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I lost 14 stone without weight-loss drugs

Matt WeigoldDerby
Martin Davis/BBC Two pictures of a man - one where he is larger with a 50th birthday badge and giving a thumbs up to the camera. And the second picture is of a man who is slimmer and wearing an Everlast logo T-shirt.Martin Davis/BBC
Before and after: Martin Davis halved his weight through exercise and healthy eating

Martin Davis says life has "opened up" since losing 14 stone (90kg) - about half his body weight - after a life-threatening diagnosis.

Martin, from Belper in Derbyshire, found out he had a heart defect and sarcoidosis affecting his lung when he weighed 27st 7lb (175kg).

That motivated the 58-year-old into losing the pounds without weight-loss drugs over four years by exercising, cutting out alcohol and eating healthily.

He says he does not judge people who choose weight-loss jabs and adds: "Losing weight for anybody, no matter how they do it, is a good thing."

"It opens your life up. Before, I was on a fast track to a coffin, now it's hopefully a slower track. Just do it, get out there and do it," he added.

Two images of the same man. The left image is a close up of his face in a hospital bed. He is much heavier and unshaved. Right, he is much slimmer, wearing a black sports t-shirt and pulling on a weight lifting machine.
Martin advocates exercise over all other approaches to weight-loss

Martin started gaining weight about 20 years ago and developed high blood pressure.

"When you're that sort of weight, walking upstairs is a struggle," he says.

"I was just eating everything wrong, drinking, doing everything you shouldn't do, and not taking care of myself."

Martin was diagnosed with an enlarged aorta, the largest artery responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood away from the heart.

Doctors discovered that he had a bicuspid aortic valve, the most common congenital heart defect, as well as sarcoidosis, a growth of inflammatory cell clusters on his lung.

Martin Davis A man smiling for the cameraMartin Davis
Before Martin lost weight, he says his diet included kebabs, pizza and chocolate

"The doctor said you either do something about it or you're not going to live very long," Martin says.

Martin stopped drinking alcohol, avoided junk food and exercised regularly, including daily 10k dog walks while carrying weights.

"Now I can do things, I can go out on walks, I can participate more with other stuff," he says, having narrowly avoided type 2 diabetes since halving his weight.

He also refused surgery to remove the subsequent excess skin, the majority of which he says has retracted through exercise.

Two men standing in a gym. Left, the man is in a black t-shirt, smiling and pointing at the man on the right. The man on the right is wearing a grey hoodie with his hands on his hips.
Personal trainer Clive Fearon says Martin's progress has been "fantastic"

Martin thanked his personal trainer, Clive Fearon, for helping him swap his lifestyle habits.

"His progress has been fantastic," says Clive. "The health issues that he's overcome as well, it makes me feel absolutely fantastic."

Clive is more dismissive of weight-loss drugs than his client.

"Drugs are not going to work for you. If you want to do weight-loss long term, you have to change your mindset," he said.

Martin says he is confident he will keep in good shape and has ambitions of completing a 100-mile (161km) walk across the Brecon Beacons in Wales next year.

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