An "unconventional" fitness instructor is doing his bit to help people shed the pounds during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Paul Belsey, from Cliffe, set up Fatman Fitness to help those who dislike going to the gym and struggle to exercise.

The 39-year-old founded Fatman Fitness last Christmas after acknowledging he needed to do something about his health.

Paul, who jokes he could be Medway's answer to Joe Wicks, said: "I'm not your conventional fitness instructor. I'm fat, unfit and find the exercise tough. I hate the gym, so what can I do?

"After some research about HIIT, high-intensity interval training, I thought that there must be a load of guys like me who hate the gym, feel intimidated by those with the chiselled gym body, and feel out of place exercising with skinny blokes. And so, Fatman Fitness was born."

Paul took to Facebook to share his new idea.

His post read: "I am a fat man wanting to lose weight. I am an unfit man wanting to get fit. I hate the gym. I feel uncomfortable around those who are slimmer than me. I need motivation to get started.

"I need support to stay on track. I need accountability to keep me motivated. I want to change my mindset. I want to take part in exercise. I want to benefit from better nutrition.

"Join me on this weight loss journey designed for the fat man by The Fatman. What have you got to lose?"

After the announcement, a group of eight men began to weigh in, every Sunday, in High Halstow village hall.

When there, they were coached about diet and had mentoring around the reasons why they had got out of shape.

Paul said: "We spoke about habits, mental health and all the reasons why we haven't succeeded so far in losing weight.

"We all then took part in a 30-minute HIIT class and a high-energy team game.

"In the first six-week programme, across the group we lost seven stone, which was a tremendous effort, so it's been well received."

However, towards the end of March, Covid-19 stopped all the weight loss meetings Paul had planned for the foreseeable future.

But this didn't stop his determination. Paul stood up to the challenge and instead launched Fatman Fitness online, with weekly, live HIIT sessions led from his living room, streamed on Facebook.

Paul said: "By using Facebook live, my guys – and now a new following of girls – could still take part in fitness training from home.

"It's free online and I'm trying to build a reputation for helping those who have felt it's hard to lose weight in the past.

"I use memes I create to add a sense of humour to us fat guys doing exercise – it makes people more comfortable and accepting of the challenge ahead."

If you would like to take part in Paul's Fatman Fitness scheme find him on Facebook, here.

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