14st slimmer Michael urges men to ‘man up’ & tackle their weight!

A father-of-four who’s been crowned a champion slimmer after losing nearly 14st is urging men not to be embarrassed to join a slimming club following research which found just one in 10 men would be willing to attend a weight-loss group.

At 28st Michael Drucker suffered humiliations including breaking chairs and getting stuck in fairground rides, and couldn’t put his own socks on. The 45-year-old, from Edgware, tried slimming pills and visited a dietitian but the idea of joining a slimming club left him “petrified”. And Michael isn’t the only man to feel that way – a survey by Slimming World and YouGov found that despite two-thirds of men wanting to lose weight, only one in 10 of them would be prepared to attend a slimming group to do so.

Michael, who’s been crowned Slimming World’s Consultant Slimmer of the Year 2011, says: “I thought going to a slimming club wasn’t manly and that only women went to those types of groups. But then I realised that there’s nothing manly about burying your head in the sand and pretending nothing’s wrong, especially when your weight is making you miserable and putting your health at risk.

“When my wife Sharon took me along to the local Slimming World group I expected to feel humiliated, especially as a man in a room full of women, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Everyone made me feel welcome and it didn’t matter at all to them that I was a man, they just saw me as someone – like them – who needed support to lose weight. I run my own Slimming World groups now and more than a third of my members are men so it’s great to know that no man in my area ever has to have the same fears I did.”

After his marriage 24 years ago, Michael’s weight steadily increased until he was wearing trousers with a 60” waist. As a teacher he’d crack “fat jokes” about himself “before the pupils could”.

Everything changed at his son Alex’s wedding. Michael says: “It should have been one of the best days of my life but I spent the whole time worrying that I was ruining the day. I didn’t feel like I belonged with or deserved my beautiful family, I felt like a useless lump.”

In August 2009 Michael joined Slimming World and began following the club’s Food Optimising eating plan: “I’m a big man and I love my food. In fact, I’d say the only similarity between the ‘old’ me and the ‘new’ me is that we both have huge appetites. But this wasn’t like a diet, I couldn’t believe I didn’t have to worry about weighing or measuring everything I ate or going hungry.” He’s much more active nowadays too. “Before I joined Slimming World, I didn’t walk anywhere or do any exercise. Now activity is part of the fabric of my daily life, I walk everywhere and run around three miles a day, 10 miles on a Sunday.”

Today Michael’s lost 13st 11lbs and 24” from his waist: “I’ve lost nearly 14st but I’ve gained so much more. I’ve got a great group of new friends through Slimming World, I can really enjoy my family now and my health is so much better. I know I would definitely have developed diabetes had I stayed the weight I was, but not now!”

In October 2010 Michael trained as a Slimming World Consultant and took over the very group that helped him to lose his weight. He says: “A friend said, ‘Wow, you must have added 20 years to your life’. I want to make the most of those extra years, so I decided to train as a Slimming World Consultant. I have 250 members and more than a third of them are men, altogether my members have lost nearly three tons since I started. I urge any man who’s worried about his weight to find the courage to get the help he needs from a slimming club like Slimming World.”

DIET BEFORE
Breakfast: Sugary cereal and full-fat milk
Mid-morning: Lots of coffees with full-fat milk and three sugars
Lunch: Pasta salad
Mid afternoon: Four peanut butter sandwiches, packet of crisps, regular Coca Cola
Early evening: Eat kids’ leftovers
Dinner: Steak and chips with Coca Cola

DIET NOW
Breakfast: 2 Weetabix with fat free Greek yogurt, chopped mango, sprinkled with cinnamon and sweetener
Lunch: Tuna, cous cous and roasted vegetables
Dinner: Peppered salmon steak, new potatoes, spring cabbage
Snacks: Fruit including apples, pears, bananas, melon, pomelo
Drinks: Coffee with skimmed milk and sweetener

MAN FACTS:

• There are more overweight men than women, with 65% of men classed as overweight or obese compared to 56% of women (Foresight 2007)
• Two out of three men (66%) would like to lose weight, with the average man wanting to lose 2st 4lbs (National Slimming Survey, Slimming World/YouGov 2011)
• Only one in 10 men would be prepared to attend a slimming group to lose weight (National Slimming Survey, Slimming World/YouGov 2010)
• Men’s Health Week 2011 is 13-19 June
• During Men’s Health Week 2011 Slimming World is running ‘Bring a man, get a week free’ to encourage women to help the men in their lives to make a change. (As Slimming World’s doors are open to everyone, members will get a free week when they introduce any new member – male or female – but members are being encouraged to ‘make it a man if you can’)

– ends –

A film produced by Slimming World of Michael Drucker talking about his weight loss accompanies this press release. To view the video visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYMYc2PXLH8

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For further information please contact the Slimming World press office on 01773 546101, 01773 546039 or 01773 546037 or email: public.relations@slimming-world.com

Notes to Editors

• Slimming World is the largest and most advanced slimming organisation in the UK. Margaret Miles-Bramwell (OBE, FRSA) founded the company in 1969 and there are now more than 7,750 groups held weekly nationwide via a network of nearly 3,000 Slimming World trained Consultants.
• 400,000 members attend Slimming World every week and achieve outstanding success.
• Members lose 1.5 million stones every year; 28,500st every week; 4,071st every day; over 170st every hour, that’s 2st 8lb every minute of every day at Slimming World.
• Slimming World pioneered referral schemes in the UK and actively supports the building of partnerships with the NHS and local authorities to develop effective strategies to manage overweight and obesity in the community. Slimming World works with university researchers and specialists in an active research programme to further knowledge of the causes and treatment of obesity.
• Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, and the principles behind Slimming World’s philosophy are based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people. Slimming World integrates practical, up-to-date dietary advice with a highly developed support system.
• Slimming World Consultants receive specific training in dietary aspects and the role of physical activity in weight control. The highly developed training focuses on facilitating behaviour change in a group environment, acknowledged by experts as being the most effective way to support long-term weight management.