A MAN who says his friends no longer recognise him after losing a third of his body weight will be taking part in the largest charity bike ride in Europe today (Sunday).
Harry Langridge will be saddling up for the London to Brighton cycle ride alongside 27,000 other riders in what will be a very special Father’s Day for him.
The father-of-two, who lives in Chells Way, Stevenage, made a pledge to lose weight in October last year and has since shed more than seven stone, going from a 44in waist to 34in.
The 49-year-old, who weighed 20st 4lbs before changing his lifestyle, has drawn on memories of his sister Marie Stewart as motivation, after she died of cancer almost six years ago at the age of 46.
“Before she died we had a conversation about her giving up smoking and me losing weight so I just thought, why haven’t I done it yet?” said Harry.
Supported by his wife Linda and Cambridge Diet weight plan consultant Lyn McLeod, Harry now weighs 13st 2lbs, and has cycled about 560 miles in preparation for the 54-mile ride in aid of the British Heart Foundation.
Harry, who works at Sainsbury’s supermarket in Hertford, said: “I know it will be a challenge but I am really determined to do it. In my mind there’s no way I’m going to put the weight back on as I’ve worked too hard to get where I am.
“It is still hard to believe the size of the shirts I used to wear. Someone even stopped my wife in the street and asked who they had seen her with – they simply didn’t recognise me!”
To sponsor Harry visit www.justgiving.com/Rye-Park-Sainsburys
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