LOSING WEIGHT Gaining mates

How the MANvFAT football-focused weight loss programme is changing lives for UK men

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Dan Schilling is a winner on the football pitch and doesn't mind being a big loser off of it. “I've lost around 61 kilograms now - just under 10 stone. Most of that's come off in the last 15 months,” explains Dan, 39, from Norfolk.

Dan is an offshore worker and father of two who thanks to MANVFAT football has gone from struggling to walk to a helicopter without sweating, to running half marathons and playing regular five-a-side with Norwich West MVF.

“I'd always been quite sporty as a kid and even played Saturday and Sunday football league in my 20s,” says Dan, echoing a story that chimes with many MANVFAT players in the UK and beyond. “But once my partner and I had our first child, I couldn't really justify spending all weekend on the pitch. I kept eating like I was still training, and slowly the weight just piled on. Before I knew it, I was pushing 26 stone.”

Dan concedes that along with letting the football take a back seat, his diet didn't help his cause either. “I'm the kind of person who, if food's there, I'll eat it. Five Mars bars in the cupboard? I'll eat all five. I wouldn't think twice about having a six-piece KFC on a long drive up to Aberdeen.”

“Plus, with the offshore lifestyle, you're surrounded by food 24/7 - cooked breakfasts, big lunches, cakes, toasties - and you feel like you have to eat because you don't get another chance.”

Although Dan used the gym at the offshore rig and occasionally played five-a-side with mates he found himself fighting a losing battle with his weight. “I was too heavy to do the things I used to enjoy. I stopped playing football when I couldn't keep up with the lads, and that just made it harder.”