Thornton man Ashley loses a mighty 10.5 stone

Thornton man Ashley Calvesbert has managed to lose a whopping 10.5 stone after being spurred on by a health scare.
Ashley Calvesbert lost 10.5 stone, almost half his body weightAshley Calvesbert lost 10.5 stone, almost half his body weight
Ashley Calvesbert lost 10.5 stone, almost half his body weight

But electrician Ashley, 38, of Lancaster Avenue, says he would never have been able to lose nearly half his weight without the help of slimming mentors.

Ashley had piled on the pounds over the years and by 2019 he weighed in at just under 25 stone.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But he realised he had to do something about it when he started having chest pains and his doctor told him he was a borderline diabetic.

Ashley Calvesbert before he lost weightAshley Calvesbert before he lost weight
Ashley Calvesbert before he lost weight

Ashley, originally from Newcastle, is backing a new fully-funded healthy weight loss initiative being offered through Slimming World, Wyre Council and Lancashire County Council which he says can help others like himself.

Now a slimline 14.5 stone, he said: "The penny dropped when I realised that my lifestyle meant I may not be around for as long as I'd like to be, suddenly it was serious health issue.

"When I was at school I was an average sort of weight but when I got married at 21 I gradually started to get bigger.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It didn't help when I started to work as an electrician, working on contracts all over the country, staying in hotels and comfort eating.

"I didn't get the chance to exercise and the weight gradually piled on.It's surprising how easily that happens.

"I'd tried to diet a few times but it was so hard to stick to it - and I liked sweet stuff and chocolate, the sort of things that put the pounds on."

The turning point came when he was at home and started to have chest pains.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ashley, who became a foster parent to two children with his wife Lynsey 14 months ago, feared he was having heart trouble and didn't wast time in going to his GP.

He said: "From that point I started to go to Slimming World, not something I had ever thought about before.

"The thing is, they help you realise that you don't have to do without the food you like, it's just the way you work it into your diet.

"They really encourage you and make you want to lose the weight.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I lost a stone and a half in the first three weeks and that spurred me on to keep going."

When Ashley was still travelling for work, he would call into Slimming World groups in places as far flung as Southampton, Birmingham and London.

But he now works locally for Fylde Coast Rewires and is able to regularly attend a Slimming World class at Carleton with mentor Katie Cox, and finds that maintaining his weight is not a problem.

He says he is now able to go for walks and play a more active role for foster children Amber, 12 and Abi, 14.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ashley is one of the success stories which Wyre Council says others can aspire to.

Wyre has been awarded funding by Lancashire County Council’s public health department to provide an adult weight management plan for people classed as overweight or obese in Wyre.

The council is working alongside Slimming World to provide access to a 12 week fully funded programme which became available from February 1, offering support for people referred by their GP.

The programme will be available to those who live in Wyre or are registered with a GP in the borough, or who have who have a body mass index of 30 – 39.9,

For more information and updates on the programme go to http://www.wyre.gov.uk/weightmanagement