Weight Loss Case Studies
Neil Dunkley
July 2003
For most of us, the prospect of losing a stone a month is a daunting one and even tougher if we had already done it once before but put the weight back on.
For 47-year old joinery works manager Neil Dunkley, however, it's all been in a day's work. Between October 2002 and March 2003, he lost inches off his waistline, and went from 19 and a half stone to just 15 stone - a remarkable achievement. And he puts it all down to his Indoor Rower.
Neil's story really started back in 1994 when he gave up smoking. Like so many going down that route, he piled on the pounds. An occasional golfer, he hadn't done any serious sport since he had been at school and was consequently intrigued by a challenge from a work colleague in 1997 to lose some weight. He joined the local gym and used every type of exercise machine in a punishing regime that saw him shed four stone over a period of five months.
He was already enjoying his indoor rowing and 'for fun' entered a 2,000 metre race at the gym, surprising himself by winning his event and being listed 210th in the 40-49 age group in Concept 2's 1999 ranking. Job done? Unfortunately not.
Redundancy and moving home are stressful on their own, let along together and it took it's toll on Neil, sapping his enthusiasm for training and encouraging him into a regime he thought he'd left behind. The weight came back on and suddenly it was October 2002 and Neil's weight had risen to nineteen and a half stone. "That was the time to do something about it, for me and for my wife," he said.
Neil decided that for his second big weight loss drive, he would rent an Indoor Rower from Concept 2 and do the training at home.
"I tried the local gym," he explained. "But the equipment was pretty poor and I just couldn't get that enthusiastic about going there, despite being determined to get the weight off.
"I'd enjoyed the Indoor Rower the first time around when I lost the weight and decided that if Mohammed didn't want to go to the mountain, then the mountain would just have to come to Mohammed. That's when I decided to hire a machine from Concept 2. That meant I could exercise at home when I wanted and it also meant there was no excuse for not training!"
Having the machine at home has been a major factor in his successful weight loss. His workouts started with simple 20 minutes rows but he gradually built those up to half hour pieces. He has also experimented with the 2,000-metre race distance and has recorded a highly impressive 7 minutes 24 seconds, even though he has done no specific race training.
Neil has clearly caught 'the bug' this time around with his weight management programme. Once home from work, he'll climb aboard for a work out. He has detailed all of his performances and workouts over the past few months and even produce graphs of his results, allowing him to chart his improvements.
Meanwhile, his progress in getting the weight off since he got back into his training regime has been nothing short of stunning. He has dieted carefully alongside the training, but the diet has been one emphasising a sensible approach to eating, rather than anything too radical. "I only allow myself a few beers and have cut out crisps and other savouries," he explained.
The combination of a decent workout every day and a sensible approach to eating has helped Neil get his weight off by an average of a stone a month, and unlike virtually any programme which would produce results like that, he feels fantastic.
"I feel better in mind as well as in body. And I'm not the only one proud of what I have achieved. My wife is thrilled as well.
"The down side has been that I've had to get a whole new wardrobe of clothes as I've lost six inches off my waistline, but it's a nice problem to have!"
As for the future, as you'd imagine Neil has no plans to put the weight back on. Instead, he's looking forward a more competitive pay-off for his Herculean efforts. "My ambition now is to compete at the British Championships. That would be fantastic."