Chris's 'Around the UK Rowing Challenge'

MAY UPDATE

If losing 9 stone wasn't enough, NC member Chris Angel set himself an ambitious goal for 2017 to row the distance of circumnavigating the UK on his indoor rowing machine - raising money for charity at the same time.

Starting from London, Chris is now past Inverness on our map of the UK. To make it round in under 12 months requires an unrelenting program. Right now he's 39% of the way there and 49km ahead of schedule. If he maintains his current pace, he's set to complete his row by the end of November.

His fundraising is also on track, with over £1,500 raised so far for Unicef UK. We caught up with Chris this week.

"To give people a good reason to donate (or donate again!) I accepted a special challenge monitored by Concept 2, the manufacturer of my rowing machine. On Saturday 6th May I attempted to row a marathon distance in one session – just over 41 km. It was estimated to take 3 - 4 hours of continuous rowing. It was actually quite easy until the last 10Km when it got really, really hard! But I managed to complete it in 3 hours and 50 minutes."

Chris's marathon row was validated by Concept 2 who presented him with a certificate to mark his achievement.

Well done Chris - keep up the great work!

To support Chris and make a donation, visit Chris's fundraising page

Chris's Story

Chris Angel lost 9 stone in 2014 and was Nutracheck's Inspirational Member of the Year. Since then, he's stayed with Nutracheck and we've followed Chris's journey after losing the weight. Back in 2014, things were very different...

The stark moment of truth

The turning point for Chris came on New Year's Day in 2014. He tipped the scales at nearly 22 stone (139 kilos) - his heaviest weight ever.

"I was the biggest I had ever been and my health was suffering. I had high blood pressure, I was pre-diabetic and given my father had type 2 diabetes, I was at a high risk. My GP gave me a stark choice: take medication to control my blood pressure and the onset of diabetes - or lose weight".

Aged only 46, it was a harsh wake up call. Chris realised that the only person who could change things was himself and so his journey began.

3 years, 3 massive achievements

By the end of 2014, Chris was 9 stone lighter. He had smashed his own target and amazed himself. After being obese all his adult life, this incredible achievement made him realise he could achieve things he never believed possible.

To 'keep the ball rolling' - and far from feeling confident - Chris decided that 2015 would be the year to get fit and maintain his 9 stone weight loss. 12 months on he nailed it.

Not content, Chris set a new goal for 2016 - one many of us would find tough - to quit alcohol for 12 months. Amazingly he did it - and actually found it easier than he'd expected!

A tough challenge for the new year

We caught up with Chris in December to find out about his plans for 2017. Not surprisingly he had another challenge in mind.

"I've decided to use my rowing machine to cover the same distance as a circumnavigation of the British Isles - a distance of 3,900km. There's a very simple reason I'm not doing it 'for real'; I get very sea sick!"

Starting from London, Chris will row anti clockwise from London, up the east coast to Scotland, around the top of the UK and back down the west coast before turning east for the final leg returning to London.

Achieving this goal will require Chris to row an average of 10.7 km every day of the year. Being realistic (to allow for holidays, sick days and general 'I can't be bothered' days), Chris plans to row only 340 days - meaning he must cover 11.5 Km each time.

The challenge will take Chris around 325 hours to complete, based on an average of 12 km per hour.

Rowing for charity

Chris told us "My 2016 goal was easier than expected and I did it for me. I wanted my 2017 goal to be much harder and about more than my own ambition, so I've decided to row for charity. I can benefit others whilst still achieving a personal major goal".

"It also feels like a logical next step in my lifestyle change that started back in January 2014. I started out wanting to weigh less, feel better and be more healthy. But a funny thing happened along the way; I never imagined that I would learn to love exercise or that I would feel inspired to test myself each year but that's what came along with the changes Nutracheck helped me achieve. Now that I can track macro-nutrients in Nutracheck, I can fine tune my eating to support this sort of physical challenge, making that lifestyle change easier to maintain."

An inspirational thought for 2017...

As a new year begins, we asked Chris what his journey so far had taught him.

"Since joining Nutracheck, I've come to realise that what you think is the end goal or your limit is actually just the beginning of the next phase. The thing you believe is impossible is not only possible, but it's actually just a way-point on the journey toward something you haven't dared to dream of yet.

In January 2014 I was obese, couldn't walk for more than 10 minutes and was pre-diabetic with high blood pressure. In January 2017, I'll begin working on a goal that requires physical and mental strength I would never have dreamed possible just 3 years ago. Nutracheck, the member community and the support of family and friends made this possible. All I brought to the equation was a little effort to take the first step".

We hope you'll join us and take a step closer to your goal in 2017. Today is the first blank page of your 365 page diary. Write a good one! :)