The Fat Ginger Nerd: A Weight Loss Story

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Dr Lucy Burns: Aww, absolutely. And you know what, I'm a tiny bit teary over that because it is, it's so, I think for so many people that the stigma and the results of being overweight and the life that they've led because of it, you know in a true and just society that there shouldn't be any need to change yourself to fit in. But we know that, you know I would love to be able to wave a wand and just to live in a fair and just society, but we don't. But I also love the fact that what it's done for you is not just about fitting into a society, it's about changing you know, your trajectory and the health path that you were heading down. Brendan Reid: And it's been 1, 2, ever since, and the pain in the chest, you know surely that's what it is. I was prescribed ibuprofen.

The Proud Family: The redheaded Zoey has glasses, braces, a lanky body, and a desperate attempt to be cool. On the other hand, mature redheads are wanted by heroes. Being Truth in Television varies between individuals, but No Real Life Examples, Please! Dr Lucy Burns: Yes, Pantene. I often still quote it. There's two kind of cosmetic lines that I borrow from time to time. One of them is the Pantene and the other one is L'Oreal, which is “Because you're worth it”. I think those two lines are incredibly appropriate for changing your lifestyle. So Brendan, I think what your story offers for people is a story of inspiration and of hope, and if they wanted to get their hands on your book, how do they do that? Fruits, vegetables, grains. All of the things that dietary guidelines the world over continue to recommend as they always have, and yet for me, the very same things that appear to have instead contributed to my weight issues from the very start.Bailey: C'mon. Would you and your family have taken me in if the first time you saw me I had all my fangs and extra eyes out? Dr Lucy Burns: Yeah, so the video games provided a sanctuary away from the bullying of, you know children are vicious, they really are they, and it can be relentless. Brendan Reid: Yeah, I mean it wasn't, again it wasn't something that I ever consciously felt. I certainly didn't deliberately set out to be that way and that's perhaps the biggest misunderstanding perhaps, that an observer of somebody who looks visibly overweight might assume about that person that they have made a conscious decision to not look after themselves. That these character flaws, “You're lazy, you're stupid, you're gluttonous, you're slothful”. And none of these things are true at all but it's such an easy assumption to make, because that knowledge that we understand about what it is to do weight is just so commonplace. You can ask anybody on the street you know, “How does someone lose weight”? Well, just stop eating”. It's ubiquitous, it's everywhere. Everybody, quote unquote, knows that. And so for someone to see someone who is overweight, they think, “Well, you know there's clearly something wrong with them. If they're fat, then it's their fault”. by Brendan Reid | May 28, 2022 | The Fat Ginger NerdPhoto by Lacey Raper on Unsplash It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was on my way home from a trip into town when I found myself waiting to turn at a set of traffic lights. The straight-ahead light went green, but the turning light remained red for a while, as a... My new best friend

For people who are struggling to simply eat less, rather than starve yourself up front, try changing what it is you’re eating and let that run its natural course." The teachers themselves were writing in their school reports, ‘Brendan needs to do something about his weight problem’." Dr Lucy Burns: Yeah, and I think this is the word you know, epiphany. So many people use that. They go, “Oh my god, it's like an epiphany”. They just suddenly can't believe it. Dr Lucy Burns: And I'm Dr Lucy Burns. Welcome to this episode of Real Health and Weight Loss. Good morning, lovely listeners, it's Dr Lucy here. This week I am without my fabulous Dr Mary, but I have another wonderful, wonderful guest for us to chat with and you'll notice that on our podcast, we don't have many men. I think that Brendan might be our third. But he has such a wonderful story that many of you will be interested to hear and potentially resonate with, and I think it's a story of hope for many of us as well. So I am super excited to introduce to you today, Brendan Reid, friend, and thank you for coming on the podcast. And now, here I am, having proven those experts wrong. Having since lost more than 50 kilograms – that’s over 110 pounds – after figuring things out for myself, in my own way, in my own time. I’ve remained weight stable now for five years and counting, and during that time I’ve had plenty of opportunity to reflect and to write of my experience.

In The Cinderella Murder, Nicole is naturally a strawberry blonde and was a shy, dorky girl with little self-confidence as a teen; she tended to be so focused on her studies she didn't have much room to figure out who she was beyond that. Her more glamorous and outgoing roommate Madison tended to look down on her, though her other roommate Susan was protective of her and even tried to set her up with a classmate. As an adult, Nicole is more confident and comfortable in her own skin, and dyes her hair dark brown. Given the option of never having been overweight or not having a book to his name, Reid says he would choose not having been fat every time. Dexter's Laboratory: Dexter is a geeky redheaded boy-genius, complete with giant glasses, lab coat and awkward speech. My old scales also broke in 2017 and were replaced with a new digital set that told me I was 3kg/7lb heavier than the old scales had told me the previous day. That was later partially offset by surgery I underwent in 2018, to remove an apron of excess skin around my belly that otherwise wasn’t going anywhere. Averted with Scarlett from Pahkitew Island. While she is a genius who tends to say things the others don't understand, she doesn't display any of the negative stereotypes associated with nerds. Also, she is secretly an Evil Genius.

Sam from Revenge of the Island is an overweight video game geek who farted at his first and only date with a girl before Dakota and his first interactions with her are rather awkward. However, after Dakota becomes an intern, he soon starts to break through her shell.Brendan Reid says he experienced decades of being shunned and blamed because the main obesity model used by health professionals was, and still is, wrong. PHOTO: CHRISTINE O’CONNORBrendan Reid has gone from being morbidly obese to living an "awesome" life. He tells Bruce Munro about growing up as a fat, ginger, nerd; how he lost and kept off almost 40% of his former body weight; and why he wants his weight-loss solution recognised by nutritionists. But for those for whom it doesn’t work, my aim is to see low-carb included as another option among the existing suite of options."

Now it’s so easy. For the first time in my life I have freedom to think about colours and styles and fabrics. What I like and what I don’t like. Brendan Reid: It wasn't, yeah, it wasn't so much of an epiphany for me as it was just a gradual realisation. I don't think there was ever one moment for me. I would just step on the scales and, “Okay, I've lost a little bit of weight, that's great”. But it's still, you know there still could be anything, still just a coincidence. I'd step on the scales again, and another week and “Oh, I've lost a little bit more weight, okay”. And the following week, “I've lost a little bit more”. And it was just sort of a gradual coming to terms with what was happening. This is real. The number on the scales is dropping in a way that I had never seen before in my entire life and it wasn't really until about December 2015, I started October, so it was about Christmas, about two months in towards the end of 2015. I've lost about 10 kilos by the end of that year, and this was a phenomenal amount of weight for me. I still had so much more to lose of course, but it was enough for me to decide at that point that this is real. This is something that I need to start taking seriously and let's just keep doing what I'm doing. It's clearly working. I don't fully understand it yet but let's just ride it out and see where I end up. Brendan Reid: Yeah, I'm not there yet, I'm still in my 40s. But it's something I am mindful of, that as I'm eating less over time because I'm not getting so hungry so easily, I haven't had breakfast now for about four years and my lunches, you know sometimes I won't even have any. I didn't have any lunch yesterday, all I had was dinner yesterday. But it's usually a small lunch and then my main meal is dinner. So I'm clearly eating so much less now than I ever was before. But as you say, protein is one of those things that we can't afford to neglect and let go of, so over time I've realised that as I'm eating less, I can't afford to let the protein go so low. So you know, I'm still making sure that I get the protein sources, the meats primarily, some dairy as well, so that the muscle mass is retained one hopes. Stranger Things: Subverted in Season 2 (at least from the boys' perspective) with the introduction of Max, a tomboy girl who likes skateboarding and video games.Brendan Reid and an old pair of trousers. PHOTO: SUPPLIEDAt 17, weighing 120kg, Reid, who was academically bright, left school a year short of completing his secondary education. Circle of Magic: Trisana "Tris" Chandler has curly red hair (her friend Briar calls her "Coppercurls"), gray eyes, and wears spectacles. She believes herself to be fat and is called "Fatty" a few times by some of the series' crueler characters. Before she learned control over her magic, strange things would happen when she got angry or emotional, such as causing it to hail indoors or to strike lightning nearby. Simple Rules: The middle daughter Kerry is often made fun of for her red hair by her more beautiful older sister Bridget. Kerry despises anything to do with femininity. When she meets a modelling agent who's interested in her sister, she launches into a spiel about how how shallow and superficial modelling is...until said agent compliments her on how beautiful her red hair is and suggests she try modelling. Kerry immediately starts gushing. Sabrina's first best friend in the series Jenny had a mane of red curls and was considered a 'freak' by the Alpha Bitch. Jenny however willingly embraced being seen as an outsider. Most compelling is the sight of Reid today, five years on, still on the same diet, still looking healthy, still weighing no more than he did when he was 13.