18-stone Shropshire doctor takes a taste of his own medicine and sheds four-and-a-half stone
A Shropshire doctor has lost four-and-a-half stone because he felt self-conscious that he was advising patients to diet and exercise when he was overweight himself.
How would you feel about an overweight doctor warning you about the perils of being obese?
It was exactly this thought that spurred Dr Tim Lyttle to lose four-and-a-half stone.
"I felt very self-conscious talking to patients about diet and exercise," the 44-year-old said.
"As a doctor, if you're overweight, the truth is you just don't raise the issue of weight with patients as often as you could.
"At my heaviest I was 18st, and I felt very self-conscious talking to patients about diet and exercise. I knew they must be thinking: 'You hypocrite'.
"So I would have a quick word and then tick the box to say I'd advised on diet."
Dr Lyttle, who works at Broadwater Surgery, Whitchurch, and lives in Whittington Road, Gobowen, went from 18st to 13st 7lb, his BMI dropping from 33.2 to 24.9.
He said: "I decided to turn my life around in October 2011, a week after my father died from kidney failure, aged 71.
"I had just turned 41 and I was 18st. I realised I had to do something to save myself from a similar fate.
"The big difference I made was to have much smaller portions of food – and I cut out my beloved chocolate bars and cakes as I'd sometimes eat two or three a day.
"As a result, I lost three stone in nine months.
"However, in the summer of 2012, I became depressed as a result of work-related stress. As I recovered, I put on half the weight I had lost.
"In the summer of 2013 I decided to lose weight again — but this time I would get fit, too.
"So along with the same healthy diet, I started cycling, pounding away on the bike or in the gym four or five times a week. I now weigh 13st 7lb and my BMI or body mass index is just under 25. But the exercise has been about much more than shedding pounds. It's fantastic for lifting mood and relieving anxiety."
And now the father-of-two says he takes a "holistic approach" when talking to patients about weight loss. "Diets can make you feel awful, but exercise makes you feel so much better," he said.
"I've now signed up to run the London Marathon next year for the Orthopaedic Hospital's bone cancer centre appeal," he added.
To donate visit http://timlyttle.com/2014/09/08/london-marathon/
To read his blog visit timlyttle.com
