Nagging helped convince 22-stone Peter to shape up

A NAGGING father has been credited with helping transform his son’s battle with the bulge, after encouraging him to shed nearly half his 22-stone body weight.

Peter Fraser, from West Lothian, did not even go to the gym once in his two-year programme, which has seen him drop to just over 11 stone and maintain that size for a year.

Instead, the 38-year-old monitored his diet and opted for long walks, which now amount to 50 miles a week, as the pounds quickly fell off.

He will mark his success by participating in a charity “welly walk” this weekend.

Mr Fraser, a Wiseman Dairies worker from Livingston, said: “My dad’s a GP and used to get on at me all the time. In some ways that stopped me doing it initially – like anyone with a vice they have to do things in their own time when they’re ready, you can’t be told to do anything.”

There were two key moments in the lead-up to July 2009 – when he started losing weight – which acted as “the trip wire”.

“I was on a ski holiday for my dad’s 60th and I could only manage half days when everyone else was doing full ones,” he said.

“Then we went on a work away day and I could only manage to participate in some of the events.

“I never really had any huge health problems, other than high blood pressure and being breathless, but I knew I didn’t want to collapse and die from a heart attack at 40.”

Mr Fraser believes it is the simple approach he has taken to weight loss which should encourage others at risk of ill health through obesity to follow suit.

He “cut out the rubbish” from his diet and began going for walks, which gradually got longer and longer as his bulk dropped.

Eventually he hit the 11 stone mark and, crucially, his body mass index dropped below the milestone 25.

His control over his weight is such that he even purposefully lost a little more ahead of Christmas, so he could enjoy putting it back on over the festive period.

“It’s a bit like stage managing weight I suppose,” he said.

“My dad’s really pleased and his encouragement has been great. I didn’t tell him I was doing this and then when I went to see him I’d lost a fair bit, he thought I’d had a haircut at first until he realised.

“It’s not always been easy at all. There were a few dark nights when I wondered if it’s really what I wanted to be doing. But of course it’s worth it in the end, it’s really helped my confidence. I’ve been to more away days, social events, stag weekends.

“And my life expectancy’s significantly better too.”

He will be taking part in the Wiseman Dairies Welly Walk on Sunday in Glasgow, which is a 5km trek raising money for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

For more information visit www.wiseman-dairies.co.uk.