'I became a dad at 50 - it forced me to lose three stone with food, not fitness'

At 59, Steve Bennett is in the best shape of his life - but he didn’t get there through to the bone. His health transformation, which saw him lose more than three stone, began almost a decade ago when he was set to become a dad aged 50.

Steve, a father of five and author of The Fibre First Diet, was on a trip to Tanzania when his wife rang with big news - she was pregnant. While staying with a local tribe, one of the warriors questioned his habits. "He asked why I’d gone running that morning," Steve recalls.

"I told him I wanted to become lean and fit. He said, 'It’s not working'. That hit me hard. I’d been , despite exercising regularly and cooking at home. I realised that everything I’d believed about health and weight loss was probably wrong."

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That encounter sparked a total rethink. Steve started diving into the science of nutrition and metabolism - and came to the conclusion that exercise alone doesn’t cause weight loss.

"Don’t get me wrong - I exercise daily. It’s essential for wellbeing, mood, and strength," he says. "But if you’re trying to lose weight, it all comes down to what you eat. The most overlooked factor is insulin. When you eat foods that spike insulin - mainly carbs without fibre - your body can’t burn fat."

He explains that not all carbs are the enemy. "Carbs in vegetables are fine. It’s the refined, fibre-less carbs - white bread, rice, potatoes - that cause the problems. I completely avoid those now. I always start meals with fibre. A handful of salad, seeds, or nuts. It slows digestion and helps you eat less."

That single shift, prioritising fibre before anything else, changed everything for Steve. He now weighs 12 stone down from over 15 and a half at his heaviest. His diet is simple: whole foods, nothing ultra-processed, and plenty of fibre.

"If your grandparents wouldn’t recognise it as food, it probably isn’t," he says. "My gran wouldn’t have known what a fish finger or pot noodle was."

Steve is on a mission to raise awareness about the dangers of ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, which he believes are at the root of the nation’s health crisis.

"The term ‘processed’ can be misleading. The real issue is the sugar and chemicals added to these foods. Most people know that crisps and chocolate are bad. But what about things that are marketed as healthy? Protein bars, fish fingers, chicken kievs – they’re often just junk in disguise," he shares.

He points out that many supermarket products use clever marketing to appear wholesome. "If something has to shout about being healthy on the label - ‘low fat’, ‘natural sugar’, ‘high protein’ - you should be suspicious," Steve explains.

"You never see health labels on a head of broccoli or a piece of salmon. That’s real food. Most protein bars people eat to ‘be good’ are no better than a Mars bar in terms of sugar."

Steve says change starts with education and awareness. "Years ago, I spoke to the CEO of . He told me he’d love to stock healthier foods, but people don’t buy them. The power lies with consumers. If we stop buying junk, will stop selling it."

For families trying to eat better, Steve says the key is keeping things simple. "Dinner can be vegetables and some meat or fish. That’s it. I don’t ban carbs completely - if I’m on holiday and there’s a beautiful piece of fresh bread, I might have some. But the foundation of my diet is fibre and real food."

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As a dad, he takes a balanced approach with his children. "If you make everything forbidden, they’ll just rebel. Occasionally, they’ll have cornflakes or something sugary, but it’s a treat, not the norm. My older kids can eat carbs in moderation. But for adults trying to lose weight, you have to be much more mindful," Steve says.

He also warns against the hidden UPFs we often overlook in the weekly shop, "If it’s in a packet and looks nothing like its natural form - be suspicious. Fish should look like fish. Chicken should look like chicken. Not be processed into a nugget or finger. People assume that if it’s on a supermarket shelf, it’s safe. That’s not always the case."

As for the building blocks of a high-fibre diet, Steve recommends foods where the fibre content outweighs the carbs. "Leafy greens, seeds, nuts, berries - they’re all great. Avocados are excellent. Apples are good, pears are borderline, bananas are a no from me," he advises.

Now nearing 60, Steve says he’s stronger, leaner, and has more energy than he did at 40 - and it’s all down to changing how he eats. "Becoming a dad again made me realise I had to be around for the long haul," he says. "And the solution wasn’t in the gym. It was on my plate."