It was early spring when I set myself a nine-month target to weigh less than 12 stone. Now, jockeys do all sorts of things to lose weight. In the old days, they used diuretics to shed water weight, but these are now banned. Now they use sauna baths, a great deal of exercise and laxatives to get the same result.
To begin with, my diet was not so extreme. I cut out potatoes, bread, pasta, and cut down on cheese, milk and cream. Unwisely, I carried on drinking alcohol. Unsurprisingly, by August I had only shed just over a stone. Drastic action was called for but, with just three months to go, had I left it too late?
Rose and I configured a diet fit for a racehorse and an exercise regime for one, too. Breakfast was oats, crushed barley, linseed and raisins soaked over night; lunch was a salad and maybe a piece of fish. In the evening, we?d have lentils, pearl barley or quinoa with a piece of chicken, steak or game, followed by a small salad. Pulses and grains also make you feel fantastic. And there was some variety allowed, plenty of fresh vegetables but little fresh fruit; even natural fruit sugars do not help if you have to lose weight quickly, and they also increase your appetite. Alcohol consumption was now confined to weekends. Finally, the pounds began to fall away fast.
I exercised my dog, Bill, in the park. He ran beside me while I cycled; we sometimes did four miles, but usually two. I swam lengths at the local swimming baths three times a week and I sat in saunas for hours, which I loved (although it can leave you dehydrated). The exercise made me feel good. Alcohol went out completely and, despite having been advised against jogging due to potential knee damage, I ran.
The last few weeks before my race were the most difficult. I weighed myself three times a day and ate mainly vegetables, salads and pulses in small amounts. Portion control was the key to it at this stage. Just an extra spoonful would make all the difference the next day. On the morning of my race, I weighed 11 stone 6lb, and felt great. I was going to get to the racetrack on time and at the right weight.
But be warned. Although I can guarantee the jockey?s diet works, it is only suitable for someone in good health, and the weight is very easy to put back on. As I sit here typing, I have just returned from the doctors? surgery for a health check-up (all well, as you ask), where I was horrified by the weigh-in. I?m not back to 17 stone yet ? or near it ? but neither am I the 12 stone I was.
Twenty-one years ago, this paper?s own racing correspondent, Marcus Armytage won the Grand National in less than nine minutes ? a record- breaking time that has still to be bettered. Together with his horse, Mr Frisk, he knocked 14 seconds off Red Rum?s record. He tried again in 1996 and fell at the first fence. Having lost a stone-and-a-half, to ride at an unnaturally light 10 stone, Armytage was weak ? too weak to hold his horse. Bachelor?s Hall careered off, over-jumped and deposited Armytage on the floor. His prostrate, starving figure lay on the ground while the smell of a burger van wafted over the course. ?If I had any money in my breeches,? he said, ?I would have bought one. By the end of the day I must have put on 10lb, I consumed so much food.?
The jockey diet works, but it is a regime for a low target weight, such as you need for extreme sports, a holiday, or even to squeeze into your grandfather?s old suits. Meanwhile, I am content to be somewhere between a jumbo and a jockey.
'From Jumbo to Jockey? by Dominic Prince (4th Estate), is available from Telegraph Books at �10.99 + �1.25 p&p. To order, call 0844 871 1515 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
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