Super slimmer Kevin Hodgson shares his weight loss story

While many workmen are keen to tell potential burglars that tools aren’t left in their vans overnight - Kevin’s message gives an insight into his slimming success.

“I have a sign in the back of my van saying ‘no pies in the back of this van’," he said.

Before stepping over the threshold of Ros Tonks’ Slimming World class at Crossflatts, Bingley, pasties, pies, cakes and sweets would be the staple of Kevin’s diet.

“I’d get out the house and the first stop would be the local sandwich shop. I’d have a sandwich with sausage, bacon, egg or a full breakfast. Then I would pick up some sweets and buy something for lunch, pasties etc and a fruit pie, and I’d have a box of buns for the afternoon. It was non-stop eating,” says Kevin.

At his heaviest he was almost tipping the scales at 21 stone. He had tried dieting in the past but the lowest weight he had managed to achieve was 18 stone.

Despite his family and friends urging him to lose weight, he admits he just fell into the old routine.

“I tried and went back to my old ways of eating," he said.

Kevin hadn’t always battled with his weight. In his younger days he managed to stay slim by being active. An amateur wrestler, he also played ice hockey.

But over the years, as he became less active, the weight piled on. Kevin’s wake-up call came when it began to seriously affect his health.

He recalls how he initially noticed the ulcer on the back of his left leg in September 2015. Kevin explains how it was caused by a couple of bramble scratches becoming infected.

“I knew something wasn’t right because there was a big hole, The doctor said it was a leg ulcer," he said.

Compression bandages were wrapped around Kevin’s leg to heal the ulcer. It was during one of his treatments at the hospital where he saw two men who had each lost a leg due to leg ulcers caused by diabetes.

Although Kevin didn’t have diabetes, he knew his health was suffering and the thought that he could potentially lose his leg prompted him to take action.

In addition, his weight was also affecting his work. Tending the gardens of Whittakers Chocolate in Skipton, Kevin found himself more breathless and his leg ulcer was causing him pain.

He was already aware of Slimming World and decided to give it a go. Since joining Ros’s class in October last year, Kevin has lost four stone.

For Kevin, his slimming success has been achieved through changing his attitude to eating and consuming the right food.

Breakfast no longer consists of the full English or sandwiches loaded with fried meats such as bacon and sausage.

Kevin has now swapped his usual early morning staple for a healthier, yet still tasty, alternative such as porridge or cereal.

He has also cut out his sweet treats. “If I do want something mid-morning it’s some fruit and lunch is a jacket potato with a healthy option on it.”

But Kevin admits he hasn’t cut out his treats completely and still enjoys a takeaway.

“I will have a Chinese, curry or kebab but that is all I have - I class it as a meal and I don’t have a pack of cakes with it,” he says.

“It is getting the right foods in.”

Seeing his slimmer self has given him a greater incentive to get to his goal weight of 14 stone - and he is already well on the way to achieving it.

Kevin says he is already noticing his clothes are feeling bigger and he is feeling less breathless, which is particularly beneficial for his pastime - rock and roll dancing!

Running a regular rock-and-roll dance class in Shipley with this dance partner, Kevin is already noticing he can dance for longer without having to take as many breaks.

“When I go out dancing I may be doing six or eight dances before I need to sit down, whereas before one dance and my breathing was all to pot. I could still dance but nothing like I can now - I’ve gone from dancing at 75mph to 100mph!” laughs Kevin.

Generally he feels far fitter. “I can kneel down and get back up again without having to drag myself up.

But the greatest incentive for keeping the weight off now is the confidence boost from seeing photographs of his slimmer self.

Now Kevin hopes others who want to lose weight will follow his lead and be inspired to embark on their own slimming journey.

Like many people who lose weight, Kevin has seen a transformation in his life and he is loving it.

“I used to do hill walking and I look forward to getting out this summer and walking up a hill without feeling like I would pass out!” laughs Kevin.

Ros Tonks, Slimming World consultant who runs the sessions at St Aidan’s Church, Crossflatts, where Kevin is achieving his slimming success, says she is ‘over the moon’ with his weight loss achievement.

Keeping it in the family, Ros - who along with her husband Martin and son Ric all lost weight through Slimming World - says: “He is absolutely unbelievable, he is more active, agile,” she says, referring to the impact Kevin’s slimming success has had on his life.

She says as well as inspiring the group, he is also encouraging other men to come forward. When Ros initially joined Slimming World as a member 19 years ago she recalls there weren’t any men in the class.

Men are renowned for keeping their health issues to themselves, but gradually more are coming to the fore when it comes to changing their lives for the sake of their health.

According to Ros, who became a Slimming World consultant nine years ago, she now has 15 men in a class of between 60 and 70 women. “It’s brilliant,” she says, referring to the fact that more men feel encouraged to lose weight.

She says often they may seek medical advice for something and discover their weight is impacting on their health.

Once they take action and, such as Kevin, join Slimming World, they realise how life-changing it can be.

“I am over the moon that the job can save somebody’s life and that is what we are doing, every week,” adds Ros.