A father lost a serious amount of weight because he didn’t want his daughter to be bullied at school for having a ‘fat dad’.
Carl Prodrick, who was working as a car company delivery driver, weighed in at 33-stone after daily snacking on sandwiches and fast food bought at service stations.
He was worried about his health as his BMI had soared past the recommended figure, but he was more worried about his daughter Ruby as she was about to start primary school.
Carl, from Rochester, Kent, said he even looked into bariatric surgery, but as the waiting list was so long, he joined Slimming World.
That was the spring of 2012, and Carl hasn’t looked back since then.
He initially lost 10 stone in just 10 months, he then had a gastric bypass and lost 19 stone in total.
‘You know what kids are like. They will look for any excuse, or find any weakness and use it to pick on someone,’ says Carl.
‘I did not want to be the cause of Ruby getting bullied. Of course, I didn’t want her to get bullied at all, so I didn’t want to give anyone any ammunition.
‘Ruby had never mentioned my weight to me, but I did not feel comfortable picking her up from school at the size I was – for her sake, rather than mine. I didn’t want to be “Fat Daddy” anymore.’
Since losing the weight, Carl has overhauled his life. He ditched his sedentary driving job to become a builder and works out at the gym five times a week.
This year he is taking part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon in March to raise money for Cancer Research, after losing his beloved mum Jan to the illness last year.
Carl says the job change has been a huge factor in helping him keep the weight off: ‘I’ve always been a big lad and I used to do a lot of driving in my old job, which meant stopping at motorway service stations for food,’ he says.
‘I was doing that job for three or four years, eating fast food, sandwiches, crisps and having fizzy drinks. Then, in the evenings, I’d be staying in hotels, having dinner on expenses and there would always be dessert.
‘My weakness was crisps and I could eat multiple packs of them in a day.
‘But I had no health issues. There was no diabetes and I was actually still quite active and played rugby. I also went to the gym, but not enough to drive my weight down.’
Carl says he has thick skin, so he could take the jokes and nicknames from his friends – but now he wonders if these comments had a bigger impact than he realised.
‘I did get called “sumo wrestler”, but I played up to it. I was not bothered at the time, but looking back, maybe playing up to it was my way of saying I didn’t care, when deep down I did.’
Following the Slimming World points plan turned out to be exactly the springboard that Carl needed to help him take that first step.
‘I would allow myself one treat meal a week, usually a kebab or something like that, but only if I’d lost weight that week,’ he explains.
‘I was really disciplined with it. Once I’d decided to do it, I really wanted to be successful. And the more weight I saw coming off, the more it motivated me.
‘After I lost five stone, my doctor secured me the funding for the gastric band, too, which I was told was quite rare, so I decided to go for it.’
After his gastric surgery, Carl stopped enjoying food as much, which has been good for his waistline but has taken away the pleasure he used to get from eating.
‘It’s now just fuel for me rather than something to be enjoyed, I’ve just fallen out of love with it,’ he explains.
‘I would never go back, but eating now is just something I have to do.’
At the start of his diet, Carl spent two to three hours a day in the gym, but after speaking to personal trainers he started doing 30-minute HIIT sessions which are more effective.
‘I enjoy that much more than spending hours in the gym. It’s improved my physique and made me much fitter,’ he says.
‘Everything is so much easier now. From getting around, getting in and out of bed, even pulling my socks up.
‘I just feel proud of myself and what I have done.’
Now a keen runner, Carl completed his first half marathon in 2016 and will be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon in the spring. He will be raising money for Cancer Research UK in honour of family members, including his mum Jan.
‘Just being able to run that sort of distance is amazing, as I’d never have dreamed of it a few years ago,’ he says.
‘But I do think this will be my last half marathon, as carrying all that weight for so long has hurt my knees, although I will carry on doing short runs.
‘This time I’ll be running in honour of my mum Jan, my father-in-law Alan Maltby, and my friend, Sadie Jerry, who was like a second mum to me. They all lost their lives to cancer.
‘Mum was really proud of me for losing weight and I know she’ll be looking down on me. I feel so proud being able to do this in her memory.’
The London Landmarks Half Marathon will take place on 29 March in support of Cancer Research UK.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/05/father-loses-20-stone-worrying-daughter-bullied-fat-dad-12184856/
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