Who ate all the pies? Not this lot.
A Bexhill football club aimed at helping overweight and obese men get fit has seen 40 players lose 350kg this year with the help of a Man v Fat healthy lifestyle programme.
Before matches, players are weighed, which is followed by a 30-minute game of six-a-side football, with extra goal bonuses awarded to teams based on the amount of weight players have lost.
Weight loss and match scores then contribute to teams’ league positions within a club.
Players receive additional support including healthy meal recipe ideas and tips on general fitness.
Neil Sutcliffe is a coach at the Bexhill club and was formerly a Man v Fat player, losing 50 pounds through the programme.
He said: “Your weight loss journey with us will be fun, supportive and focused, joining a group of amazing guys of varied ages and footballing abilities.
“Football is the vehicle, weight loss is the journey.
“My advice to anyone unsure about joining is to have a go.
“You have nothing to lose except weight. People are put off sometimes because they may feel their football skills are not going to be good enough.
“Maybe they have not played in years and can’t run as fast as before - at Man v Fat some guys are physically unable to run, some guys haven’t played football before.
“Ability doesn’t matter. You can win goals for your team through weight loss, you get goals for tracking what you eat or a hat-trick for your team every three times you lose weight regardless of how the game goes.”
Man v Fat is an FA-affiliated scheme, which has more than 15,000 players taking part in over 170 clubs across the UK.
The programme was created by Andrew Shanahan, who, fed-up with traditional weight loss classes primarily aimed at women, decided to develop a programme that combines football with achievable weight loss goals for men.
Men with a BMI of 27.50 or over can join a club near them from £28.50 a month.
Free places are currently available through One You East Sussex, subject to a qualifying postcode.
The total amount of weight lost by Man v Fat players in the UK currently stands at around 460,000 pounds.
Find out more here www.manvfat.com
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