CENTwenty-four days into the new year and I’m sure I’m not the only one still trying to shift that Christmas weight (damn you, Baileys) – but instead of spending a small fortune on a swanky, new gym membership, one student lost weight in a pretty unique way.
Tommy Monkhouse from London lost a whopping 10 stone (140 lb) in a year by simply playing the popular mobile game, Pokémon GO.
As many people know, Pokémon GO consists of you physically going out and walking around to catch characters in the street; something you obviously can’t do from your sofa.
With this in mind, Tommy – who weighed around 25 stone at his heaviest – was told about the mobile app and decided to give it a try as a form of exercise as well as enjoyment since he was already a Pokémon fan.
Tommy said about his weight:
It was only when I realised that I had got myself to a very big point and that was I’d put on so much weight that when I smiled my eyes closed. It was then that I looked at a photo of myself someone sent me and I didn’t recognise myself, I didn’t recognise the guy staring back at me.
Following the advice to download the game, Tommy’s first outing lasted a colossal three hours when he expected to just be out for 20 or 30 minutes.
When he realised how far he had walked and how much he enjoyed it, he began setting himself target distances to walk and target weight to lose.
CEN After a year of lengthy walks playing Pokémon GO, Tommy shed an impressive 10 stone and says the game has had the ‘biggest impact on his life’.
Tommy added that he’s feeling happy in himself, feeling physically strong, and physically better as well.
Speaking of Pokémon, fans of the game will be pleased to know it’s getting its own animated reboot on Netflix 22 years after the original Pokemon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back was released.
The official synopsis for the reboot reads:
When researchers discover and exploit a fossil of the Mythical Pokémon Mew, they unleash a creation that goes against the very laws of nature.
NetflixThe film debuted in Japan last July, but unfortunately hasn’t been available for English-speaking audiences until now.
Not to worry though, because all of that is about to change as it will be released on Netflix February 27.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.