‘I had to lose weight for myself ’
Rick Ward, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, dropped nearly 6st – and gained a heap of positivity.
‘For a long time, I was weighed down by poor self-esteem. I wasn’t happy with the person that looked back at me in the mirror. I’d piled on weight eating takeaways and had given up sport because I couldn’t keep up. I was loud and outgoing, the life and soul of the party, but inside I was breaking.
‘Then, in early 2022, my friend Sam got me to join his cold-water swimming group. Those daily dips in the icy North Sea started to change my mindset and, chatting to the others, I found myself opening up for the first time.
‘It was the spur I needed to tackle other things I wasn’t happy about. Going bald in my 30s had shredded my self-confidence, so I took the big step of having a hair transplant. Then I decided to do something about my weight.
‘I worked with 1:1 Diet consultant Rebecca Thomas and followed her plan, eating ready-prepared meals and shakes.
‘Soon after, my marriage ended. It was a hard time, but things hadn’t been right between us. By then I’d already lost half a stone, so I carried on. Life was very different on my own, with my eight-year-old son only with me half the time. But it gave me time to work on myself. Along with the diet, I had therapy and gradually began to feel better about myself. Over six months I completely changed how I looked and felt, going from over 18st to 12½st.
‘I can see now the change had to come from me. Now, at 39, I’m the happiest I’ve been as an adult. I go to the gym four times a week and play football with my friends. Instead of being the fattest in the team, I’m one of the fittest.’