Inverness singer’s impressive weight loss transformation: ‘I did it for my family and my music’

Becoming a parent demands fitness. Taking on lead roles in musical theatre demands strength and stamina.

James Twigg is dad to an active 9- year-old son, and currently in rehearsals as Galileo in Starlight Musical Theatre’s production of We Will Rock You in Inverness.

He looks in peak condition, but that didn’t happen by accident.

Two years ago, aged 42, he was overweight and out of condition.

It wasn’t a great look for his family or for theatre roles, so he resolved to do something about it.

He’d tried to lose weight before, but hadn’t got much beyond the ‘New Year, New Me’ stage.

But now, in less than two years, he’s dropped nearly 6 stone, is a regular in the gym, runs half marathons and does Hyrox.

“I’ve transformed my whole body shape,” he says.

What’s the secret to James’ weight loss success?

The best bit about it? His solution – diet and exercise – is tried and tested and not complicated.

“What it needs is consistency,” he says. “Anyone who’s tried to lose weight will do well for a period of time, but they will quite often, as I have done, fall off the wagon a bit.

“But for me it was all about consistency, whether that was in diet, nutrition or training.”

James says he was always a chubby adult, and lockdown didn’t help.

The weight piled on, as it did with lots of people at the time.

But becoming a parent and returning to musical theatre after a break of several years meant he needed to give himself a good talking to and commit to getting on top of his weight and fitness.

James said: “Before I started in January 2024 I was 19 stone, my diet was all over the place.

“I skipped breakfast most days resulting in overeating throughout the day, takeaway lunches and quite regularly takeaway dinners, and evening snacks. Combined with a pretty inactive lifestyle this was only going to get worse.

“After many failed attempts over the years to get fit and healthy, I decided enough was enough.”

Introducing ‘non-negotiables’

James’s first move was to focus on his diet.

“I Initially started tracking what I was eating in terms of calories and nutritional value and was shocked by how much I was over-consuming.

“From there I created a couple of non-negotiables, first one being always have breakfast, and then have no snacks in the evening. I didn’t always stick to those and while reducing calories I still wasn’t always eating the right things.

“The weight was coming off, but I still didn’t feel any better for it, and by the September was starting to see a plateau.”

At that point James joined 360Fit, a new gym in Inverness (other gyms are available!) and joined in coach-led sessions.

He said: “They were also offering nutritional guidance, and something else I needed, accountability with regular check-ins and feedback.

“Fast forward, I’ve been with them to date, apart from a wee break early 2025 when work got in the way, and I’m now fitter, stronger, healthier, leaner and more confident than I’ve ever been.

“Weighing 13st7lb, I’ve dropped 5st7lb, with one stone more to go to target weight.”

James started running at lunchtimes, and did a half marathon in March followed by Hyrox in Glasgow.

“That was quite a challenge, but joining that gym and sorting the nutrition out has changed my whole body shape, fitness and generally how I feel.

“It’s been totally transformative.”

James’s non-negotiables now look like this:

Three strength sessions per week; hit protein goals and start with a high protein breakfast every morning; hit, on average, 10,000 steps a day.

He calls his nutrition regime ‘consistently boring’:

1.      Breakfast – overnight oats

2.      Snack – yogurt

3.      Lunch – usually some sort of chicken with rice and veg

4.      Protein shake and a banana before training

5.      Dinner – more chicken (or fish), rice or potatoes and veg

“I usually plan the week in advance and take the decision making out of the week, which really helps me stay on track.

Occasional cheats

“Of course I have the occasional cheat meal, and I still enjoy a bar of chocolate now and again, but there’s balance and planning around it.

“My biggest takeaway from this journey is reach out to those that can help you with it, the team at 360Fit have been phenomenal and with their guidance I’ve remained accountable, consistent and challenged.

“Maybe by accident, but I always seem to have the next event booked, so that I have some goal to train for, the next one being the Kinloss half marathon at the end of August.”

James also has the challenge of playing Galileo in the Queen musical from Wednesday August 19 to Saturday August 22 at Eden Court, Inverness.

With his hard-earned new strength and fitness, tackling the physical aspects of the role are much easier, but he still has his voice to keep in peak condition.

Plenty of water and daily vocalising are key to singing success

James makes sure he does 10 to 15 minutes of vocal exercises each day, “and don’t drink too much, that will kill your voice,” he advises aspiring singers.

“Just plenty of water and daily exercises.”

James is originally from Ayrshire, and came to Aberdeen to study. There he met his girlfriend Pamela, now his wife, who comes from Drumnadrochit.

“She wanted to come home after we graduated, and I said OK, I’ll come with you, so that’s how we’ve ended up in Inverness for the past 20 years or so.”

Musically, James started out playing keyboards as a youngster, and then chose singing as his second instrument for his music Higher.

“It was a game-changer,” he said. “It became my first performing instrument rather than piano.”

Once settled in Inverness, James took full advantage of the city’s flourishing musical theatre scene, with roles in Inverness Opera Company’s Titanic in 2010 where he played a lookout, to starring as Jekyll & Hyde in 2013.

James said: “I used a musical theatre style voice for Jekyll and a more operatic style for Hyde.

“By the end of that run I was completely exhausted and had to take a week off work.”

From there, James took a supporting role in Jesus Christ Superstar, and the lead role of Tony in West Side Story.

“That was probably my favourite, fantastic music,” he said.

“We Will Rock You is a massive challenge, doing all those big Queen numbers.

“It’s all in the same key as Queen sang it in, so there’s some really tough singing in there.

“It’s rock as well, so you have to project differently, alter the shape of your voice to get that rock sound, very different from classical, so it can put a lot of strain on your voice if you’re not protecting it.”

James says his weight loss has been a game-changer when it comes to coping with the physical demands of musical theatre.

“Singing in itself is quite a physical thing to do. With Galileo, there’s a lot of time on stage, a lot of moving around, a lot of choreography.

“Dropping the weight and being physically fit has made that so much easier than it would have been.

‘I have more control, I can move better’

“In fact I’m not sure how well I would have done even a year ago in that sort of role.

“With the weight loss, I feel I have more control, I can move better.

“There’s more of a spring, a lightness, and I’m able to move in ways I probably couldn’t have before.

“The big one for me is the energy, having the energy to be able to be on stage singing and dancing for two hours, with two shows on the Saturday.

“I won’t need a week off work after this one.”

James has words of encouragement for anyone also on a weight loss journey.

“Celebrate all the tiny steps you make.

“At the start I could only do two butterfly sit-ups, now I can keep going all day.

Reward your successes

“Acknowledge and reward your successes – but not with food or drink, which is the tendency we all have.

“I’ve got a big collection of headphones I’ve rewarded myself with and I might consider upgrading my fitness watch.”

Starlight Musical Theatre’s production of We Will Rock You runs at Eden Court, Inverness from Wednesday August 19 to Saturday August 22.