I have received so much love and support from people on social media

 

At first, I was worried that I would be trolled on social media. I expected comments ridiculing me for my obesity. But such comments were exceptionally rare – in fact, almost non-existent. In fact, I was overwhelmed by the number of comments that I received that were encouraging and supporting. 

From the first week of my journey, I was receiving affirming comments from total strangers, who just happened to see my content on social media. All of the sudden, it wasn’t just a case of using social media to hold myself to account, but I was developing a network of people who were willing me to succeed with my weight loss. I guess that could have added to the pressure on me to lose weight and be successful on my weight loss journey, but it actually had the opposite effect. I felt the empathy that people found in my posts, and began to realise that as time went on and I was consistently losing weight, that I was inspiring other people to transform their own lives.

The birth of Bye Bye Fatman

 

Bye Bye Fatman was born on social media on 12^th July, 2021. 

On that day I posted my first ever video on social media and pledged to post every day until I had met my goal of losing a substantial amount of weight and improving my health and wellness. It took a lot of courage to post that original video, as at the time I weighed 410lbs or 186KGs. I was morbidly obese and desperately needed to lose weight. 

In many respects, I knew it was my last chance to make a dramatic life transformation, and to do something that might have a positive effect on my potential lifespan. I had tried to lose weight countless times before, often with some initial success but ultimately failing to achieve my goals. However, this time I knew something was different. It’s hard to define, but I knew that I was in the right place and that I had more resolve to follow through on my weight loss journey compared to the past. Making that first video was a pivotal moment in my journey. 

Weight loss is usually a private affair. Few people apart from one’s immediate family are usually aware when someone starts on a “diet” but I had told the world. And I didn’t just tell the world that I was going to start a “diet”, still further I announced that I was going to transform my life! Holding myself to account by posting daily videos since that day was a stroke of genius! A weight loss journey is hard, but when you’ve promised the world and his wife that you are going to do it there is even more pressure.