Herdsman loses weight and falls back in love with farming

A Wiltshire dairy farmworker who lost nearly 60kg in weight says transforming his health has helped him “fall back in love with farming again”.

Dan Chivers, from Lyneham, lost 58.06kg after joining Slimming World following a period in which long working hours, poor eating habits and isolation had affected his confidence and mental wellbeing.

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“I was stuck in a rut because I didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in life. I just felt like life was thundering me by,” he said.

The herdsman works alongside his father on a 250-cow dairy unit near Malmsbury, where he is responsible for feeding, fertility and lameness work, alongside relief milking.

Lifestyle challenges

Dan said the assumption that physical farm work automatically kept people fit overlooked long hours, irregular meals and the increasing mechanisation of some jobs.

His decision to change followed surgery for a leg problem in summer 2023, which left him away from the farm for six weeks and gave him time to reflect.

Dan at work before his weight loss © Martin Chivers

After joining his local Slimming World group, he began planning meals, including preparing overnight oats and batch-cooking evening meals.

He also took up running through his local Parkrun and now swims, giving him interests and a social life away from farming.

Beyond physical benefits

The physical difference is noticeable at work, and he said jobs such as calving cows and bedding livestock used to leave him sweating and exhausted, while he now finishes work with enough energy to exercise.

But he said the biggest change had gone beyond his weight.

Previously, farming had been virtually his only interest and there were periods when he questioned whether he still enjoyed the job.

“Now I can talk about running, swimming, Slimming World. I’ve got so many more strings to my bow,” he said.

“It’s helped me fall back in love with farming again, and fall back in love with being a herdsman again.”

His transformation has also prompted changes on the farm, where fruit is now offered instead of biscuits at tea breaks and sugar is no longer kept in the staff room.

“We’ve developed our own kind of healthy eating policy,” he said.

Bringing people together

Dan, who was a finalist in Slimming World’s Man of the Year competition, is now training as a consultant for the organisation.

His first group was held at St Michael’s Church Hall, Lyneham, last Thursday (3 September)

His message to others struggling with their weight or wellbeing is simple: “Just reach out. Farmers and men aren’t very good sometimes at reaching out.

“When you are struggling, reach out. There’s absolutely no judgement at all.”