A man has revealed the £2-a-day cupboard staple that helped him to shift seven stone in less than a year – and it ‘transformed’ his sex life, too.
Adam Juniper was once known as the ‘healthy fat man’.
While he would cycle seven miles to work each day, the 46-year-old would continuously skip breakfast and, instead, snack on whatever he could get his hands on; including cookies, chocolate bars and fast food burgers.
At his heaviest, he weighed 19st 6lbs.
The turning point came when his sex life became non-existent with his then long-term girlfriend and he began struggling to get up the stairs.
He tried methods such as counting calories and eating only fruit.
Sadly, none of these worked, and he scoured for one final solution until he came across a winner – rice cakes.
Now, he eats up to 10-per-day to satisfy his hunger.
“There are so many rice cakes and they just seem so big and filling,” the managing editor from London told creatorzine.com.
“One of the things that helped me on previous tries was fruit, but it never left me feeling full enough or gave me enough flavour variety.
“Mixing rice cakes with a lot of easy-to-eat fruit, like apples, made it possible to eat a lot of volume without taking on too many calories.”
Adam had been a ‘big boy’ at school, though he quickly lost weight naturally when he turned 16.
Over the years, though, he noticed it slowly creeping back on due to his somewhat ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle.
After moving to London in 2015, he gave up his aforementioned cycle to work and replaced it with the Tube.
With temptation in every corner, he began purchasing quick calorific snacks to keep his energy levels up.
He said: “I hadn’t quite appreciated how bad it was at first.
“But then my clothes kept getting bigger and bigger.
“As I spent a lot of my time in long-term relationships, I didn’t really dress up for dates, so I didn’t notice my looks much.
“Whenever I did have to go out, though, I’d be embarrassed as the size of the shirt I needed to buy was either right at the back of the rail – or they didn’t stock it.
“My sex life stopped, too.
“I did wonder if my appearance was connected to that.”
Adam used to get subtle comments, such as being called the ‘big lad’ by friends, or would often be involved in conversations surrounding his mates’ health strategies, which, he now realises, were probably them making suggestions for him.
But it was no use, as he would still stick to his daily habit of skipping breakfast, opting for a meal deal including sandwiches, crisps and a cola at lunch.
For dinner, he’d have big meals with pasta or Greek pies.
And snacking-wise, he was always pulled in by ‘gimmick’ temporary flavours, such as coffee-flavoured Mars bars, which he felt obliged to get so he wouldn’t miss out.
Now, instead, he mixes up the flavour of rice cakes, going between sweet and savoury.
It’s costing up to £2 per day; roughly £10 less than he was spending before.
He said: “I very much enjoy good food, but I really saw the need to hit calorie targets.
“These filled me up and I don’t remember feeling in any way ill.
“I also wasn’t too embarrassed to be seen eating them, as it didn’t seem silly.
“And the results became apparent after just a few weeks.”
A typical day in his diet involves a bowl of sugar-free muesli, followed by cheese for lunch and then rice cakes for the rest of the day.
Adam lost over 7st in just seven months and currently weighs a trim 11st 8lbs.
He added: “My wife says I’m gorgeous and she’s basically a sex icon; so I’m feeling a lot happier about it.
“Honestly, it’s hard to get rid of that ‘fat boy’ instinct.
“I do feel better and I’m able to keep up with my son, too.
“My advice is to find something that works for you.
“It might take a while, but it’s possible.”
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