obesity
The NHS classes people with a BMI of 27.5 or above as obese. It says this comes with a number of developing health complications including:
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Diabetes
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Coronary heart disease
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Some types of cancers
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Strokes
It says being overweight can also have implications for your mental health, with many people reportedly struggling with depression and low self-esteem. Other problems associated with being overweight are:
How the NHS recommends losing weight
The NHS champions upping the exercise ante, endorsing programmes like Couch to 5K, which step by step takes rookie joggers from fleeting 60-second sprints to full-on half-hour runs.
The guidance also advises monitoring daily calorie intake, with 2,500 calories recommended for physically active men and 2,000 for women. It notes: “This amount of calories may sound high, but it can be easy to reach if you eat certain types of food. For example, eating a large takeaway hamburger, fries and a milkshake can total 1,500 calories and that’s just 1 meal.
“As well as this, many people do not meet the recommended physical activity levels for adults, so excess calories consumed end up being stored as fat in the body.
“Changes in society have also made it more difficult to have a healthy diet. High calorie food has become cheaper and more convenient, and is heavily advertised and promoted.”
