Real life weight loss: How this man lost 240lbs (and inspires others to do the same)

Matt Briggs from York, England has lost an incredible 245lbs after a picture with his dad shocked him into joining a weight loss group. Matt says he was always a bigger kid. With parents that owned a shop, he had unlimited access to sugary snacks. 

Matt's weight really increased when his mother fell ill with multiple sclerosis, looking for comfort in his food. When his mother passed away just before Matt’s 18th birthday, his diet hit an all time low. “From there on I just got bigger and bigger, emotional eating was paramount to me,” Matt told YouTube channel Truly. Weighing in at 437lbs at his heaviest, Matt had a hard time finding clothes his size, and struggled with his self-esteem. 

Lacking confidence, relationships were out of the question for Matt during this time. “I put relationships to the back of my mind, I didn’t think anyone would find me attractive at this size, I didn’t find myself attractive.” However, the real moment of truth happened when Matt came across a picture taken with his dad. “I wasn’t delusional, I understood I was bigger than other people. But seeing that picture and realising I was twice the size of my dad, that was the wake-up call for me.”

That very same week Matt joined a weight loss programme and never looked back, losing an amazing 245lbs in just 18 months. Exercising has been an important factor to Matt’s weight loss journey but the pandemic has caused a setback: “My workouts went from regular to none, it’s been a struggle.” 

Thankfully, now that he’s able to do one on one sessions again with his personal trainer Ash, Matt’s right back on track. He said: “Since losing weight I have gone on to find my partner, run marathons and do things I never thought I’d be able to do.” Matt is now a weight loss consultant helping hundreds of people achieve their weight loss goals.

"My first step was parking my car a mile away from my work and walking in. From there I went on walks with friends, graduating to AquaFit, then joining a gym." Walking to lose weight is a wonderful way to get started on your fitness journey: it's low-intensity, low impact, and as Matthew demonstrates, it's easy to fit into your day. All you need is the best shoes for walking to get started.  

Once you've got that down pat and you're starting to see results, you can up the intensity by picking up a pair of the best running shoes for men or best running shoes for women. 

The walk-run technique is a simple way to get started: it uses the same principle of HIIT training, tasking you to run for a short period of time (for example, 30 seconds) and then walk for a rest period, to allow your heart and lungs to recover, before going again. One of the best fitness trackers can monitor your heart rate, giving you an indication of when you should speed up and slow things down.