A health group based at a football club in Sutton helped local men to lose half a ton of unwanted weight during 2024.
Offside! Outsized!: a men’s health group in Sutton has been weighing in with some impressive results
Sutton’s MAN v FAT Football club, which meets every Wednesday at Goals Sutton on London Road, saw 80 participant lose more than 1,000 pounds of excess weight – or 73st between them.
They included 27-year-old Tom Grundon who shed over 4¼st, improved his mental health and made new friends at MAN v FAT.
MAN v FAT is a weight-loss initiative that aims to help men with a body mass index – BMI – above 27.5 lose unwanted weight through weekly football and lifestyle coaching sessions.
It’s effectively a form of WeightWatchers for blokes… Footballers are weighed before a 30-minute game of six-a-side football. Goal bonuses are awarded to teams based on their weight loss. A team’s total weight loss and match scores then contribute to its position within a league table.
According to the Royal College of GPs 28.6% of adults in Sutton are physically inactive and 62.8% are overweight or obese.
Tom Grundon joined MAN v FAT Sutton in June 2023 when he weighed 19½st. He’s now down to 15¼st. “All my life I have been a bigger person. I am 6ft 3in and I was always told myself that I ‘wore it well’.
“But I had no self-confidence at all. I tried going to the gym, but that caused me to have a lot of anxiety. One day I saw MAN v FAT advertised on social media, and it was almost as if something clicked in my brain that I needed to make a change.
Before: Tom Grundon, at 6ft 3in and 19st
“It took me a while to pluck up the courage to sign up, but once I did, I felt so motivated to creating a better version of myself.
“The thing I enjoy the most about MAN V FAT is that every single person who signs up has done so for the same reason as me, and that is to change. There is no stigma attached to what we are there for, everyone supports each other, and we use each other for support when we really need it the most.
I have lost a lot of weight in my time at MAN v FAT, but I have also struggled to lose weight during that process, too. I have suffered with depression and anxiety also. And having people around you who have been in the same boat, and know how to cope with certain issues, is something that helps a lot.
“You can talk to anyone about your problems, and you will always come out feeling supported and worthy.
After: more than 4st lighter, Tom Grundon is happy to win awards
“In my two years at the Sutton club, I have made so many new friends because we have bonded over the hatred of one common enemy and that is obesity. I now no longer have a fear of going to the gym and have added this as an extra way of staying fit. I’ve climbed mountains and hiked, and I’m loving every minute of the new and improved Tom.
“Weight loss hasn’t been a journey of losing weight every week. Real life gets in the way.
“But what MAN v FAT does is keeps me accountable and makes sure that if I do have a bad week, that my one bad week doesn’t turn into two or three weeks which then becomes a habit. A mix of my weekly chat with the coach and my team’s encouragement has been instrumental in my weight loss.”
Currently, 8,500 men take part at more than 150 MAN v FAT football clubs across the country. In addition to football sessions, MAN v FAT players also receive off-the-pitch support including healthy meal recipe ideas and tips on general fitness.
Included with a monthly subscription of £36.50, players also get free access to a bespoke mental health platform through MAN v FAT partners JAAQ.
There are MAN v FAT clubs operating at Selhurst Sports Arena, Dagnall Park Croydon (the “Stormzy centre”), on Tuesdays, at Sutton (Goals Sutton, 656 London Rd, Sutton, SM3 9BY; Friday nights), Bromley (Hayes Lane Bromley, BR2 9EF; Mondays) and Wimbledon (Wimbledon Goals, Beverley Way Wimbledon, KT3 4PH).
To find out more about MAN v FAT football and to locate your closest club, visit www.manvfat.com/football
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