Father loses more than half his body weight to fulfil dream of playing football with his children - here’s how

An obese father has said his dream of playing football with his children was behind his astonishing weight loss, which saw him lose more than half his weight. He said he was sometimes ‘paralysed’ due to his size.

31-year-old Mark Marsden weighed around 26st 7lb at his heaviest but now claims that he ‘has never felt better’ after shedding half of that weight and slimming down to a far more healthy 13st.

Mark, who is a professional singer and DJ by trade, admitted the reason behind his weight gain throughout his 20s was down to “pure greed” as well as his "addictive personality".

It all came to a head in 2021, when he needed to be fed by his brother for three months after he was left bed-bound from agonising back spasms brought on by his weight. He also had to be “supervised” when seeing his kids, as he could not physically look after them.

His children are Riley, now 11, and daughter, Amelia, now five. Heartbroken Mark felt particularly saddened that he couldn’t be “bothered to play football” with his little lad due to his hefty frame.

But then Mark’s fortunes and lifestyle was turned on its head, undertaking a weight loss programme with Slimming World. Not only did it make him shed weight, Mark has said his relationship with his kids is now "fantastic".

Mark said: “It’s horrible to think that at one point a father couldn’t be bothered to play football with his son, but I didn’t have it in me.

“I was too tired and I didn’t have the mindset that I could be active and have fun. The relationship with my kids is now fantastic, and my son has picked up my healthy lifestyle choices.

"I’ll actually book Fridays off - I won’t do any DJing or singing. We might just go to the beach or play football. A lot of the time we’ll go to the gym. I’ve just picked up a six-month pass, and that way I will go twice a week. I’ve never felt or looked better in my life."