A grandad who splashed out £3,000 a year on takeaways has transformed his life by losing an incredible 10 stone. Jimmy Mannion, 62, spent a fortune on convenience meals and fast food as his weight skyrocketed to 26.5st.
However, a terrifying moment where he feared that playing on a bouncy castle with his two-year-old granddaughter Evie could ‘kill’ him spurred him into action. The retired chemical processor from Widnes, Cheshire, swapped greasy fast food like McDonald’s and pizzas for healthier, home-cooked meals.
Now weighing in at a much healthier 15st 11lb, Jimmy has gone from a 5XL with a waistline over 50 inches to a double XL in just two years. Previously forced to wear t-shirts and ‘saggy bottoms’ from plus-size retailers and order specially made suits for events like weddings, Jimmy decided to turn his life around after struggling to play with his four granddaughters.
He said: “Even if I was playing kicking the ball or something in the back yard, after about two minutes I’d have to sit down again because I was tired. It was really upsetting to think about what I could be missing out on.”
Now he’s lost the weight, Jimmy said: “It’s given me more confidence, I feel as though I’m more outgoing now, I don’t hide myself away. With the grand kids I can look after them more, I can do more with them, take them to the park and play with them. It’s just given me so much more energy, I just feel better in myself, physically and mentally.”
The catalyst for his change came at granddaughter Evie’s second birthday party in the summer of 2022.
He said: “I was at a party for one of my granddaughters, she was two. They had a bouncy castle there, the other granddads were on the bouncy castle playing with them and I just sat there, I thought ‘I can’t get on there, because it’d kill me’.
“I realised then I was missing out on having the enjoyment of my granddaughters. It was affecting me then health-wise anyway, but I think that was the thing that hit me most.”
Jimmy was able to lose some weight on his own, but months later, in January 2023, he decided to join his local Slimming World group.
Jimmy said: “Before, I was just eating McDonald’s breakfasts, and then dinnertime I’d be eating whatever was handy, really. If there was nothing in the house to eat I’d be going to McDonald’s and getting a burger or something.
“I was eating a lot of takeaway food, especially for my teas. I was eating Domino’s Pizzas, chippy teas, McDonald’s, you name it because I was a lazy b*gger and I wouldn’t even put anything in the microwave to ping.
“Now I’m eating spag bol, I do that myself, it’s one of the very few meals I can do. I have salmon, new potatoes with veg, they’re my two favourite meals.
“For breakfast, I’ll have porridge or fruit and fibre cereal, or boiled eggs on brown bread. For my lunches I tend to have Slimming World lunch bowls, they’re quite nice.”
Jimmy worked his way up to swimming 30 lengths in the pool as part of his weight loss journey. He said his Slimming World group was ‘welcoming’ and ‘friendly’, and credited his consultant Becci Keller for his weight loss.
Now, he does a four-mile power walk most days and has joined a walking group and a cycling group. The granddad says his family are ‘really proud’ of him for losing the weight, and he now finds it easier to take care of his four grandchildren. He was even able to come off his blood pressure medication after finding it was lowering his blood pressure too much following the weight loss.
He said: “I go out on my pedal bike and I’ve joined a walking club, so we get out once a month with the walking club. It’s not only health benefits, it’s the social side as well, I’ve met a lot of friends.”
Jimmy added: “I feel much better, physically and mentally.”
Jimmy’s meals before losing 10st
Breakfast: McDonald’s double sausage & egg McMuffin meal with two hash browns and a large coke
Lunch: Meat and potato pasty and a coke
Dinner: Chippy tea. Chips, peas and fish with three rounds of bread and a coke
Snacks: Crisps, chocolate, coke
Jimmy’s meals after losing 10st
Breakfast: Fruit and fibre cereal, semi-skimmed milk, banana; or two boiled eggs on two pieces of wholemeal bread
Lunch: Jacket potato with tuna or beans; or Slimming World lunch bowl (naked beef burrito), low-fat yoghurt, fruit
Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese
Snacks: Small bag low-fat crisps, Slimming World HiFi bars, and a Pepsi Max or no added sugar cordials
