Man v Fat. Where men lose weight.
If you’re a man that wants to lose weight, MAN v FAT is behind you all the way with diet tips and weight loss motivation for men. Our philosophy is simple: all the information, support and tools you need to improve your health, with a refreshing no-nonsense approach.
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Real men, real weight loss stories
We call them Amazing Losers, but you might know them as weight loss before and after stories. They’re motivating, honest, and there’s not a magic pill in sight.
Big Daddy: Amazing Loser Dan Cooper
Having kids is usually a massive wake up call for overweight men. Aside from the responsibility and fun of changing nappies and making sure your child doesn’t stick its fingers in sockets, it’s a weird feeling to know that this wriggly little thing looks up to you and will depend on you for years and years to come. Naturally, you want to make sure you’re the best dad you can be and you want to stick around for as long as you can. For Amazing Loser Dan, this meant joining MAN v FAT football and finally losing the weight that held him back from playing with his kids…
- Name: Dan Cooper (ask him anything on Talk)
- Location: Stoke on Trent
- Height: 5’9″ (175cm)
- Age: 31
- Highest weight: 253lbs (115kg)
- Lowest weight: 174lbs (79kg)
- Plan: Calorie counting and limiting carbs
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
I used to weigh about 100kg (220lbs) and lost about 15kg (33lbs) for my wedding, I was happy at that weight but after having my first child I stopped going to the gym and started eating unhealthily again, over the course of 4 years my weight went up to 115kg.
What made it different from the times before?
I really wanted to do it this time because I didn’t want to become a 40 odd year old overweight man having a heart attack and leaving my kids without a dad.
Is there anything else we should know about your weight loss story?
I’ve applied for the new series of Ninja Warrior, I have no idea if I’ll get on the show or not yet but I applied to give me something to train for and to show what a difference can be made in 12 months as it’s being filmed 12 months from when I started my journey. So I haven’t finished yet. My body fat is around 10% at the moment but I want to get a little leaner and build some more muscle. This is the best chance I’ll ever have of getting a real 6 pack so while I’m on a roll I’m not stopping.
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
Workout For The Mind – Amazing Loser Kyle Curtis
What do we mean when we talk about “off the scale” victories? Well, changing your life, changing your body isn’t just about a number and it isn’t just about your weight. If you reach a certain weight and the number on your scale stops going down, try not to lose heart.
When you’re on a weight loss journey, hitting a plateau can be really demoralising, but if you’re still doing everything right, look for other signs that your body is changing; check your measurements, see if your clothes fit better; check your fitness, see if you can make it up the stairs without getting out of puff; check yourself – how’s your confidence? How would you feel about trying something new? That’s just what this week’s Amazing Loser Kyle did, when he gave Jiu-Jitsu a go and found his strength increasing, his self-esteem increasing, his waist size decreasing, even though the scales stalled…
- Name: Kyle Curtis (ask him anything on Talk)
- Location: Parker, Colorado
- Job: Registered financial rep
- Height: 6′ (182cm)
- Age: 34
- Highest weight: 310lbs (140kg)
- Lowest weight: 192lbs (87kg)
- Plan: Ketogenic diet
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
What negative experiences did you have of being overweight?
I was the “Fat Friend”. It was not a fun experience. Not that anyone was mean to me about it, but I knew it deep down and it made me miserable. I had no confidence at all. I was very depressed. I couldn’t play sports with my friends any longer and I pretty much just lost myself in video games and food. My wife would try and get me to stop but I didn’t as the depression was too deep.
What made you decide to change?
I had a child and I started to think about what would happen if I died. I struggled with this thought and putting in the effort to lose weight for a long time. I would always say I would and I never did, instead always finding an excuse. I would say I was dieting but really I was sneaking junk food. One night I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at my wife and said, “This is going to kill me. I feel like I am dying.” I decided I had had enough and started looking into how I was going to do it.
What made it different from the times before?
How did you do it?
I found /r/keto on reddit and saw the results people were getting. I could tell it was a very strict diet and very difficult, but the results were shown every day. I decided to dive-in headfirst. I was miserable for about a month. I had an emotional connection with sugar, and I would often have mood swings from the lack of it. Eventually the anxiety and mood swings went away and the results started showing.
I also knew I wasn’t getting any exercise and decided to change that as well. I knew if I just went to a gym and lifted weights and ran I would quit. I decided I was going to do something that scared me. So I started doing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Kickboxing. I was terrified of getting punched, kicked, and choked. I knew if I could conquer that fear, then the diet would not be an issue. A year later and I am down 118 pounds and am competing in my first Jiu-Jitsu competition this weekend.
1. It is so much easier than most people say it is.
2. It’s far more mental than physical. Get your head straight and the diet will not be as bad.
3. Do it now. Don’t wait. You will thank yourself later.
Is there anything else we should know about your weight loss story?
Find a workout program or sport to get involved in. It makes the diet so much easier to keep. It’s even better if you do it with others or make friends at the gym. They will keep you accountable. Without my Jiu-Jitsu training, I would have never made it this far. The diet is for the body, the workout is for the mind. You will feel like a million bucks.
Don’t treat a diet like a diet. Call it a life change. You shouldn’t ever go back. People often think they can go back to eating terrible and are shocked when they gain it back. Find a diet that lets you manage your calories without losing your mind from being hungry and stick with it.
When you are starting out, track everything you eat. You will be shocked by what is going into your body. It also helps you cut down and keeps you accountable. Myfitnesspal was a great app for this.
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
Weight loss by the book: Amazing Loser Dan Pickens
While weight loss isn’t rocket science (just er… regular science), it definitely takes grit and determination to do and you could do worse than taking advice from those who have been there, done that and got the (significantly smaller) t-shirt. This week’s Amazing Loser Dan has been so successful on his weight loss journey partly down to absorbing as much information about weight loss as he can, and now he’s passing on what he’s learned…
- Name: Dan Pickens (ask him anything on Talk, follow him on Twitter or Instagram)
- Location: Williamstown, New Jersey
- Job: IT technician
- Height: 5’8″ (173cm)
- Age: 29
- Highest weight: 265lbs (118kg)
- Lowest weight: Currently 190lbs (86kg), with a goal weight of 170/175lbs (77/79kg)
- Plan: Low carb, high fat, moderate protein Paleo/keto hybrid.
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
[blocktext align=”right”]”I cared way more about my beer intake and ‘having fun’ than my health”[/blocktext]
What negative experiences did you have of being overweight?
The most negative impact that my weight has had on me was what it did to my confidence and self esteem. Being overweight instills a sense of inferiority from a young age.
The first terrible anxiety I ever had was in elementary school when they were doing scoliosis tests and I was so afraid of taking my shirt off in front of the class that I begged my father to let me stay home from school. That pretty much set the tone for my entire life to come.
In highschool, I made many awkward and flat out terrible attempts at dating girls, and I had zero self confidence. I was awful at speaking in front of crowds and in social situations in general. I was generally a very lazy person. It was all because of my weight and the image I had of myself in my brain. When you grow up like that, it bleeds into your adulthood, and it really took me a while to believe in myself and get my life together career wise.
What made you decide to change?
The breaking point came when my wonderful girlfriend, now fiance, bought me a pair of jeans that were a size 44 waist, and they were SNUG on me. It was very crushing. I looked in the mirror at my chubby face and man boobs and just could not take it anymore.
This started what I would estimate as a 2 year journey to get my ass in shape. In the beginning, I made some progress but it still went up and down. I experimented with a lot of ways of eating before I found what works for me.
I didn’t really get locked in until September of 2016, when my fiance was diagnosed with Stage 1 Ovarian Cancer and I made a promise with myself that I would be fit and healthy for her while she was going through this. In my mind, there was no excuse for me to be fat and unhealthy while she was fighting this (she is doing great now and recovering).
On top of all of this, I was deathly afraid of my family medical history. My mother died when she was 33 years old. She was a very unhealthy woman. I was looking at myself at 27/28 and going down that road, and I did not want to end up like that.
What made it different from the times before?
How did you do it?
As far as diet, I eat most likely what would be called “Lazy Keto”. I do my best to keep my carbs under 20 grams per day and to keep my body in ketosis. Some days here and there I go above and hit around 40-50g of carbs.
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
Show ‘Em How It’s Done: Amazing Loser Jeremy Fidelack
As tempting as it is to believe that you can shrink down overnight with the help of a magic pill, the reality is that weight loss is a long hard slog and there are no quick fixes. Sometimes you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do, even if that means saying no to all the food that tempts you. That’s exactly what this week’s Amazing Loser found out when he knuckled down to lose 87lbs after realising he was in the worst shape of his life…
- Name: Jeremy Fidelack (ask him anything on Talk)
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Job: IT office worker
- Height: 6’3″ (190cm)
- Age: 34
- Highest weight: 265lbs (120kg)
- Lowest weight: 178lbs (80.7kg)
- Plan: Calorie counting
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
[blocktext align=”right”]”I was shaving YEARS off my life”[/blocktext]
What negative experiences did you have of being overweight?
One of the things that really bothered me was how much I would sweat. I got comfortable being overweight, but the perspiration soaking through all of my clothes anytime I had to do some physical activity… that sucked. I’d walk across the street on a hot day and have to hang my suit jacket to dry.
What made you decide to change?
[blocktext align=”right”]”Perspiration soaked through all of my clothes anytime I had to do some physical activity”[/blocktext]
What made it different from the times before?
I think that I was able to justify other small embarrassments as just being a bit overweight. I’d be comfortable swimming shirtless in public. But the tricycle race made me feel like I had no endurance anymore. That’s when I started thinking of myself as a fat guy.
How did you do it?
We already had a treadmill and bowflex (a type of home gym) in our basement collecting dust. So my only excuse was making the time to exercise.
Bargain! What kind of exercises do you do with all of that equipment?
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Curls
- Push ups
- Bench press
- Sit ups (bench, inversion)
- Chin ups, pull ups
- Dips
- Overhead Triceps (bench)
- Planks
Did any other equipment help you to lose weight?
I like using technology and found that collecting data is really useful. I logged my weight every day using a Withings Smart Scale. I tracked my workouts with an app called Endomondo and my Android Wear watch captured my heart rate while I worked out.
I used MyFitnessPal to track my calorie intake. I even tracked my sleep using my watch and an app called Sleep as Android. All of this data is tied together in Google Fit to show how things are going. I set daily and weekly goals.
The data Jeremy collected throughout his weight loss journey
- Breakfast – 3x coffees with milk or creamer, no food
- Lunch – by 11am I’m starving, and eating leftovers (big bowl of pasta with some meat, no veg).
- Dinner – HUGE serving of food for supper. Meat and potatoes or something similar.
- Evening Snack – Cheese, chocolate, beer.
- Breakfast – small cup of yogurt, black coffee
- Lunch – bag steamed rice, vegetables, chicken (prepared, frozen)
- Dinner – big piece of meat, lots of vegetables, and a salad with croutons
- Snacks – practically nothing, but frozen grapes help with cravings
What about the beer?
My wife has always been very supportive. Whether it’s cheering me on, letting me change the family’s meals, buying equipment or taking responsibilities off my plate so I can spend time exercising… she’s been amazing.
You’re Prime Minister for the day, what one law do you bring in to help others who are obese?
- Diet changes are more effective than exercise, but they are both important to overall fitness
- Don’t drink your calories
- Find what works for you, stick with it in your way, and take accountability for it yourself
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
The Last Laugh: Amazing Loser Shaun Griffiths
Being overweight can be tough for a myriad of reasons, from being out of breath when walking up stairs to the infamous chub rub on a summer’s day, but one of the worst things can be knowing that people’s perceptions of you are based on how you look. This week’s Amazing Loser Shaun struggled with people he thought were friends treating him differently because he was overweight, but as Shaun found out, revenge is a dish best served cold…
- Name: Shaun Ryan Griffiths (ask him anything on Talk, follow him on Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram)
- Location: Wrexham, Wales
- Job: IT engineer
- Height: 5’3 (160cm)
- Age: 22
- Highest weight: 268lbs (121kg)
- Lowest weight: 128lbs (58kg)
- Plan: His own fitness plan
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
I was bullied during my school years, unfortunately, this made me hide away and begin putting weight on. When I started my first job, I was working in a big city centre which made things even worse because I would end up eating takeout food every single day. Over the years of working the weight just kept piling on.
[blocktext align=”right”]”I was assaulted for being who I am”[/blocktext]
What negative experiences did you have of being overweight?
People making horrible comments, friends pushing me out and not inviting me to things because I was the “fat one” of the group.
I was hit and assaulted for being who I am, I remember being out and someone who I didn’t know started saying hurtful things, so when I stood up to them and questioned it unfortunately I was assaulted and I didn’t manage to protect myself or stop them. Thankfully it wasn’t too serious but that’s not the point.
[blocktext align=”right”]”I wanted to prove people wrong”[/blocktext]
How did you do it?
I stuck to a healthy diet and lifestyle and also attended the gym 7 days a week.
Dinner – 2 chicken breasts with bulgur wheat and broccoli.
Tea – Sweet potato with tuna or salmon.
What do other fat men need to know about losing weight?
What skills have helped you on your weight loss journey?
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
Gym’ll Fix It: Amazing Loser Matt Wood
When you’re overweight and you want to start shedding pounds, the logical place to start is with what you eat. But what happens when your body starts to adjust to your new healthy way of eating and your weight stalls? This week’s Amazing Loser hit a plateau, but has found that joining the gym is the kickstart he needs. And it wasn’t as bad as he was fearing…
- Name: Matt Wood (ask him anything on Talk, follow him on Twitter)
- Location: Birmingham, UK
- Job: End user computing engineer
- Height: 5’10 (177cm)
- Age: 25
- Highest weight: 339lbs (154kg)
- Lowest weight: 236lbs (107kg)
- Plan: Slimming World
How did you get to the position where you needed to lose weight?
I was always a chubby kid, and carried on that way all through my life, I’ve never been a healthy weight.
[blocktext align=”right”]”I’ve never been a healthy weight”[/blocktext]
What negative experiences did you have of being overweight?
[blocktext align=”right”]”I used to eat anything that was around”[/blocktext]
How did you do it?
What do other fat men need to know about losing weight?
If you want to make a change to your life right now – then simply sign up for one of our free 30 day online weight programmes, the only thing you’ve got to lose is fat…
Getting started with weight loss
Want to lose weight but not sure where to start? We’ve all been there. Get all the info you need right here.
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