Three months ago, four fabulous Boro fans vowed to get fit and lose weight in order to raise some much needed money for the Middlesbrough Disabled Supporters Association. Last week, the wait, and the weigh-ins were finally over.
They aimed to raise up to £4,000 towards the cost of a much-needed new mini-bus to help Boro’s disabled fans travel to away games.
Between them, the lads were hoping to lose 10 stone. In fact they bettered their target by 9 Ibs, and raised approximately £7, 000 towards the new mini bus.
Ian Woods, the lightest of the slimmers at the initial weigh-in, said “We did better than the 10 stones anyway; everyone’s more or less reached their targets.
“As long as we reached the target [collectively] it doesn’t matter.
“Everyone at Sporting Lodge has been brilliant, and having the incentive [raising the funds for the MDSA] makes a difference.
“The bus is still on the road but we need that target. It’s ongoing.
“I look at what I ate before and what I eat now and its clear the amount of rubbish I was eating.”
The lads stuck to a sensible eating plan and took advantage of three months free membership at the Sporting Lodge Gym.
Weekly weigh- ins revealed that the weight was falling off them. They had shed 2 stone after the first week of work outs at Sporting Lodge, while eating sensibly. After 8 weeks they were almost up to 8 stone.
Amy Liddle, manager of the gym was involved with every stage of the slimathon, she said: “They’ve been wonderful, really dedicated and we have kept a close eye on them to make sure everything was going well”, she also said that the gym had received lots of positive feedback during the three months.
The three months may be up, but the lads are not packing away the scales and abandoning the treadmills, Jason Watkin who is due to be married next year, explained he will carry on slimming and exercising for the sake of his health and his family.
He said: “That’s one of the incentives. I’ve got three girls, I want to watch them grow up and get married.
“The kids love it because I can be daft dad again.
“I changed my lifestyle, just little things that everyone can do but I’ve got more energy.
“I want to lose another couple of stone before I get married next year.”
He said he drives a lot for his job and used to eat unhealthy because of it. Now however he is keeping healthy snacks such as cherry tomatoes in his car to stop him eating unhealthy fast food.
Fellow slimmer Alan lost over three stone but is also going to continue with his new regime, he said: “I want to lose another four stone but I admit I’m looking forward to a few weeks off!
Vital Statistics:
Alan Murray: 21 stone 10 pounds to 18 stone 6 pounds.
A loss of 3 stone 4 pounds.
Jason Watkin: 20 stone 1 pound to 17 stone 8 pounds.
A loss of 2 stone 7 pounds.
Dave Barnes: 15 stone 12 pounds to 13 stone 8 pounds.
A loss of 2 stone 2 pounds.
Ian Woods: 14 stone 11 pounds to 12 stone 3 pounds.
A loss of 2 stone 8 pounds.
The sponsored slim was supported by Middlesbrough Football Club, Garmin and the Sporting Lodge Gym.
MDSA needs to raise a further £25,000 towards the £50,000 cost of a new coach, as the club’s old mini-bus has seen better days after ferrying members around England and Europe over the past eight years. Future sponsorship events will be revealed very soon.
You can still don't to the cause - the fellas shed pounds in coin.
First published in FMTTM 19/4/08
No comments:
Post a Comment