After his mental health got affected by weight gain, Tim decided to take action to get his weight back on track. Read on to find out how he used it to spur him on to lose weight, with a little help from his MAN v FAT Football club in Stoke..
Name: Tim Whitehurst
Age: 38
Location: Stoke
Club: MAN v FAT Stoke
Weight lost: 41.4kg (6st 7.2lbs, 91.2lbs)
What was your life like before you joined MAN v FAT Football?
My weight started to play a major factor
on my mental health, I was embarrassed
to do certain things, whether it was
social events or work events given I’d
feel I looked out of place with others and
equally always felt like I was being judged
by people who did not know me.
What made you decide to change?
A couple of things actually, I became a
father in 2014 and quickly realised that
I needed to lose weight and become
healthier not only for me own benefit
but also for my son’s too as he was
running circles around me all of the time.
In addition, in 2018 I lost my sister very
unexpectedly at the age of 40 and she
suffered with weight issues during her
life and this spurred me on even more to
make permanent, positive changes.
What were the first few months at MAN
v FAT like versus now?
If I’m honest, the first season I hardly
shifted any weight, but this was a me
problem not the leagues format etc I just
didn’t apply myself and equally struggled
to get around the pitch in any decent
manner and was generally shattered after
5 minutes and desperate to be subbed
off. However, what I did see in that first
season was some fantastic weight losses
from others and something clicked with
me that if they could do it, so could I and
it was probably season Three onwards I
really started to keep my focus and crack
on. We’ve just completed season 14 in
the Stoke league and I’ve played all 14
seasons so am something of a veteran
these days. The league has matured and
got better over time, shame my football
skills have not, I have never been the best
footballer (and that has not changed) but
the difference in my fitness levels now
playing on a bigger pitch to what we did
in the early days is quite remarkable and
now I’m hungry for more and more game
time. These days I am very active outside
MvF too and kind of build my weekly
calendar around MvF Friday nights. I
know not to overdo it in the days leading
up to Friday and to try and have a rest
day the day after we play etc
What methods have you changed or adapted
to since joining MAN v FAT that you have
used successfully in your weight loss?
During the start of MvF I struggled
to do much really but one thing I did
start doing is walking, walking to work,
walking home from work etc. Walking is
vastly underrated as a tool to help you
lost weight and it is low impact to your
joints, I feel this helped me massively to
shift some of those first couple of stone
which then allowed me to become
more mobile and step up the activity
levels. From a diet point of view, I try
and stick to a low(ish) Carb and higher
protein diet but I don’t deny myself and
try to drink lots of water each day. I’ve
educated myself on nutrition over the
last few years to a point now where
I know what I should/should not be
eating etc I think this is a huge part that
people do not understand.
What have you learned since joining MAN
v FAT
I feel I’ve learned so much, first and
foremost MvF showed me that there are
others on the same journey and everyone
in MvF wants each other to do their
best not only for their teams but more
importantly for themselves. Outside of the
nutritional advice I’ve read up on the link
between physical exercise and mental
health is just something that cannot be
denied. I have found so many times if
I’ve been having a tough time either
with work or personal life then doing
something active helps me to relax, reset
my brain and look at things differently.
Walking the dog is a great method for
this but also MvF or visiting the gym are
great helps too.
How have you found MAN v FAT? What’s been
the greatest aspect so far?
The greatest aspect for me By far, has to
be the people, I’ve seen a lot of people
come and go in my 14 seasons, we
still have a few who have been there
from the start, I’ve seen some fantastic
success stories and watched people
change their lives, get married, have
kids etc and The league has opened up
a whole new avenue of friends, another
great aspect is when you see a team
getting tonked on the pitch (and I’ve
had my fair share of these) but then the
overall result including weight sways
the result in their favour. The visible lift
this gives is very special and somewhat
unique as it drives you further to know
that it’s not all about the pitch and you
can make a difference off the pitch with
your own weight loss goals.
How has life changed since joining MAN v FAT?
Wow, a lot has changed personally
for me, given I’ve been around for a
while, my little lad who was part of the
reason I joined is now 7 and I’m happily
keeping up with him on the footy pitch
or in the back garden but that aside I’m
now a touch over 41kg lost. It’s hard
to understand how much of a positive
impact it has not having to carry that
weight around. I am so much more active
these days, alongside MvF I am an active
Gym member visiting a 2-3 times a week
normally but I’ve also signed up to a local
fitness company and partake in 2-3 times
a week bootcamp (HiiT sessions) and
they provide me a gym plan in terms of
cardio and weight training.
What’s next in terms of weight loss and
life goals?
I had target in this current MvF season
that we’ve just finished to active a perfect
season (weight loss each week) and I
managed to do this alongside a couple of
other guys so kudos to them too, this is
the second time I’ve managed a perfect
season, so it would be nice to get a third
one in the future. However, when I started
out, I just wanted to lose weight and
remember at one of the first weigh in’s a
team mate being 99kg, and I remember
thinking that is light years away from
anything I would ever get near so why
even bother, but NOW my next target
is to get below 100kg so 99.9kg is my
next goal, from there I just want to keep
going until I find myself comfortable and
happy. I am signed up for a 10km run in
September, alongside our annual charity
trek in the peak district with work so need
to up my training for this in the coming
weeks and I’m desperate to complete a
half marathon in memory of my Dad who
I lost in Jan of this year as he used to
complete full and half marathons for fun
so this would be nice but I think that will
be a challenge for 2023.
If there was one piece of advice you could
give to someone starting out in their MAN v
FAT journey, what would it be?
I’m not sure I could limit it to one piece.
I think they just need to be honest with
themselves about what they want to
achieve and why,, there is no point saying
“From Monday I’m never going to have a
take away or drink again” because it just
won’t happen, they need to be alive to
the fact that life gets in the way, there will
be setbacks and low points but to try and
look past the here and now and focus
on what they want to achieve, immerse
themselves in their team and form a great
bond. The other thing I would say is to
not put too much pressure on yourself.
A small loss of 0.2kg for example is still a
step in the right direction
