Barry News
Barry family's inspirational approach to weight loss
4:30pm Sunday 5th February 2012
LOSING weight can be pretty tough, so the healthy way that a family from Barry has achieved a huge and healthy weight loss over the past 18 months is an inspiration to everyone who is currently embarking on a New Year fitness drive.
Just over a year ago, Keri Turner, husband David and daughter-in-law Sadie featured on the Sky One TV show Fat Families, as they were carrying 29 stone of extra weight between them.
They had battled for years with yo-yo diets, but nothing had worked.
But taking part in the show heralded a transformation in their lives, with healthy eating and exercise sessions at Barry Leisure Centre helping them to lose a combined 16 stone.
Since then, Sadie and David have maintained their healthy ways to stay roughly the same weights that they were after completing the TV show - while Keri has dropped a further two stone in the last 12 months.
At her heaviest, Keri was just over 25 stone and if she achieves her goal of losing another two stone this year, then she will have lost more than half her original weight.
There has been no magic formula – just a lot of determination, sensible diet changes and plenty of exercise both outdoors and at their local leisure centre.
On the TV show they were introduced to Chris Jones, the LifeStyle Health and Fitness Manager at the Cowbridge and Llantwit Major Leisure Centres, who then came down to Barry Leisure Centre several times a week to become the Turners’ trainer, giving them a varied exercise programme to make exercise enjoyable.
Regular exercise is now a part of their lives, and Keri said: "We all enjoy exercise and we do a lot of walking. Sadie and I also swim and we have tried Zumba a few times too.
"Chris Jones was our personal trainer for the Fat Families show and has always put us through our paces in the gym with cardio and interval work that is designed to burn a lot of calories.
"He has remained a friend and a constant help with any nutrition or exercise queries we may have." Jonathan Rogers, Vale Council LifeStyle Operations manager said: "We are delighted that we have been able to help the Turner family with their weight loss.
"Chris has worked hard to help them with their training and they have embraced everything he has asked of them during their sessions.
"They have taken massive steps to improve their health by being consistent with their new approach to both exercise and eating."
Keri added: "We would never go back to our old bad eating habits as we feel we have been given another chance in life.
"The main advice I would give anyone who wants to lose weight is to plan ahead with your meals. I find that if I don’t, things can go wrong as you tend to eat on the run.
"I sit down at the beginning of each week to plan our meals and then I buy only what I need for those meals and nothing else.
"Exercise is also a vital part of weight loss, even if it is simply walking every day, but some kind of gym plan or fitness class is ideal."
To find out how Vale leisure centres can help you, visit www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/leisurecentres