Dieting can be hard – not least when it feels like you’re cooking the same meals on repeat in order to stay on track with your weight loss.
Having experienced some of those frustrations on his own weight loss journey, MAN v FAT Oldbury member Mike Collins is keen to use his professional expertise to bring life to mealtimes up and down the country.
Mike has lost over 35% of his starting body weight since getting started with MAN v FAT – originally in Wimbledon before his move to the Midlands – and alongside his career as a chef, has now started to develop Chef’s Contraband, a range of tasty rubs and seasonings.
We caught up with him to find out more.
Talk us through your history with MAN v FAT – why you joined in the first place and why it’s worked so well for you
My history with MAN v FAT started back in the summer of 2023. I was sitting at around the 150kg mark and couldn’t find a way out of my decline until I came by chance of an advert that MAN v FAT were starting a club in Wimbledon. I had heard of MAN v FAT via a friend but hadn’t acted on it until I saw this particular advert – something called out in my head to sign up and the fact it was a new club meant that everybody started as the “new guy” so it gave me the confidence to come and try it out.
Fast forward three years and I’ve reached my 35% landmark. When I joined, I had already started to push myself to lose weight and was at 137kg, so my 35% came when I hit 89kg. It’s something that has been life changing for me and health wise it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.
You’ve recently moved to the Midlands and switched MAN v FAT clubs. What have been the differences between Wimbledon and Oldbury and what have been the common themes?
I think the difference between Wimbledon and Oldbury has been mainly just the fact I’ve had to fit in and meet new people over again. I wouldn’t say it’s been too different in how the structure is, as there is the same goals there for people. The individual journey that we are all on is there and it’s been a pretty seamless transition from moving clubs. Of course I miss my Wimbledon lads but Oldbury has been a fantastic club to come into.
We have a lot of people in our community who work in hospitality – how hard does working those sorts of hours make looking after your diet and wellbeing?
Being a chef that works long hours – and I know that there is a lot of chefs around the country that are involved with MAN v FAT – means that there are challenges in having the physical readiness to go to the session, as after such long shifts that can be hard sometimes.
Motivation is key. The camaraderie of your team and club and also the accountability of being able to stand on those scales and push to better yourself in order get those extra points for your team always pushes me to make sure I get there.
Being a chef does require you to be on your feet all day, so tired legs can come into play , however keeping that motivation and drive is key.
Diet wise I will say that most chefs go to food after working in high end establishments. It could be fast food or something you can chuck in the microwave. Also, you spend all day tasting food, so it’s hard to keep a track of what you’ve eaten. MAN v FAT requires you to provide a food diary so that helps massively with that. I no longer have these fast food cravings after or between shifts anymore!
What was your inspiration behind Chef’s Contraband and what have been the highs and lows of developing the product so far?
All of this inspired me to want to start my own business, so I recently launched Chef’s Contraband. What encouraged me the most was to try and inspire people to make their cooking more exciting, so my business is dry rub/seasoning products.
I know from my own experience that sometimes eating the same food over and over again can be repetitive and uninspiring and there’s points that you just get bored of eating healthily.
I wanted to use all of my 20+ years in kitchens to start to create products that will be able to enhance people’s cooking experience and make their food taste more exciting.
It’s premium ingredient based products and it’s me using my ideas and experiences to put into products that I can pass onto other people whether keen cooks or not – it’s all about the taste.
It’s an idea that came to me this summer in Croatia. The idea to join MAN v FAT came to me in the same place but 3 years ago, must be something about being in Croatia!
How are you hoping your fellow MAN v FAT chefs will be able to help you develop Chefs Contraband?
As I produce more products, I have been keen to work with other chefs within MAN v FAT and hope to create a special MAN v FAT inspired product to possibly go forward and give tools and resources to help other lads enhance their cooking experiences and create more exciting meals.
At the end of the day we are all on our own individual journeys, but we all have the same goals to lose weight and be happier and healthier.
Want to find out more?
You can take a look at Mike’s efforts on his website and socials!
Website: http://www.chefscontraband.co.uk/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/chefscontraband | Instagram: https://instagram.com/chefscontraband
