Dad loses 12 stone in 12 months to honour dying wish of daughter, 29
A granddad lost 12 stone in 12 months to honour the wish of his daughter who died at the age of just 29.
Mike Summers' daughter Sarah died in 2016 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving behind three children.
In the last conversation Mike had with her, he promised he would try and be around for her kids, Wales Online reports .
He knew he had to improve his health by losing weight, not only for himself but for his whole family.
So after a tough year battling health problems and grieving over the death of his daughter, Mike started his weight loss journey in August 2018.
"The last conversation I had with my daughter was I had to try and be around to help my son in law with her kids," 56-year-old Mike said.
"I was being selfish. It is only when I lost my daughter did I realise that if something happened to me, I would be leaving everyone else behind.
"The reason why I have done this (lost weight) is not for my own personal gain, but for everybody.
"My goal was to make sure I could be around for my family and you could not get a better motivation than that."
Mike, who is originally from Penygraig but now lives in Caerphilly, was 26.9 stone when he joined Slimming World in August 2018.
He now weighs 14.5 stone, averaging his weight loss to around a stone a month.
Mike's weight loss, which he credits as the "single best achievement" in his life, has now totalled 12.3 stone.
He said he was putting his life in danger with his daily diet which mostly included a handful of pasties for breakfast, multiple sandwiches for lunch and a takeaway for dinner, as well as snacks throughout the day.
Mike has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which is a condition that affects the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe.
He also has an atrial fibrillation of the heart – a condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate.
Both conditions are incurable but can be managed by medication.
But Mike's weight was putting a huge strain on his body, which was having a bad impact on his health.
"With the COPD, the weight was crushing my lungs and it was so straining. It also meant that my heart had to work a lot harder because I was carrying so much weight."
Mike was hospitalised at the beginning of 2018 due to the strain his weight was putting on his body.
At that point, he was 27.6 stone.
"Now I have lost all this weight, it has got a thousand times better.
"I feel fitter now than I did when I was in my 40s."
Mike's diet before and after
Before
Breakfast
Breakfast for Mike was usually on the go, as he rushed to work in the morning. This consisted of a handful of pasties and pastries.
Lunch
A typical lunch for Mike usually meant multiple sandwiches bought from a shop.
Mike said that on his Slimming World diet, he can still eat things like sandwiches, as long as it is brown bread and made at home, where he knows what is being put into it.
Dinner
Mike relied on a lot of take aways for his dinner, frequently eating Chinese food and other quick and easy options.
After
Mike credits the success of his diet to being able to eat a lot of the same foods, but just in a healthier way.
His favourite Slimming World meal is beef, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes, served with Slimming World style chips or potatoes.
"I get beef from my local butchers which is about 3% fat. I cook mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes in Fry Light with an OXO cube over the top.
"And as it is simmering I will add in beef stock and pour it over the top and let it simmer and it makes it more tender."
"I do a Chinese curry, a fried rice, or pork. Sometimes I do a special fried rice with veg and mushrooms.
"It is stuff that you would eat normally but you cook it in a different way."
The plasterer credits his weight loss to the amazing support he received from his Slimming World Group in Trealaw, Rhondda .
"I'm still eating a lot of the things that I used to eat, but the way I am cooking it is a lot better.
"I still have special fried rice and other takeaway-style food, but instead I make them myself. We call them fakeaways."
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