Ian McNeice is a fantastic actor who has brought joy and entertainment to countless people, earning a special place in our hearts. However, recently, he has faced some health challenges.
His struggle with weight began during his high school years and has persisted over time, gradually becoming more pronounced.
Ian’s Health Issues
The real problem came when he was cast as Bert Large in Doc Martin. A chubby character. According to the character, it was agreed that McNeice would gain more weight.
In the beginning, Ian did not realize that there was something wrong. But as time passed he started to have some health issues.
At first, it didn’t seem to be a big deal. But when he realized that the mere movement was becoming hard for him, he knew that it was time to bring some change.
McNeice said, “What triggered the diet was really a crisis. At the end of the Christmas special, I ballooned to an extraordinary weight of 25 stones and 12 pounds and was really in trouble.”
Stone is an English unit of measurement of weight. A stone contains 14 pounds. Ian’s weight increased to 362 pounds. Which is a very dangerous number.
He said “I was horrified when I saw myself in the Christmas special at how big I was and how big. I was just a big blob. Who could not move.”
After feeling alarmed McNeice embarked on a journey to lose weight and reach a healthy state.
Ian received advice from his family and friends
When Ian’s loved ones saw his health condition they worried about him. His family members and a lot of his friends started giving him advice to lose weight. McNeice’s fans also worried about his health. They stormed his social media accounts asking him to lose weight.
McNeice said “I had all these interventions from various friends and family saying you really ought to lose weight. None of which I took any notice of. It took me ringing up my agent and saying ‘things seem to be awfully quiet, dare I say it, is my weight a problem?’
There was deafening silence and she said actually it is. She said ‘we are finding that people love you; they think you are great, they think you are a wonderful actor but unfortunately they think you are too big. Your mobility is becoming a problem and your fans are worried whether you can work and are you okay.“
Hearing the answer from his agent, Ian was convinced that he really needed change. So started searching for the most effective way of weight loss.
Also Read: James Denton Weight Loss
How did Ian lose weight?
Ian was searching for the best and easiest method (because of his age) that he could use to lose weight. But he was not coming to any conclusion. McNeice said “I was worried. I knew I had to do something. I knew I had to leave my comfort zone and start doing something. Because my livelihood was at stake.”
Ian further said “But thank god I am a lucky person that I have a girlfriend like Cindy. I asked her about what should I do and she suggested that we should try weight watchers. I have tried dozens of diets on my own but nothing seemed to work. No matter what, I was always the heavy guy. So I agreed with Cindy and visited weight watchers.”
He described its efficiency as “In the very first week in weight watchers, I lost ten pounds and I thought that’s interesting and I kept at it. It has been an enlightening process for me and I have stuck with it. I started weight watchers at Brentford in London later I moved to Wadebridge near port Isaac, now I joined weight watchers there.”
Also Read: Margot Robbie Weight Loss
Diet Plan
McNeice followed the diet plan suggested by Weight Watchers. The first and foremost thing he was told to stay away from was fried food. They gave him a book that included several healthy recipes.
Ian said “I have had a new lease of life since I got a weight watchers cookery book. It was really fun experimenting and learning new things with the recipes written in the book.”
Most of the recipes mentioned in the book were comprised of vegetables. The interesting and good thing about Weight Watchers is that their recipes are not only comprised of tasteless salads or gorge juice.
They have tasty and healthy recipes. You might be stunned by finding out that their diet plan contains, chicken, yogurt, and pasta as well. That is why it did not seem to be a big problem when Ian followed the Weight Watchers diet plan.
However, there was a problem with following the requirements of Weight watchers. His work. Ian said, “Only after I finished shooting for the show, I was able to follow weight watchers’ routine.”
Workout Plan
Just like diet plans, Weight Watchers also have very healthy and easy workouts. McNeice described his experience as “Although, everything was going fine and I was making progress but apart from that the experience was terribly funny. In Brentford, It was me and 25 women.
At Wadebridge, there is one other guy there but it is mainly women. Actually, you get spilled with all those women at the sessions and the chats afterwards. But I enjoyed spending time there.”
They would do an easy workout like cycling and jogging. Weight Watchers also took the help of Yoga. This all combined helped Ian a lot in achieving his goal.
In Ian’s words, “I lost 5 stones.” That is 70 pounds! He achieved a great deal.
Conclusion
Ian has proved that age is just a number. At the age of 65 years, he shed 70 pounds. Not a small number. McNeice is now living a healthy life.
He still follows the healthy recipes mentioned in WW’s book. If you are also struggling with obesity, I hope that Ian’s story helps you in finding out how to cope with it.
