How did you find your very first BMF class? Dave Dewett from Worcester absolutely hated his! But he soon became hooked and is now a green bib who has completed the arduous 40-mile Double Mucker Rat Race obstacle course race in just under 11 hours. Another story about an athlete who has done something seemingly impossible, right? Wrong! Dave was once 22 stone with Type 2 diabetes. Since joining BMF 18 months ago, he has used exercise for diabetes defeating! He's shed weight and defeated diabetes so well that he no longer needs medication. Here’s how:
LIFE BEFORE BMF
“Before joining BMF I hadn’t run more than about 20 yards in 20 years. I’d done some martial arts in my late teens and early 20s and considered myself quite fit. However, an injury put a stop to exercise and I never seemed to quite get back to it. A sedentary life ensued both in and out of the workplace. There was little time for exercise. I put on weight, my body grew weak and my shoulders rounded. I found myself at the doctors and explained my symptoms – my legs were heavy and I was often lethargic. The doctor asked if there was any family history of diabetes and I told him my uncle had been diagnosed a few years previously. I tried to manage my blood sugar levels through diet but the condition worsened over a four-year period to the point where my general health and organs were at risk and medication was required. Over the next year, I began to feel better and blessed with more energy. I'd lost some weight through the medication and further changes to my diet. I’d made a conscious decision that I was not going to spend the rest of my life taking tablets. If there was a way to reverse my condition I would. I started looking for an activity I could do to get fitter and help drive the weight down further. A few colleagues and I had started playing five-a-side football, but soon after one chap stopped coming along. When I asked him why he said it was because it interfered with his British Military Fitness training. Intrigued, I went back to my computer and looked it up and an hour later, on impulse really, I’d signed up for my first trial class that night. I knew if I’d thought about it for too long I would have put it off so I had to just do it.
MY FIRST BMF CLASS
I absolutely hated every minute of that cold, dark and damp December night at BMF Worcester Park and berated myself for being so ridiculous to think this was ever going to be fun. As the session progressed, those feelings became ever more entrenched. I was so far outside my comfort zone. My thoughts were to just get through the session and not give up. I didn't give up but I did think: "Never again! Never am I ever going to put myself through this. What on earth was I thinking? I'm 48 years old, type 2 diabetic, huffing and puffing, failing to complete any of the exercises properly, so slow at running I was overtaken by a slug! I asked myself, what are you doing? are you mad?"
But as the session came to a close and we were stretching off, I started to think: "Well at least I got through it." As I was getting near the van, I remember David McDowell the instructor (who had just bestowed on me the worst hour of my life), asking if I'd enjoyed the session. All I answered was: "It was tough.” I remember thinking, "yes, but I got through it". Dave spent some time going over the membership criteria and as he did so I knew I had to come again. I knew that I wanted to do something to meet new people, get off the sofa and out of the pub, get healthier, feel better about myself and most importantly begin my path to beating diabetes. I took the plunge and signed up for unlimited membership for six months as a birthday present to myself, knowing full well that if I'd signed up for less, it would have been too easy to quit, but with six months, I would make sure I got my money’s worth. I also made a conscious change in terms of work life balance and made sure from that day forth I would make sure I got to the sessions. There was no going back now.
Project Health you could call it had begun, I knew I had to find a target and the Major Series in March 2016 was the first. I got the bug after some fellow members returned from a Rat Race where they had completed a single lap. A few days later Tracey invited a larger group to take on the challenge of the Double Mucker. I was still a blue bib when I agreed! I set about creating milestones, training regimes and target dates to work towards. By Christmas, I was well on the way and wearing a green bib. Things were going exactly to plan… almost. Hell Weekend was two weeks before Rat Race and this was the last and final test of my endurance, but we did it and came away a lot stronger both mentally and physically. I now knew I could do it.
THE SUPPORT
I'm now around 16 stone. At my unhealthiest some years ago it peaked at almost 22. Medication and healthier eating helped, but BMF has played a massive part in helping me achieve it. It has completely changed my body shape and condition. I’m stronger and a different shape now and have had to have my suits re-tailored to smaller sizes twice. I used to buy size 2XL shirts and size 40 trousers. I’ve lost 4 inches from both my chest and waist, now buying clothes the sizes I did as a teenager.
My fellow BMFers and the instructors have changed my life, my wellbeing and most of all my health. So I'd like to thank David McDowell, Daniel Cooper, Melanie Hinds, Jim and Theo Mbay and all the other guys that have trained us and encouraged us all to push that little bit further, that little bit harder. All the instructors I’ve met have been amazing – though I might not say that at 1am when I’m doing burpees in a field!
Without the instructors on hand to support me it would have been a lot harder. One thing that they’re very good at is seeing that people will push themselves to their own limits but they’ll also understand when they need to take a time out. It’s also about technique. They spend a lot of time getting us to do things we think we can’t do and as you get stronger you realise that chest to floor burpees are actually quite easy. It’s about overcoming your fear. You do adapt and start to enjoy it. When your body is weak, that’s when you need the willpower to drive through it and it does take some guts and determination. I particularly admire the women who come back after having children and get themselves in shape again. They may have been super fit greens, then they take months off, have children, come back as a blue bib and worked their way back up to green again. They’ve got that determination after they haven’t been able to train for months and that needs to be celebrated.
TEAMWORK
I’m not the kind of person who goes to the gym. It wouldn’t have lasted five minutes with me. If I hadn’t found BMF and gone along with their ethos I don’t know where I’d be. The people are great too. When we’re there with the BMF bib on we’re all on a level playing field. No matter whether we’re doctors or any other job, we all work as a team.
We went to Edinburgh to watch the rugby and did BMF there so it’s fantastic that you can turn up with the little lion on your shirt and everybody knows you, you’re one big family.
I’ve met some fantastic people from all over the country and we wear the BMF shirt like a badge of honour. Thanks too to BMF for bringing us all together, for supporting the Royal British Legion and providing so many of our ex-services guys with career opportunities.
18 months on and in my 50th year, I am healthier, I am fitter, I am stronger and I have made a whole bunch of new friends both from Worcester and other parks. In fact, a bunch of us went out for a meal to celebrate my birthday in December - which was also my first birthday with BMF, so a double celebration. I feel energised, alive, alert and healthier than at any point I can remember in my adult life, so much so, that I have completed three Major mud runs, the Cheltenham Half Marathon, The Reaper OCR, The Spartan OCR and now the Ultimate Double Mucker Rat Race with lots more planned for this year. I've had immense fun, attended the regional party (which by the way was fantastic), won prizes and competitions, and took part in the first BMF Ultimate Hell weekend which was awesome.
My birthday presents to myself now are not so sadistic – sports gear and a little something from the BMF shop!
The next big event is the Rat Race Man Versus Lakes which is a big ask in itself, but at least it won’t be as tough as what I've already done..... I hope!