Dad loses third of body weight with 30 minute challenge

Dad loses third of body weight with 30 minute challenge Nick Drane weighed 23st 7lbs and could drink up to 15 pints of beer on a night out A father who tipped the scales at 23st 7lbs and could sink up to 15 pints of beer on a single night out has shed nearly a third of his body weight after setting himself a 30 minute challenge. Nick Drane, 45, a basketball head coach from Ipswich, Suffolk, admits he has always been a "big guy" standing at 6ft 4in, and would frequently "show off" about how much he could put away at mealtimes. He played basketball at National League level before heading to Canada as a student athlete in his early 20s to pursue a university basketball career, weighing around 16st at the time. After returning to the UK a few months later, he went on to claim the title of National Coach of the Year for basketball on multiple occasions, yet he admitted that his diet and exercise were never his "priority", leading him to develop a "horrendous" relationship with food. By his late 30s, he had ballooned to 23st 7lbs, was squeezing into trousers with a 42in waist, and could "easily finish" a KFC family feast of 16 pieces of chicken and six portions of chips. His local kebab shop even crafted a bespoke order just for him - a 3XL mixed kebab loaded with extra chips, cheese and mayonnaise. His "eureka" moment came in August 2020, when a friend pointed out that Nick had consumed "well over a case" of beer, yet Nick realised he was "not remotely tipsy". From September 1 of that year, Nick, who is married to Naomi, 45, committed to cycling for 30 minutes a day for 30 days - a challenge he has kept up ever since, alongside daily press-ups. He has since gone on to lose an impressive 7st 7lbs in total. Nick, a father to Oliver, 18, and Freya, 14, told PA Real Life: "Even when I lost my father or a couple of very dear people in my life, I still get on the bike that day. I've been on the bike when I've had Covid, I've been on the bike when I've had sickness and diarrhoea, I've even been throwing up on the bike. "I think I'll probably cycle 30 minutes on the bike every day for the rest of my life. I'm way happier, I'm a better dad, I'm a better husband and I'm a far better basketball coach." Growing up, Nick said it became "a thing" for people to comment on how much he could eat. He recalled: "I remember going to a barbecue when I was really young and saying to my mum that I wasn't hungry, but they brought out extra food because new people I was meeting had been told how much Nick eats. "Mr Competitive here felt like he had to live up to that, so I did it." This troubled relationship with food continued into Nick's adult years, despite him taking up basketball at National League level at 17 and coaching from 20, which meant he was playing and then working unpredictable hours and relying on takeaways for convenience. At his heaviest in his 30s, tipping the scales at 23st 7lbs, Nick said he would frequently begin his day with three takeaway breakfast baps, each containing two sausages, two fried eggs, cheese and onions, or a mocha topped with caramel, cream and two sugars. He would regularly put away "two or three" sandwiches and a sharing bag of crisps for lunch, before polishing off a Big Mac meal, 20 nuggets, a chocolate milkshake and a double cheeseburger from McDonald's for his evening meal. When he and his family sat down for a Sunday roast, Nick would devour an entire chicken on his own, while his wife and two children shared another between them. Nick reckons he was consuming "well over" 4,000 calories each day, and would think nothing of knocking back up to 15 pints of beer on a night out "like it was nothing". It was in August 2020 that Nick finally realised something had to give. He explained: "We were just having a beer in the summer in the park and (my friend) said to me that I'd had a lot of beer and I didn't seem remotely tipsy. "It was at that moment I looked down and we counted the cans of beer that were on the floor. There was well over a case, and that's when I said, 'This is going to kill me'." By September 2020, he had embarked on a 30-day challenge, pedalling away on his exercise bike in the garage for 30 minutes every day. Nick said: "Even at my absolute heaviest, in my mind, I was still a pretty good athlete. "I did it for a week and I think I got on the scales and realised I'd lost four or five kilos (up to 11lbs) quite quickly." At the end of his month-long challenge, Nick decided to incorporate press-ups into his daily regime, progressing from 10 on his knees to an impressive 100 full-body weight press-ups a day, completed in sets of 25 at a time. Now, more than 2,240 days since Nick embarked on his challenge, clocking up a remarkable 1,120 hours, he has kept up his daily cycling routine while turning his attention to weightlifting at Riverhills Health Club and Spa, where he holds a membership. The only time he has ever skipped a training session is when the gym is shut on bank holidays, in which case he will tack on an extra 30 minutes either the day before or after. He has also overhauled his eating habits significantly since 2021, including "cutting right down" on takeaways and alcohol. "I'm terribly boring every day now," Nick said, of his diet of 2,500 calories a day which is what the NHS recommends. "I'll have a smoothie of a handful of spinach, a banana, two scoops of protein, two scoops of creatine, some Greek yoghurt and water. Then I might meal prep something (for lunch) like chicken and rice, and have an omelette in the evening." Nick revealed he now tips the scales at 16st (102kg) and squeezes into size 34in waist trousers – provided they fit over his thighs – along with large or extra large tops. Looking to the future, he remains unsure how much more weight he wants to shed, given his current focus on building strength, but he envisages cycling "every day for the rest of (his) life". He added: "It's a way of life for me now. Other than being a good dad and a good husband, taking care of myself is the most important thing in my life. "It's just transformed me. I'm not a fat guy that needs to take breaks to sit down constantly... there are just zero negatives to what I've done." You can follow Nick on Instagram here