Consultant sheds 5 stone in 5 months ahead of Bupa race

Published on Saturday 19 December 2009 10:55

FOR most people who struggle with their weight, losing a whopping five stone is likely to take years rather than months.

But Martin Kay, 38, who lives in Corstorphine, managed to shed more than that in as many months – thanks to a diet primarily used for children with epilepsy.

Now he plans to do the 5K Bupa Great Winter Run next month.

Mr Kay, who tipped the scales at 20st 4lbs in July, is now a more slender 15st 3lbs following the ketogenic diet over the last five months.

It is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet which mimics the body's response to starvation, and forces the body to burn fat round the clock by keeping calories low.

The diet was first developed for the treatment of seizures in children during the 1920s and 30s.

Mr Kay, who owns a recruitment consultancy business in Leith, said: "I was at a friend's wedding in Glasgow at the end of June and I looked at a photo of myself from the wedding, and stepped on the scales. I decided then that I had to do something about my weight.

"I had tried lots of things before to lose weight and nothing really worked for me. But the first week on this diet I lost ten-and-a-half pounds, which was a great incentive to keep going.

"It feels brilliant, it is just milestone after milestone now.

If I could get down to 14 stone by Easter, I would be delighted."

Mr Kay combined his strict diet, which involved eating ready-made meals from Leith-based Go Lower, with badminton and running.

He is now in training for the Great Winter Run on 9 January – on a route he has already completed as part of a Jogscotland event two years ago.

Mr Kay said: "I'm looking forward to it. The last time I did the route in 42 minutes, so this time I'm aiming to take a minimum of seven minutes off."

Mr Kay's previous attempt to do the 5K Bupa run was halted after he was involved in a motorbike accident in Edinburgh in April last year, which took him out of training for around four months.

"I went back to being big fat Martin," he said.

Mr Kay aims to be less than 15 stone by Christmas Eve, when he will go to the doctors for an official weigh-in.

Mr Kay said: "The week before I started the diet I went to Greggs and bought two pasties, two pies and two chocolate doughnuts for my lunch. It was mental!"

He added: "It's a wee bit like being a recovering alcoholic, you can stop but you have just got to make sure that you stay stopped!"