Care home manager who 'couldn't look at himself in the mirror' lost 20 STONE in less than two years
- last year
A care home manager who 'couldn't look at himself in the mirror' because he was so fat has lost 20 STONE in less than two years - by going swimming in a lake.
Ashley Spendiff, 42, ballooned to a staggering 36 stone after gorging on five takeaways a week and needed two sets of scales to even weigh himself.
At his heaviest, he was forced to wear XXXXXXXL t-shirts and had an enormous 58 inch waist.
Ashley turned to comfort eating following the death of a friend and in a bid to mask his emotions because he believed people were mocking his gigantic size.
Ashley, from East Bridgford, Notts., said: “Throughout my life my weight has always fluctuated and I have always tried to lose weight.
"But I would get three weeks in and give up.
“When I was diagnosed with diabetes that’s when I became determined to lose the weight as before then my size had never affected my health.
“I knew that now it was, I had to do something about it.
“My friend introduced me to open water swimming in April 2022 and I’ve never looked back.
“Swimming took the weight I was carrying off my body compared to other exercising which meant I could do so much more.
“In the summer last year I was doing two hour sessions up to four times a week and at the moment as it is winter I am still doing two sessions at the weekend.
“At first, I was worried that too much of my body would be on show, but you could wear whatever you wanted as it was open water swimming, and this gave me more confidence.
“The women that run the sessions were also so supportive and I found it really good for my mental health too.
“It showed me that exercise could be fun and I started to look forward to it and have also tried paddle boarding now too.
“I was in a very dark place before with my weight and I couldn’t look at myself in a mirror.
“I would try to not make eye contact with people in the street as I know they would be judging me for my size, but now I feel confident.”
Before losing the weight, Ashley felt he was stuck in a ‘vicious cycle’ of bad eating and needed to rewire his brain into making better lifestyle choices.
Being a single man, he found he often got lonely and would turn to food for comfort and spent hours sat in a chair online gaming for someone to talk to.
He would eat up to five takeaways a week and often filled up on crisps and chocolates from the local shop before work.
Now, Ashley enjoys cooking and tries to stay clear of processed food and has incorporated more protein and fruit and veg into his diet.
Ashley is now happy with how he looks with clothes on but still feels self-conscious about his body when getting undressed as his dramatic weight loss has left him with two to three stones worth of excess skin.
Recently, he visited his GP to look into get the skin removed on the NHS but was told it was classed a cosmetic treatment and would need to undergo a private £35,000 operation to get it removed.
Ashley Spendiff, 42, ballooned to a staggering 36 stone after gorging on five takeaways a week and needed two sets of scales to even weigh himself.
At his heaviest, he was forced to wear XXXXXXXL t-shirts and had an enormous 58 inch waist.
Ashley turned to comfort eating following the death of a friend and in a bid to mask his emotions because he believed people were mocking his gigantic size.
Ashley, from East Bridgford, Notts., said: “Throughout my life my weight has always fluctuated and I have always tried to lose weight.
"But I would get three weeks in and give up.
“When I was diagnosed with diabetes that’s when I became determined to lose the weight as before then my size had never affected my health.
“I knew that now it was, I had to do something about it.
“My friend introduced me to open water swimming in April 2022 and I’ve never looked back.
“Swimming took the weight I was carrying off my body compared to other exercising which meant I could do so much more.
“In the summer last year I was doing two hour sessions up to four times a week and at the moment as it is winter I am still doing two sessions at the weekend.
“At first, I was worried that too much of my body would be on show, but you could wear whatever you wanted as it was open water swimming, and this gave me more confidence.
“The women that run the sessions were also so supportive and I found it really good for my mental health too.
“It showed me that exercise could be fun and I started to look forward to it and have also tried paddle boarding now too.
“I was in a very dark place before with my weight and I couldn’t look at myself in a mirror.
“I would try to not make eye contact with people in the street as I know they would be judging me for my size, but now I feel confident.”
Before losing the weight, Ashley felt he was stuck in a ‘vicious cycle’ of bad eating and needed to rewire his brain into making better lifestyle choices.
Being a single man, he found he often got lonely and would turn to food for comfort and spent hours sat in a chair online gaming for someone to talk to.
He would eat up to five takeaways a week and often filled up on crisps and chocolates from the local shop before work.
Now, Ashley enjoys cooking and tries to stay clear of processed food and has incorporated more protein and fruit and veg into his diet.
Ashley is now happy with how he looks with clothes on but still feels self-conscious about his body when getting undressed as his dramatic weight loss has left him with two to three stones worth of excess skin.
Recently, he visited his GP to look into get the skin removed on the NHS but was told it was classed a cosmetic treatment and would need to undergo a private £35,000 operation to get it removed.