My continued rise in weight led me to embark on the weight management course with Hannah [Gary's weight management nutritionist]. I use a wheelchair and my weight was affecting both my physical and mental health: I realised that I needed to change things.
The programme made a massive difference to me. Not only from the near 2 stone weight loss but also in terms of improved mental health, confidence and having a deeper understanding around food, healthy eating, as well as my relationship with food.
Our sessions being face to face was so important to me. As a wheelchair user I am unable to weigh myself in the community locally and having access to scales with the regular updates really appealed to me and focused my efforts, whether it was an increase or decrease.
Hannah was so friendly, professional and knowledgeable that it made the whole process easier. When I was down or disappointed with how it was going, Hannah was able to see a positive and make me look at things differently.
I am a paraplegic [affected by or relating to paralysis of the legs and lower body] and rely on my upper body for everything. My extra weight really makes things like lifting myself and transferring so hard. I am often not doing things I used to. I still have a lot to lose but this has given me a great start.
For those just starting, I would say to stick with it. I learnt that even small changes can make a big difference. Weight loss is not a linear process, there will be ups and downs and it is about how you refocus after a down that really matters. I am currently still over 22 stone, short term I would like to be under 20 stone, long term around 15 or 16 stone.
I feel that disabled people often miss out on weight loss interventions because they cannot use a normal set of scales. I would like to see more drop-in opportunities in primary care settings so that wheelchair users can get weighed using ‘wheel-on scales’, which compared to normal scales cost a lot more.
Gary has now lost just under 3 stone which is over 11% weight loss from his start weight. If you are interested in accessing the range of services, including the Weight Management Scheme, we provide, you take a look at our dedicated health and wellbeing page for more information.