Planning a nutritious, balanced diet is one thing, but consuming the recommended amount of food is another.

What is a portion and why does it matter?

How much food you consume will affect your calorie intake and therefore weight loss or gain. The two words used to describe amounts of food are:

• Serving size or serving is the amount of food listed on a food label. It’s generally a pretty good indicator of a recommended amount to consume.
• Portion size is the amount of a given food you choose to eat. This can be more, less or the same as a serving.

The government recommends a daily calorie intake of 2,500 calories for men to maintain weight. We should note though that this is generalised and will vary according to the individual. A more accurate reflection of your personal energy requirements can come from your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This considers your height, weight, age and activity level to calculate your own personal recommendation. Illness and taking certain medicines can also change your energy needs.

Making positive changes to your diet, like prioritising fruit and vegetables, will mean you boost the fibre, vitamins and minerals in your diet, and it can reduce the overall number of calories you consume. But it can be easy to over-consume calories if your portion sizes are too big.

So that means everything in moderation, right?

Not strictly, at least not in equal amounts. What is a moderate amount for one type of food, isn’t for another. The Eatwell Guide by the NHS shows you how to balance food groups to ensure you get all the nutrients you need. The overall balance of food groups should remain the same when adjusting portion control.

What does a portion look like?

If you want to see if you’re eating more than the suggested serving size, then you can invest in some inexpensive digital kitchen scales. That’s the most accurate way to measure serving sizes recommended by manufacturers. You won’t always have to use the scales, but they’ll give you a good understanding and you’ll get familiar with how the amounts look on your plate.

We know it can get confusing. If you aim for the following portions in your day, you won’t go wrong:

• Fruit and vegetables (berries, salads, leafy greens, root veg): 5+ portions per day

• Dairy/alternatives (milk, yoghurt): 2-3 portions per day

• Starchy carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes): 3-4 portions per day

• Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins: 2-3 portions per day

Top tips for getting to grips with portions

• Get to know the meaning of food labels and the traffic light system.

• Think about what you’re eating and don’t snack while you cook. Be mindful as you serve up and while you eat.

• Use scales and/or measuring cups to ensure accuracy.

• Avoid doubling up on carbs, like bread and rice with curry, choose one or have a half portion or both.

• Use a smaller plate. A smaller dish piled high is psychologically appealing and doesn’t leave you feeling short changed, plus it’s much harder to plate up an oversized portion.

• When dining out, avoid the buffet if you find it hard to gauge what you consume.

• Avoid second helpings by getting to know when you feel full.

• Try dishing up all the servings whether you’re eating alone or with company. That way any extra servings can be put into containers and kept for a later meal.

Heard of a calorie deficit but not sure if that’s good, bad, or just another fad? It’s actually the fundamental of weight loss, so let’s see what it means.

No wonder weight loss feels like a minefield when there are so many different approaches and so much jargon to wade through. But this one is different, and it’s worth taking the time to understand it.

You’ve probably heard of a ‘calorie deficit’, but if you’re not a PT or someone with extensive experience of weight loss, you might not know what it means.

What is a calorie deficit?

To lose weight, you need to eat and drink fewer calories than you burn. When you do that, you’re creating a calorie deficit – where the number of calories from food and drink is smaller than the number of calories you’ve burned through activity and body processes.

But how do I know if I’m eating fewer calories than I burn?

There are two ways you burn calories – through the activity you do every day (which includes exercise and other movement like walking around) and through the necessary things your body does to stay alive (which includes things like breathing, your heart beating, cell production, etc.).

The number of calories your body uses is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR). It’s influenced by a lot of things, like your age, height, weight, gender, and even the temperature of your environment.

As well as your BMR, for weight loss you need to figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) – yep, another bit of lingo for you.

While your BMR is how many calories your body needs to stay alive and kicking, your TDEE also includes the activity you do (both exercise sessions and general activity). It’s an estimate of how many calories you burn in a day in total, which includes your BMR.

Confused? It’s a lot to take in, but once you figure your own BMR and TDEE numbers out it gives you a great start for counting calories, which will lead to weight loss.

The most accurate way to get your BMR is to be monitored in a lab, fasting beforehand and breathing into a special mask for an entire day and night to see how many calories you burn when resting.

Since we’re guessing you don’t have access to a lab and a team of scientists, you can use a widely accepted equation that has been found to be pretty spot on. It’s called the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and will give you your individual number based on all the variables we mentioned above.

Don’t fret about the maths! This free online calculator will work it out for you.

Your TDEE is how many calories you’d need to eat to maintain your weight. For weight loss, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE. It’s usually recommended that you subtract 500 from your TDEE to lose weight at a safe pace.

If you’re thinking the number seems higher than what your tracking app gives you, remember that these apps tends to give everyone a 1,200 calorie goal based on sedentary, smaller people. Your TDEE and subsequent calorie goal is personalised to you.

An example

Let’s take Bob as an example. He’s 36, weighs 280lbs (that’s bang on 20st) and is 5ft 10. He does little to no exercise.

Using the calculator mentioned above, his TDEE is 2648. To lose weight, he should subtract 500 and start off by eating 2148 calories a day.

How to eat in a calorie deficit

The number you end up with after subtracting 500 from your TDEE is how many calories you should aim to eat every day. You can track calories using an app like NutraCheck (you can find a discount for this in your member benefits section here) or you can do it the old school way and use pen and paper, although apps make it way easier.

How to eat for weight loss is personal preference, but in general you should aim to increase your fruit and veg intake, cut down on processed foods and booze, and eat plenty of foods high in protein and fibre.

Your calorie needs will change as you lose weight, so it’s a good idea to recalculate after you’ve lost a chunk of weight or if you feel your weight loss has stalled.

The thought of cooking meals from scratch is daunting, especially when you’ve got to worry about them being healthy too. But it’s really not all you’ve built it up to be in your head: it can be as simple as you want.

But I don’t know what I’m doing!

Lower your expectations. Ok, so you’re not pulling off a full-on banquet or serving up a Michelin-starred meal, but you don’t need to. Find a simple recipe and take it one step at a time. You can read, you can follow instructions, there’s not much more to it than that.

But I might get it wrong!

There will be times when you forget to add a vital ingredient, or something doesn’t rise in the oven, or you burn the house down. Well, hopefully you won’t burn the house down, but mistakes are part and parcel of learning something new.

It’s all a learning curve, the trick is to actually learn from your mistakes. Use a timer, read the recipe thoroughly, and keep an eye on your food while it’s cooking, and you can’t go far wrong.

But I could give people food poisoning!

You could. But if you follow the recipe and practice good kitchen hygiene, it’s highly unlikely. Wash your hands regularly, clean surfaces, cook things thoroughly and you’ll be fine.

But I don’t have the time!

Bollocks you don’t. You really don’t need to spend hours slaving over a hot stove to make something nutritious, delicious, and satisfying. Sure, it might take a bit of planning and sacrifice to fit it into your day, but how long do you spend scrolling on social media? Mmmhmm.

• Make a meal plan. Writing down what you’re going to make and when helps you know what’s what, and you can plan around any busy days you’ve got in the week.

• Try doing some batch cooking. That sounds daunting, but it just means making more of what you’re making anyway, like making a bolognese for 6 when there’s only 3 of you eating – that’s 3 extra portions you can squirrel away in the freezer, ready to reheat when you need it.

• Use a slow cooker. You can pick them up cheaply, and they’re really easy to use. Just bung in a load of veg, stock, and a joint of meat in the morning and you’ll come home to a hearty stew ready for serving up. They’re also great for making sauces, soups, casserole, and even baked potatoes.
• Take shortcuts. There’s nothing wrong with taking the easy option. Buy your veg pre-chopped and frozen, use ‘lazy’ pureed garlic instead of fresh, bottled lemon juice instead of juicing fresh lemons, etc.

Tips for the novice cook

1. Invest in a couple of sharp knives. They’ll make chopping and slicing so much easier and safer.

1. Read the recipe and method thoroughly, from start to finish, before you begin. You don’t want to come across any surprises halfway through.

1. Taste it as you go (apart from raw meat and fish of course). It’s much easier to add more flavour than to remove it.

1. Clean as you go. This’ll help you avoid being swamped by pots, pans, and messy worktops when you’re finished.

1. Start simple. Think about healthy meals you enjoy and go from there. A basic tomato sauce is a good one to master: chopped onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes or passata, seasoned with black pepper and salt. Add basil for Italian dishes (Bolognese, lasagne, etc.) or paprika for Moroccan-style dishes.

1. Buy a spray oil to minimise the use of oil in your cooking. A tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories, so it soon adds up. Frylight is 1 cal per spray and widely available.

1. Get to know your flavours. Lots of cuisines have classic combinations of herbs and spices that can really elevate your dishes, so it’s worth buying a few to keep in:

• Italian: Onions, oregano, garlic

• Mexican: Cumin, chilli, coriander

• Indian: Turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom

• English: Bay leaf, sage, parsley

1. Get online: YouTube and food websites are your friend when you’re looking for healthy recipes and explainer videos to show you methods. BBC Good Food, for example, has this fantastic piece to show you 25 basic skills every cook should know

Weight loss feels a lot easier when you know you can cook whatever, whenever. Stick a few tunes on, relax, and get stuck in – you’ll soon find that it’s not as hard as you’re expecting, and you might even enjoy it.

Sometimes, the scales are not our friend. It’s all too easy to get hung up on what they say each week, and it can be distressing when things aren’t going the way you’d hoped. When that happens, try not to take it to heart – there’s a whole lot more to weight loss than just the reading you get at one specific time.

Weight loss isn’t linear, which can be a hard thing to wrap your head around. That’s why you should focus on your non-scale victories as well as keeping a log of your weight. Keep a list on your phone or in a notebook and make a note of them when you notice them, so you can go back for a hit of motivation when you need it.

What are non-scale victories?

Non-scale victories (NSVs) are anything positive you notice about your weight loss – but as the name suggests, we’re not talking the number on the scales. Here are some examples of NSVs:

Measurements

A soft tape measure is a handy bit of kit for checking your weight loss progress. Take regular measurements of the same parts of your body: hips, waist, chest, thighs. You’ll soon see the inches falling away as you lose weight.

Photos

Take regular, full-length photos. You’re probably not going to feel comfortable taking them or looking at them, but no one has to see them but you, and sometimes we only see how much we’ve changed when looking back at photos.

Clothing

Pick a non-stretchy, structured item of clothing like jeans or a shirt and try it on once a month. As your body shape changes, you’ll notice how it feels (and looks) different on you.

Mood and energy

Eating better often leads to an increase in energy, as you’re fuelling your body with what it needs to flourish. Losing weight can also help with your sleep quality too, especially if you snore or have sleep apnoea.

Your mood may improve too, thanks to the feel-good hormones released when you get active, plus the sense of accomplishment when you start hitting your weight loss goals.

Fitness

Your strength, flexibility and endurance will get better and better the more you move. Make a note of your workouts, and you’ll soon see how something you found difficult in week 1 is a breeze by week 12.

Ease of movement

Losing weight is good news for your joints, which will start to move more freely and won’t ache as much. This is often a big one for guys losing weight, so if you notice your knees aren’t aching at the end of a long day as much as they were before, that’s a huge deal!

Everyday tasks

As you lose weight and your fitness improves, you’ll find that doing things like housework, climbing the stairs, and carrying shopping all become easier.

Comfortable digestion

Gone are the days of seemingly never-ending bloating and gas. Good food moves through your body better, and you’ll feel much better because of it.

Improved medical markers

Losing even a small amount of weight can help improve many medical markers, like your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and glucose levels. Each step you take towards losing weight is a positive step towards lowering your risk of developing serious health conditions.

All these improvements to your health and wellbeing are something to celebrate but try not to fall into the trap of rewarding yourself with food. Instead, reward yourself with:

• Playing your favourite video game, or treating yourself to a new one you’ve had your eye on
• Binge-watching your favourite show
• Meeting up with a friend for a coffee
• Reading a good new book
• Meditating
• Listening to your favourite music
• Going to the cinema

Whatever you choose is up to you. Have fun but remember not to go too nuts – you’ve still got weight to lose, after all!

A common misconception is that you’ve got to give up all the foods you love when you’re trying to lose weight. It’s easy to see where this has come from: it probably doesn’t seem possible that you can still enjoy your favourite takeaways and still lose weight, for example.

But the best way to lose weight and not completely lose your mind while doing so is to keep a little of what you love, using simple swaps to cut calories and make things healthier. Here’s how you can do that in the kitchen, so you don’t have to give up your favourite dishes.

Swap refined grains for whole grains

Replace white flour with whole wheat flour, white rice with brown rice, and white bread with whole grain bread. Whole grains are rich in fibre which helps to keep you fuller for longer.

Make it veggie

An easy way to increase the number of vegetables you eat is to make your recipe vegetarian or vegan. Take your usual chilli and swap the mince for kidney beans or black, or bulk up your favourite recipe by adding chopped courgette, peppers or aubergine. Vegetables are low in calories, so you’ll be boosting the volume of your meal (good for feeling fuller) without adding unnecessary extra calories.

Use healthier fats

When cooking, use healthier oils like olive oil, avocado oil or sesame oil. These oils are better for you because they contain monounsaturated fatty acids, which can help to increase levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) and lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) levels.

Oil is high in calories, so be sure to measure how much you’re using. For example, 1 tbsp of olive oil is 119 calories, so don’t pour freely from the bottle! Get a set of cheap measuring spoons so you know exactly how much you’re using.

To further cut calories, consider using spray oil like Frylight cooking spray. You can get different varieties, so keep an eye out for olive or coconut spray oil options. One spray of Frylight is 1 calorie, and a short spray of oil is going to very drastically cut down on calories.

Choose lean proteins

Lean proteins like chicken, turkey, and fish, are lower in fat and calories than red meat like beef, pork, and lamb. Try switching beef mince for turkey mince or even chicken mince (which you can find in Aldi) when making burgers, and switch steak tacos for pulled chicken, turkey mince, or even prawns.

Beans, lentils, tofu, and eggs are also examples of lean protein. Try swapping red and processed meats when making things like chilli, spaghetti dishes, and stir-fries.

We have hit the halfway mark of the season. This is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and reset. At MAN v FAT, we know the journey is not always linear. Some weeks are wins on the scale, some are wins on the pitch, and some feel like neither. But the key is progress, not perfection.

Celebrate Your Wins

Take a moment to recognise what you have achieved so far. Maybe you have:

• Lost weight or inches – every gram counts and every change to your body is progress.
• Improved your fitness – running those extra few metres or feeling stronger on the pitch.
• Stayed consistent – showing up week after week, tracking your meals, and sticking to the plan.

Even small victories matter. Mid-season is your chance to look back at how far you have come and give yourself credit.

Mini Self-Audit: Measure Your Progress Beyond the Scale

Tracking progress is not just about weight. Use this self-check to see the bigger picture:

Physical Measures

• Waist, chest, hips, thighs, arms – measure in centimetres or inches.
• Take a full-body photo every 2-4 weeks to track visual changes.
• Note performance improvements in speed, strength, endurance, or recovery times.

Non-Scale Victories (NSVs)

• How do your clothes fit now compared to the start?
• Are everyday activities easier, such as stairs or carrying bags?
• Are you sleeping better or feeling more energetic?
• Improved mood, confidence, or mental clarity?

Lifestyle and Consistency

• Club sessions attended versus missed.
• Water intake, meal tracking, or adherence to nutrition goals.
• Alcohol or snack intake compared to your plan.

Journaling and Blogging Your Journey

• Write weekly notes on your physical and mental progress.
• Share NSVs or challenges in a blog, journal, or private notes. This keeps you accountable and shows progress that scales cannot measure.
• Include photos and reflections on what worked, what did not, and your goals for the next few weeks.

Facing Challenges? You Are Not Alone

Not seeing the results you hoped for or feeling sluggish on the pitch? Everyone hits a plateau at some point. Here are a few tips to get back on track:

• Reassess your nutrition – small swaps can make a big difference.
• Focus on consistency, not perfection – one off-day will not erase progress.
• Set short-term goals – a new personal best, an extra cardio session, or an NSV challenge.
• Lean on your team – share struggles and celebrate wins with the MAN v FAT community.

The Mental Game

Ask yourself:

• Am I enjoying the journey?
• What motivates me to keep going?
• How can I make exercise and healthy eating easier to stick with long term?

Remember, small, consistent habits compound over time. Mid-season is about focusing on the process as much as the results.

Get Ready for the Second Half

The second half of the season is your chance to finish strong:

• Review your wins – celebrate them and use them as motivation.
• Identify challenges – adjust your plan and keep moving forward.
• Keep showing up – your body and mind will thank you.

Tip: Continue tracking NSVs, photos, and reflections. Journaling or blogging your journey makes your achievements tangible and gives you something to look back on when you finish the season.

You have already made it this far, now lets make the rest of the season count. It is not just about the score; it is about feeling stronger, fitter, and healthier every step of the way.

Here is to finishing the season stronger than you started!

If you’re keen for success and are eyeing up the top spot, you’ll need to know how the MAN v FAT Football scoring system works. Let’s get into it.

On the pitch, the rules for MAN v FAT Football are pretty similar to the rules for any small-sided football league.

Off the pitch, and unique to MAN v FAT Football, are a number of weight-loss and healthy habit–related bonus goals that can be scored by players and teams to add to the score – and often decide the outcome of the match.

Players can score bonus goals in four ways:

1. Team bonus. Each week we add up the number of players on your team that have either lost weight versus the previous week or maintained their healthy BMI*. We award a goal for each pair, up to a maximum of 5 goals per team – so that’s 1 goal per every 2 player that loses weight, with half goals rounded up.*All players must have a BMI of at least 27.5 to join MAN v FAT Football. Once a player reaches a healthy BMI, we no longer encourage them to keep losing weight, so the rules switch up for them and they get bonuses for maintaining a healthy BMI, whether they gain or lose weight. Players who record a weight that is both heavier than the previous week and heavier than they were at the start of the current season will score an own goal.
2. Hat tricks. Any time an individual player records three losses within their club’s league season, they score 1 full bonus goal. These losses don’t need to be consecutive, but they don’t overlap seasons, so one player can get a maximum of 4 hat tricks for his team each season.
3. 5% loss bonuses. When a player reaches an incremental milestone loss of 5% of his body weight, he gets 3 full bonus goals for his team, a maximum of twice per season. This is always based off your weight when you first join us, so you’ll get a bonus for losing 5%, 10%, 15% of that starting weight, and so on, until you reach a healthy BMI for your height. If you manage to lose 15% of your starting weight in just one season, first of all, hats off to you, and second of all, don’t worry about missing out on those sweet, sweet bonuses – they’ll carry over to the first week of the following season so you can hit the ground running.
4. Food diary tracking. Teams will score 1 additional bonus goal for every 1-3 players who complete their weekly food diaries. This encourages mindfulness about your eating habits and a supportive team, since you’ll all need to work together and stay accountable to one another if you want to score the maximum number of points.

Losing weight is the key to success with your team in MAN v FAT Football, so don’t forget to focus on building your healthy habits as well as your performance on the pitch.

If you’ve taken part in your first MAN v FAT Football session and feel like you can’t walk the next day, that’d be the DOMS. Never heard of it? Let’s get into it.

What is DOMS?

DOMS stands for delayed-onset muscle soreness. It’s a fancy term for the muscle soreness that can happen after you exercise, especially if you’ve not exercised for a while, or if you’ve had a particularly vigorous session.

You might feel it in one place, like your legs, when you move or tense muscles. It usually comes on about 24-48 hours after exercise and can last a few days.

Is it actually DOMS?

It’s important to remember that DOMS is delayed. It’s not something you feel during exercise, so if you’re feeling pain during exercise don’t just dismiss it. DOMS is also about soreness, it’s not a sharp or severe pain. It also shouldn’t stop you from doing everyday activities, even though you might feel sore or uncomfortable.

If you’re feeling a sharp, severe pain that’s so bad it’s limiting your movement, that’s more likely to be an injury you should get checked out.

Why do we get DOMS?

DOMS is due to tiny tears in your muscles from moving them in a way your body isn’t used to. That can be from doing exercise that’s new to you, returning to exercise after a break, or if you exercise more vigorously than you’re used to.

‘Tiny tears’ in your muscles may sound scary, but it’s normal and expected. The pain you feel is thought to be the body’s inflammatory response to these microscopic tears.

Is DOMS a good thing?

You’ve heard of ‘no pain, no gain’, right? Well, feeling sore after exercise isn’t really a goal you should aim for, because that could lead to you pushing yourself too far and ending up with an injury. Even if you’re lucky and you don’t injure yourself, pushing yourself to do too much, too soon can lead to feeling fatigued, overwhelmed, and demotivated.

There is a small nugget of wisdom in the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy though: when you work your muscles and produce those tiny tears, your body will get to work repairing them. And if you give your body the right tools to repair your muscles (healthy food including plenty of healthy protein and good fats, good sleep), they’ll build back stronger and leaner.

Will I always experience DOMS?

As you get used to being active, you’ll experience DOMS less and less. This is where real progress is made, because if you keep it up, you’ll soon be able to do the hard things that once caused you to crawl up the stairs without any soreness the next day. Then you can gradually increase the intensity of your workouts.

Of course, if you stop exercising, then try to exercise at the same intensity after a break of several weeks, you’ll probably experience DOMS again as your body will be out of practice.

Recovering from DOMS

We know DOMS can feel crap, and no amount of telling yourself it’s for your own good helps when every step hurts. Here’s how you can help your body recover:

• Rest is absolutely vital to help your body thrive, and rest is just as important as activity when you’re looking to reduce fat and build muscle.
• Make sure you have rest days in between your MAN v FAT Football sessions and other exercise. This should include ‘active recovery’, where you do light exercise, like stretching and walking. It’ll probably feel awful at first, but warming your muscles up gently like this will do them the world of good. Don’t stop using your muscles entirely: gentle movement is one of the most effective ways of easing the soreness, through increased blood flow.
• Try and get enough sleep. Your body does its best repairing and rebuilding when you’re asleep, so get a good bedtime routine going and get your head down.
• Drink plenty of water and keep up your healthy eating, making sure you eat lots of lean protein.
• Massage your sore muscles. A foam roller can help.

How to prevent DOMS

The only foolproof way of preventing DOMS completely is not exercising, but you shouldn’t let fear of DOMS put you off being active.

The most important way of lessening the chances of developing debilitating DOMS is to warm up and cool down properly when you exercise. Dynamic warm ups, where you mimic the exercises you’re about to do, is a great way of preparing your muscles for activity.

Similarly, cooling down after your work out gets your muscles gradually used to not moving as much again.

Get the pump?

We’d all love to be able to instantly do Arnie-level workouts at the gym, or be able to outrun Usain Bolt, but listen to your body and go easy.

Losing weight and getting fitter takes time, and though that can be frustrating, push yourself too hard and you’ll end up out of action with a nasty injury.

It’s ok to challenge yourself and up the intensity of your workouts, but only do what you’re comfortable with, and gradually increase the intensity instead of suddenly going for broke.

Starting something new is always daunting, and you might be wondering what your time at MAN v FAT Football is going to be like. We completely get it, and while it’s easy for us to say ‘it’ll all be fine!’, it’s much better to hear it from people who have been in your shoes.

We’ve been running MAN v FAT Football for years and (not to brag or anything) have helped thousands of men lose weight. We asked our current football players what advice they’d give to guys just starting out, and this is what they said.

You get what you put in

“MAN v FAT is a journey you’re in control of” says Lee, who thrived on how good it feels to be improving your health. “Choices will be hard, but the feel-good factor when you achieve your targets and people start to notice your change is something you won’t experience anywhere else.”

Similarly, Nathan is keen to point out the importance of prioritising weight loss. He’s been a MAN v FAT player for over 7 years but didn’t take it seriously at first.

“I prioritised the football first, so I yo-yoed in weight, never really getting anywhere. But then I finally started to focus on weight loss.”

He’s now lost over 70lbs, and knows a lot about the challenges of staying consistent. “It’s not a race, it’s not about who loses it the quickest. You will fall off the wagon at some point, it’s just about getting back on. You’ve got to keep going, make it a lifestyle change”.

Support each other

One thing that makes MAN v FAT Football so successful, is the community the clubs create. Making the most of it is key to your long-term success, says Alan.

“Build a good community within your club, not only with your own team but with everyone. Support each other with weight loss, meal ideas, mental health, everything. When there’s an excellent support network available, weight loss will be easier.”

Ryan agrees and credits his MAN v FAT community with being a big part of his weight loss success. “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s a great community, the team spirit you build is second to none.”

Go at your own pace

“Once I had lost 10% of my starting weight, I slowly introduced extra physical activities which then helped push me to losing 15% of my body weight” says Andrew.

But remember to listen to your body, and don’t push yourself if you’re not ready. If you’ve not exercised since you were in school, you’re not going to suddenly be a pro football player. Anthony stresses the importance of remembering this: “Stretch those hamstrings, you’re no longer a teenager!”

Alan agrees and says “You’ll remember that you’re not a kid anymore and you’ll be tired out after 5-10 minutes at your first game. Enjoy yourself but remember to listen to your body. We’ve all been there pushing through it trying to look good!”

Enjoy it!

MAN v FAT Football is a great way of losing weight and improving your health, and one of the best things about it is that it’s actually fun! Above all, we hope you have a great time getting to know your teammates and getting out there on the pitch.

We’ll leave it to Nathan to sum it all up: “My advice is to do it now, take the risk, feel uncomfortable at your first weigh in but after that if you’re driven and committed and are consistent with your efforts, enjoy your football and the rest will come.”

You might think that when it comes to weight loss, the more you can lose, the better. But studies show that losing even 5% of your total body weight can bring amazing health benefits.

If you want to lose weight, you probably have some idea of how much you want to lose. And while it’s great to have goals, saying you want to lose hundreds of pounds can feel incredibly daunting.

Short-term goals are just as important as your long-term ones to give you focus and keep your motivation levels high. Aiming to lose 5% of your body weight is a great one to consider: it’s attainable, and it can be built upon if needed.

What’s more, studies show that losing 5% of your bodyweight leads to incredible health outcomes if you’re overweight. Hitting 5% lost can lead to:

• Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. This is because losing weight can elevate HDL (good) cholesterol and lower triglycerides (bad fats). It can lower your blood pressure by an average of 5 mmHg.
• Reduction in insulin resistance, decreasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Decreased risk of developing certain cancers.
• Better sleep and reduction of sleep disorders like sleep apnea.
• Reduced pressure on your joints.
• Lowered inflammation levels in the body.
• Boosted mood and self-esteem.
• Reducing your risk of fertility problems.

By making small, sustainable changes to what you eat, how much you move, and prioritizing your sleep, you’ll lose weight gradually and consistently – and you’ll be able to keep it off. Every positive decision you make to eat well, move more, and get quality sleep will move you closer to that 5% body weight loss goal – you’ve got this.