26-stone dad sheds half his body weight in lockdown after dumping the burger van at work

At his heaviest Scott Fletcher would eat whatever was put in front of him at home, as well as bingeing on junk food at work.

Just last year, the 40-year-old dad, from New Tredegar, tipped the scales at 26st and would “pig out” while at work and never do any strenuous exercise in his spare time.

But when lockdown hit in March he decided to make a change and has since managed to lose 10st.

“I would go to work, come home and be sat down all day,” he said.

“Now and again I would take the kids out for a walk or do something with them but never strenuous exercise.

“I would be walking and the kids would be riding their bikes. I wouldn’t do anything like going to the gym.

“I would eat whatever was put in front of me and I would go to work and pig out.

“There was a burger van around the corner from work which I would get food from. If it was there, I would eat it.

“I could eat as much as the next person if not more.”

Two years ago, multi-skilled operative railway worker Scott managed to lose seven stone before piling it all back on.

But with the country put on lockdown and splitting from his partner, he took the opportunity to get outside and start walking.

“I would be getting home from work and it was of either sit in the house watch TV or go out for a walk,” he added.

“The weather was lovely so I kept walking. I could walk for miles.

“I joined a Facebook group that does Slimming World recipes and started cooking some of those and then someone mentioned the Couch to 5k app.

“I did week one and thought ‘this is too easy’ so I skipped to week five and I was doing it five times a week instead of three.

“I would finish work and go for a run. That was my life for about two or three months until I got to the point where I thought I could do it.”

Between March and November, Scott managed to shed six stone just by taking up running and cooking healthy meals that he enjoyed.

He has developed such a passion for running that he has now set himself a challenge of running 150 miles in January for charity.

All of the money raised will be donated to the Sophie Pearson Community fund, in memory of the 12-year-old who died in 2006 after being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Scott said: “Now, I can run 5k in 27 minutes and 10k in 55 minutes.

“In September time I signed up for Race At Your Pace where you set what you want to run and they track it and I did 126 miles in one month.

“I thought ‘let’s try 150 miles’, which means you’ve got to try and run about 10k a day, and someone said ‘why don’t you do it for charity?’

“Now, I finish work and go for a run or I get up for work and do a run first. Sometimes I start work at 4am and I get up at 2.30am and I will run a 5k around the block.”

His exercise routine and diet aren’t the only things in Scott’s life that have had to change either, as he has also had to update his wardrobe, as well as his work uniform.

But despite his impressive weight loss, he explained that it took him a while to really notice the difference in his appearance.

“I’ve had to buy all new clothes as I was a 5XL on the top and a 2XL on the bottom but now I’m an XL on top and a large on the bottom,” he added.

“I haven’t bought them in years. Before it was like ‘that’s baggy, I’ll wear that’ but now it’s like ‘I can fit into that so I’ll wear that’.

“I’ve needed to order new uniform in work as I’d gone from a 44-inch waist to about a 34-inch waist.

“In work we have a crane that we have to climb up through a ladder and my manager used to say ‘how do you fit up there?’ but now I fly up it.

“People would say to me ‘You’ve lost so much weight’ but I could never see it. It took probably about two or three months to see the difference from how I was to now.

“I had a picture taken at a presentation evening with my son last year and I had to go on stage to accept an award and I was like ‘oh my god’, I couldn’t believe it.”

Find the latest news for your area:

Scott, who is asthmatic, has also noticed a difference when it comes to reaching for his inhaler since he has started running.

He added: “I always found that my asthma held me back.

“If I ever did something physical I would take my inhaler.

“Now I won’t hesitate to do anything or go for a run and if my chest is getting tight rather than take my inhaler I will slow my pace down to recover.”

You can see Scott’s fundraising page here.