Adam Juniper, a 46-year-old managing editor from London, shed seven stone in seven months by replacing his junk food habit with a £2-a-day rice cake diet. At his heaviest, he weighed 19 stone 6 pounds and faced health issues including a non-existent sex life and difficulty climbing stairs.
The Turning Point
Juniper, who described himself as a 'healthy fat man,' cycled seven miles to work but skipped breakfast and snacked on cookies, chocolate bars, and fast food. After moving to London in 2015, he gave up cycling for the Tube and began buying high-calorie snacks. His clothes kept getting bigger, and he felt embarrassed shopping for larger sizes. He said: 'I hadn't quite appreciated how bad it was at first. But then my clothes kept getting bigger and bigger.'
The Rice Cake Solution
After failed attempts with calorie counting and fruit-only diets, Juniper turned to rice cakes. He now eats up to 10 a day, costing about £2 daily—£10 less than his previous spending. 'There are so many rice cakes and they just seem so big and filling,' he said. 'Mixing rice cakes with a lot of easy-to-eat fruit, like apples, made it possible to eat a lot of volume without taking on too many calories.'
Diet and Results
A typical day now includes sugar-free muesli for breakfast, cheese for lunch, and rice cakes for the rest of the day. He varies between sweet and savoury flavours. Juniper lost over seven stone in seven months, dropping to 11 stone 8 pounds. He said: 'My wife says I'm gorgeous and she's basically a sex icon; so I'm feeling a lot happier about it. Honestly, it's hard to get rid of that 'fat boy' instinct. I do feel better and I'm able to keep up with my son, too.'
