Corporate Responsibility News
Ben beats the bulge and raises valuable cash for charity
Losing weight is a constant battle for many of us and one that Sellafield Ltd employee Ben Lowery has struggled with since he was a teenager.
Ben, who works in EHS&Q as an environmental compliance support team leader, has been on a journey to lose weight for a number of years but his recent attempt has seen fantastic results, raising over £1250 for Cancer Research.
Ben was 20 stone and 3 pounds (128.4 kilogrammes) when he started his current weight loss programme in January this year.
Ben explains: “When I started my most recent attempt to lose weight, my original target was to lose 60 pounds this year. I’ve already achieved that, so I set a new target to lose another 42 pounds (three stones). So far I’ve lost almost 90 pounds in less than six months. My overall target weight is 12 stone and 9 pounds which I’m aiming to hit before Christmas.”
The statistics are impressive. Apart from the weight shed, Ben’s lost 12 inches from his waist; 3 inches from his collar size and his cholesterol has dropped from 6.5 to 4.42.
“I was a classic yo-yo dieter and have tried to lose weight on many occasions. What I’m looking to do this time is to break that cycle and keep the weight loss going - and maintain it. A colleague came up with the idea of sponsorship so I though that this would give me an added incentive to lose the last, and most difficult pounds. This has given me added motivation and the chance to raise money for a charity close to my heart.
“The main driver to lose weight this time round was to support my wife, Yvonne, who is also looking to lose weight. The reason for choosing Cancer Research to benefit from my sponsored weight loss is that Yvonne is a cancer survivor and I have had friends and relatives who have suffered and died with the disease. The work that the charity carries out helps many sufferers and I wanted to give them support.”
“The response from colleagues has been fantastic - they’re amazed and extremely supportive. When I meet people I haven’t seen for a while they don’t recognise me!”
When he has reached his target weight Ben’s planned celebrations are modest. “New clothes - a wardrobe full of them and a week away at a great new comfortable weight. That will be more than enough.”
However Ben is determined that his new healthy lifestyle is here to stay and has advice for others who are keen to shed pounds.
“If you ask people in my team they’d say I was the least likely person to succeed in losing weight. I am your classic pie and chips - hold the salad kind of guy! If I can do it, really anyone can. It’s not easy, but it can be done.
“Find the thing that motivates you as an individual to help you lose weight. I am in my midlife and was thinking about the long term. For me it was really now or never. I want to live to a ripe old age and be healthy enough to enjoy it.
“I need to hit my target weight and then keep it off. I’m thinking of doing the Keswick to Barrow walk next year so that will give me something else to work towards.”
If you’d like to support Ben in his weight loss campaign he has set up a JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/Ben-Lowery to enable friends, family and colleagues to sponsor him. All money raised will go to Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
