Real Success

Roberto Enrieu is a man who can conquer mountains. He's turned his life around with an inspirational 23st 7lb weight loss – to be named Slimming World’s Greatest Loser 2008. And the schools IT consultant from Coventry is about to tackle another mammoth challenge when he sets out to scale Scafell, Snowdon and Ben Nevis to raise £5,000 for charity. Roberto shares his amazing journey here.

“When I was at my heaviest even walking left me in pain and out of breath. I spent 35 years being overweight. I lost a lot of weight when I joined the Coldstream Guards but piled it all back on again, thanks to a diet of pizzas, chips, curries and drinking.

“I tried every diet going – even the peanut butter diet - but nothing worked in the long term. I never let my weight stop me from doing the things I love but it was hard to get the best out of a family holiday when just walking up steps or across a beach was agony.

“My health began to suffer but one of the biggest blows was a humiliating experience at a job interview. It was my dream job but the interview was a nightmare. I was chasing a vacancy for IT support with West Midlands Police Force. When this job came up I thought it was brilliant but as soon as I saw that the interview chair had arms I knew what was going to happen – and sure enough, I sat down and heard a big crack. The interview panel were very professional but I knew there and then it wasn’t going to happen for me.

“The final straw came when my boss asked - mistakenly – if my weight was the cause of my sickness absence, and suggested I looked at a diet plan. I thought if I do this, it will be on my terms, so I contacted a friend who had lost 5 stones with Slimming World. I was nervous when I joined but Nicolette, the Consultant, like Jane who later took over from her, was an absolute diamond, and the attitude of all the members was brilliant. They were so warm and encouraging.

“Once I found out about Food Optimising there was no looking back. I tucked into dishes such as chick pea dhal, pasta bolognaise, carbonara and tasty home-made soups.

“Before I joined Slimming World I used to starve myself all day then ate huge

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takeaways at 8.30pm each night. I realise now that my body had gone into famine mode because I was starving myself during the day. Not surprisingly, I felt tired all the time.  Nowadays a typical day is Weetabix, yogurts and fruit for breakfast, vegetable pasta for lunch, curry and rice or pasta bolognaise for dinner, with plenty of fruit or cottage cheese snacks throughout the day.

“As the pounds came off my health improved – with surprising results. My doctor discovered a heart condition that had been masked by my weight. I now have to take warfarin to thin my blood but it hasn’t held me back from getting active again, thanks to Body Magic.

“Today I’m re-experiencing the things I loved as a kid – climbing, hill walking, swimming, canoeing, running, and shopping. After I lost my first 10 stones I spent £150 on a dinner jacket for a function. It was a real milestone but a couple of months later it was too big. Now I can walk into any shop and buy clothes at reasonable prices. The tracksuit trousers I used to live in are strictly for the gym. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

 

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