Man who lived on energy drinks and chocolate told by doctor he had five years to live
At that point in his life he weighed 22 stone. Richard's old diet consisted of three cans of energy drinks, chocolate and 'all the unhealthy stuff'.
A health scare in late 2023 caused him to reassess his lifestyle.
Richard, from Wrexham, said: "My doctor had said to me that if I'd carried on as I was, I wouldn't live another five years. I didn't want to die at 55 so knuckled down and changed my life. After all you only get one chance at life."
The transformation has been remarkable - losing nine stone in 18 months and last week he completed the Three Peaks Challenges with colleagues at Castle Green Homes, where he is operations director.
He credits his partner Louise Edwards for her support – she prepares all of his meals. A typical breakfast is toast, he takes a packed lunch of chicken salad baps, has bananas as snacks and then a small plate of food such as salmon en-croute with vegetables for his evening meal.
'Without her I'd never have been able to do it. Because she is behind me, supporting me every day, I don't cheat on my diet. I don't drink beer anymore either and haven't since December 2023,' Richard said.
He's spoken about his weight loss journey at Castle Green's staff conference and in front of 500 people at Davinia Taylor's recent book launch during a Q&A session. Asked if he'd considered weight-loss injections, he said: 'I hate injections – I couldn't do it. I'd be too scared about the potential side effects too.'
Along with portion control, he's taken up walking and as part of his Three Peaks training has been walking five to 10 miles a night, averaging 35 miles a week or 20,000 steps a day.
He said: 'I don't give myself enough credit but in the last week or so I've given myself a pat on the back. For the first time in years, I believe in myself. I was in a different place mentally, now I'm mentally strong. I'm a different person.'
Richard, embarked on the challenge with Castle Green Homes colleagues Nigel Pritchard, Mike Williams, Gethyn Evans and George Povey last week in aid of Chasing the Stigma, Prostrate Cancer UK and Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue.
They set off from Castle Green's St Asaph headquarters at 7am on Thursday and started climbing Ben Nevis around 3.45pm.
'We knew when we completed Ben Nevis in four hours five minutes that we had it in us to finish. Having a good group, sticking together made it easier,' Richard said.
'The weather was awful going up Scafell Pike – we were soaked through. But Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) was the worst weather. High winds and torrential rain made it the hardest of them all in my mind. By the time we were going up Snowdon I had minimal energy but had to dig deep, singing songs in my head and thinking about having a few days' break helped carry me through.'
Richard had a knee injury and Mike twisted his ankle, but the Castle Green team persevered and completed their challenge in 22 hours and 17 minutes. With the support of friends, family, suppliers and contractors, they've raised more than £35,000 so far.
The three charities are all causes close to the Castle Green team's hearts. Prostate Cancer UK was selected in support of colleagues who've battled cancer. Mental health charity Chasing the Stigma in recognition of Richard's own mental health issues and the fact that construction workers said to be four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average.
The team's love of exploring North Wales and the need to stay safe, plus the fact that they embarked on their own rescue mission during training, inspired them to raise money for Ogwen Mountain Rescue.
To support Richard and the Castle Green team's fundraising go to https://gofund.me/8c9020aa.
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