British middle-aged men, this is YOUR time: How the at-risk group is often left out of the conversation on weight loss
Is it a paunchy bloke over 40 driving back home knackered after working another gruelling 10-hour shift?
No, we didn't think so...
If it shows a man at all, he'll almost certainly have a six pack, bulging biceps and either be running or lifting weights.
In other words, your average British middle-aged man has been almost entirely left out of the conversation on weight loss.
That's despite being the exact group the health and fitness industry should be targeting, with 69 per cent of blokes in England overweight and 55 to 64 considered the worst time for loading on fat¹.
Introducing SHED, a new UK weight loss brand behind a range of nutritionally complete meal replacement shakes created specifically for normal men like you.
But before we reveal more about them, let's take a step back to look at why they were ever needed in the first place...
Explaining the 'middle-aged spread'
Know those unflattering photos you see of male politicians at the beach?
They're just one example of the middle-aged spread, a trend that sees lots of men start to gain weight from their 30s onwards, particularly around the waist.
Believe it or not, there's been a lot of research looking into why this happens, with scientists finding it is mainly down to lifestyle factors, including blokes doing less exercise as they juggle work and family responsibilities.
Your weight gain is likely to be worse if you have a job where you sit down a lot, like working in an office.
And as you'll know, busy work schedules can make it harder to eat well - especially if the only option is a ham sandwich and packet of crisps at a service station or a greasy canteen fry-up.
How normal men got ignored... until now
Lots of middle-aged British blokes want to slim down. But when it comes to the health and fitness industry, almost no one is speaking their language.
They've long been slimming shakes for women, or foul-tasting science drinks for City slickers, but ordinary working blokes seem to have been abandoned to carb-heavy convenience food.
This isn't just a question of presentation, but practicality too. After all, who really has time to stick to a complex diet regime when you're on your feet all the time with 100 other things to do?
SHED changes all this by making dieting easy.
All you need to do is swap one or two meals per day for a SHED SHAKE, avoid over-indulging elsewhere, and continue eating a full, healthy evening meal.
It's that simple...
To test out the effectiveness of this approach, 50 regular blokes - a mix of factory workers and the members of a league for fat footballers - were asked to swap one meal a day (either breakfast or lunch) for a SHED SHAKE.
Out of those who stuck to this routine for the whole six weeks, 95 per cent lost weight, with the average SHED-ing four kilograms.
They also lost 3cm off their waistlines and 33 per cent returned to a healthy waist-to-height ratio.
Unsurprisingly, the great majority - 80 per cent - said they would recommend SHED to other men.
So... are YOU ready to SHED?
Are you a middle-aged British bloke who's piled on a few pounds? Well, pay attention, because your time has come.
We know you've been ignored for ages by the diet industry, but that's not the case any longer.
SHED's launch range of meal replacement shakes comes in three tasty flavours; Vanilla, Chocolate and Coffee, with 14 servings in each pack.
To prepare one, simply add two scoops of SHED to ice cold water or lower-fat milk, give it a shake, and drink up.
¹ NHS Digital, 2023 to 2024.
² Six-week real-world study of 50 British men aged 35-65 (mean age 47), published 13 December 2024.
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