I've mentioned it before but I play in the Man v Fat football programme. It's something that I put as a big part of the successes that I have enjoyed so far in terms of losing weight and will mention quite a few times again.
The premise is simple; it takes place weekly and starts with a weigh in. You're allocated a team when you sign up to the league and are asked to wear a certain coloured shirt. If you lose weight that week, it's worth half a goal headstart. Lose weight three weeks in a row and then that's a full goal head start for a hat trick. Hit the goal of losing a multiple of 5% of your body weight from joining, that's a full three goals. If all your team complete a food and activity diary then that's another goal.
You then go and play a competitive game of football, usually around 15-20 minutes. Our group also choose to play an extra game on a Friday between us for fun.
You also get access to the Man v Fat online gym which gives you all sorts of workouts you can do at home and access to mental health guidance if you do so require it. It costs me £28.50 a month.
When I first started playing with our group of guys a few months ago I could barely run from one end of the pitch to the other without being out of breath. My stamina, cardio, weight and even footballing skills (although still, frankly, dismal) have come on tenfold since then.
There are a few pros and cons which I will explore right here:
PROS
Accountability is a huge part of what this is about. You're accountable for losing weight and will let your team down if you don't, you have to keep a food, water, fruit & veg and activity log and it will be checked weekly by your coach. This is great for as long as you're honest (and seeing as how you're being weighed you may as well be as there's nowhere to hide) you've always got that nagging voice on your shoulder when a bad decision seems at the most tempting.
Camaraderie between your team is great. We all spur each other on in the WhatsApp group, have made friendships, are all in the same boat and understand where we all are and want to be. It makes a huge difference.
Activity that gets you out of breath is included in the football and similarly it doesn't matter what level of a player you are - some of the guys haven't played before in around fifteen or twenty years. It's competitive but fun.
For what you get, I personally think that £28.50 a month is decent value. I realise that in these unprecedented times that others may not agree but I do feel that on balance, it's a good thing to have on your side.
There are leagues all over the UK.
CONS
It'd be nice to get a little bit more football each week. Once your stamina improves you can definitely play for longer than what the games go on for and we probably on balance need the second game in the week now we've been playing together for a few months.
You do rely on your own honesty in terms of your activity and fitness logs. If you're in the mindset to put down that you've had half a low fat lettuce leaf with no dressing when in fact that lettuce leaf has been surrounded by a Double Whopper and fries then you're going to need to overcome that part of your brain that wants a whopper (in more meanings than one).
As far as I'm aware, this is open for men but there doesn't appear to be something similar for women. Also for some leagues there appears to be a decent length waiting list so you may need to wait a little before you can get playing. They are very good at letting you attend a trial session so you can see what it's all about before you commit though.
OVERALL
I really do like Man v Fat football. Turning losing weight into a team activity is a stroke of genius and gives you a supportive group of like minded people around you to help you along. I've had a great deal of success through MVF and where I started making good decisions for the benefit of my team I now do it entirely for myself and the feel good feeling that it delivers. Well recommended.
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