Hamilton man lost more than 15 stones

Dec 29 2011 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

A HAMILTON man has lost more than 15 stones in weight in just 18 months.

Marc Rodwell decided in spring last year when his weight reached 35 stones he had to do something about it.

The 23-year-old had set himself a six stone per year target and it wasn’t until last Christmas that Marc noticed he had already smashed it by over a stone.

Marc, who currently weighs 20 stones 3lbs, says he now eats properly and works out five days a week.

Marc said: “I have always had weight problems since I was about 10 or 11 years-old. I have done the whole diet thing and for a multitude of reasons had no real results, mainly because I didn't have the heart to lose the weight.

“Last year during the football World Cup I decided to finally do something and made a huge lifestyle choice to make a change for the future.”

Marc, on a daily basis, was drinking two to three litres of fizzy juice and eating food portions that were enough for two people or more.

He did no real form of exercise outside of a five-minute walk with the dog in the front garden.

Marc added: “I started to cut out all of the sweets, fizzy juice, desserts and started eating a better diet.”

He began by visiting the gym two to three times per week and increased it to three to four, and now attends five times per week if he is able to.

Marc said: “I cannot give enough praise to the staff at the Jock Stein Centre for all their support and advice over the past 18 months.

“A lot of my weight loss is down to my own research into various workout methods like mixing up cardiovascular exercise and resistance training with a little tennis thrown in to round out each week’s workouts.

“On a normal day I try and do a minimum of one hour’s cardiovascular training with around 30-40 minutes of resistance training to help build the lean muscle tissue.

“At home I do workouts in the afternoon or evening to balance out what I’ve done in the morning. So I'll either do some dumbbell curls or play the drums on Rock Band on the PS3. It sounds silly to say I play a game as an additional workout but you would be surprised how many calories you burn in two hours of drumming.”

Doctors say at his age Marc should weigh 14st for his height which is 6ft 6ins.

Marc added: “I've lost 15 stones in the past 18 months, I'm currently 20 stones and was around 35 stones last year.

“Doctors say for my age and height I should be about 14 stones but I think about 18 stones and toned will do me just fine.

“The only downside to everything that I've gained from the weight loss like being healthier, having more energy and being able to do things I never could before is that, due to being so overweight, I'm left with unsightly amounts of excess skin.

“The NHS won't help with this because I don't fit their strict criteria for surgery.

“I enjoy being closer to my normal weight more than anything. Back in September I went to Dundee to watch my favourite golfer, Rory McIlroy, play in the Dunhill Links championship at St Andrews and besides being able to walk The Old Course, I don't think I would have been able to walk anywhere close to 18 holes with all that excess weight I had last year.”