A grandad who lost 17 stone after battling to fit through his club's turnstile told how being able to have a kick-about with hi grandsons means the world to him.12:45, 08 Jul 2026A lifelong Ipswich Town fan Graham’s life who lost an incredible 17 stone to fit through his club’s turnstiles says he now spends hours playing footy with his grandson and feels 20 years younger.‌Graham Baalham gave up going to matches at his heaviest and struggling to squeeze into the ground. But after losing half his body weight, Graham, from Bury St Edmunds, is even having his own kick-about with his grandchildren.‌Graham’s wife Belinda, who encouraged him to go to Slimming World in April 2024, says now their 9 year old grandson “would have him playing football all day if he could”. The grandad has the energy to make memories with his three grand children, Charles, nine and Julian, aged five, and baby Spencer.‌Graham said: “I can honestly say that if I hadn’t joined Slimming World, I don’t believe I’d have lived to see 60. The best thing about losing weight is having the energy and being able to run around with my grandkids, have a kick about and making memories. That means the world to me.”Graham, who is 5ft 4in tall, started at Slimming World weighed in at 28st 12lbs and went down to 11st 13lbs, losing a massive 16st 13lbs in 92 weeks At his heaviest, Graham says he was constantly exhausted, lethargic and barely able to walk a mile.‌He says: “I avoided the doctor for years because I knew what they’d say: ‘ You have to lose weight'." But the dad has always worked in physical jobs, being a groundsman and now a window but believed he was ‘fit for a big bloke’.Before joining his local Slimming World group, Graham says each Saturday watching his beloved Ipswich Town would see him regularly drink 10 pints. He says: “I always worked hard, I was active, but food and drink was my downfall."Every afternoon around 2.30pm I’d have six bags of crisps back-to-back, followed by five or six chocolate bars. Belinda would cook a healthy meal every evening, but once everyone had settled down, they’d hear me back in the kitchen rustling the packets – it was like I couldn’t stop myself.”‌He said “the real turning point” came when he was in hospital for more than two weeks with a serious leg infection. He said: “The doctor drew a pen line around the infection and he told me it couldn’t spread past that mark. He said if the antibiotics didn’t work within 48 hours, they’d have to amputate my leg. That was it - that was the moment, I knew I’d run out of chances."Graham committed and says the transformation has been “lifechanging”. He said: “Slimming World didn’t just help me lose weight - it taught me how to eat properly. I tried pills, exercise, everything. This is what worked. It’s given me my life back.“Nowadays I feel like a 20-year-old. I walk up to 10 miles a day with my dog. Before, I was lucky if I managed one mile. I’ve ditched crisps and chocolate completely. Once I put my mind to it, I knew I could do it.‌“Belinda and I have been married for 35 years and we have three adult children - Sian, Matthew and Bethany and three grandchildren. I wanted to be here for them. At 56, I’ve been given a second chance. I’m not just lighter – I’m alive, awake and present. And I fully intend to be here, watching my grandchildren grow up, for many, many years to come.”Shani Yates is Graham’s Slimming World Consultant. Shani says: “Supporting Graham has been an absolute joy. His determination has inspired every single member in our group and he’s become a bit of a local legend. Seeing him lose an incredible 17st after struggling for so long makes me so proud.“Graham brings energy, ideas and kindness to every session and the support he gives others is extraordinary. He’s a much‑loved member of our Slimming World family and a real example of what’s possible when you believe in yourself."Article continues belowBefore he would have coffee with sugar from breakfast which he switched to overnight oats and a Slimming world take on a cooked breakfast, trimming off the fat on the bacon. For lunch he’d have a white bread sandwich, crisps, chocolate and full sugar cola drink. Now he has a wholemeal bread sandwich and fruit salad with water or a low cal fruit squash.For dinner before he had roast beef with veg and new potato with full sugar cola and several bottles of beer. Now he tucks into a SW meals along with diet cola or water.Snacks are now fruit, or low fat yoghurts instead of six packets of crisps and six chocolate bars, half a packet of custard creams or cream crackers loaded with butter.