Man visits Chinese ‘fat camp’ for four weeks and shares insane before and after
A man has shared the results of his weight-loss journey after attending a ‘fat camp’ in China, as he opened up about 'not being able to make it' some days due to the 'brutal' schedule.
After making the decision to quit his job to go backpacking around Asia, André Helgesen, from Sweden, made a Chinese weight-loss boot camp his first stop on his travel tour.
At this point, the former system technician worker had already lost an incredible 7.8 stone, dropping from more than 21 stone to around 13 stone.
Although he had made huge progress, he still wanted to lose a little more to reach his goal.
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For four weeks, he joined Jianfeidaren in Shenzhen, a fitness camp that combines daily exercise, healthy meals, medical checkups and mental health support.
"They laid out the schedule and the meals, but if I’d wanted to, I could have cheated on everything. It surprised me – realising that, just like at home, it all comes down to personal responsibility," André - who has documented his journey on TikTok (@imhelgis) - told The Mirror.
The brutal programme that almost broke him
André praised the personal trainers, who completed the workouts alongside everyone else.
And despite the language barrier, he said staff were friendly and supportive throughout the programme.
Each day included three workout sessions and a 1,000-calorie deficit for each person. It meant André had to consume around 1,300 calories a day.
The hardest part of the camp, however, was the fasting schedule. Dinner was served at 5.00pm and breakfast was not until 8.00am the next day.
"It was brutal to not have anything to eat between those hours," André admitted. "I honestly didn't make it some days and had to buy an apple, not a big deal, but still, I didn't stick to the plan they had set up."
The final results
In 28 days, André lost half a stone, taking his total weight loss to eight stone.
"Not just the camp, but that whole identity of being overweight. I can finally stop thinking of myself as the big person and just be myself,” he added.
"It was absolutely wonderful, but above all, a relief, and a sense of quiet, really. All that self-consciousness just vanished."
The NHS states that ‘if you're overweight, losing weight can improve your health, give you more energy and help you feel better about yourself’.
“But losing weight is not always easy, and many things can affect your progress. Your eating habits, sleep, activity levels and how you feel can all play a part. If you have struggled with weight loss before, you are not alone,” the health service adds.
If you want to lose weight, the NHS advises trying out four things:
- Change what and how much you eat
- Change what and how much you drink
- Change how much you move
- Reflect on your sleep habits
Visit the NHS website for more information on weight loss.
Anish Vij