A Hucknall man has lost more than half of his body weight after years of 'hard work'. Mark Stephens began his weight loss journey in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and dropped from over 32 stone to just under 15 stone.
The 43 year old lost 11kg through a variety of exercises and healthy eating, and has managed to keep the weight off for more than two years. Mark, a former hospitality worker, moved to Nottinghamshire in 2019 and, after living with family for a while, was looking for something more independent.
He said: "I had found an Air BNB that I could do temporarily. When I was there the coronavirus then happened and I needed something that I could control, and there was very little that I could control other than my weight and what I did with myself.
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"You were allowed to go out to exercise but not much else, so basically to get fresh air I used to borrow my neighbours' Shar Pei dog all the time to go for walks. If they hadn't let me take Oscar the journey would have taken a lot longer."
Mark then decided to add other forms of exercising into his day after finding some weights at his Air BNB that his host didn't mind him using. He explained: "It was a dumbbell about 11 kilos and I did a lot of the various weight training things that I had on YouTube and got her help a couple times, and used the resistant bands as I realised walking the dog is great but I'm not using any of the other muscles.
"I was eating the same meal every day, terribly boring, but that regiment was the only way I could wrap my head around it and I just used to mix it up with different spices and sauces so it wasn't just tuna and pasta, which made it nice and cheap as well."
After months of hard work Mark could see the weight dropping off, and, after keeping the weight off for two years, he was growing frustrated with his excess skin and began emailing various doctors and organisations for assistance as the stretched skin was making it difficult for him to do daily tasks and find clothes that fit.
However, he said he was told towards the start of 2022 that this is something the NHS could not help with due to it being considered "a cosmetic procedure." Mark explained it felt like he did "all the hard work" and they "moved the goals" but he was prepared to live with it.
Sadly Mark's dad passed away in March 2023, which has changed his outlook on life. He said: "My dad passing away has put a few things in focus for me."
His dad passing inspired Mark to try and fund the surgery so that he could better live his own life. Speaking about the fundraiser, Mark said: "This £15,000 that I need for my arms and my belly, I've got it in my head as a wall I need to build, and each brick in the wall is £25 and that way it doesn't seem like such an unmanageable task as I've built walls with over 600 bricks."
When asked what it would mean for him to be able to get the operation, the 43 year old explained: "It would literally be life changing, and I've done all the hard work and put in all the hard effort. It would be amazing as well as I could go out to see mum a bit more."
If you wish to donate to Mark's fundraiser, you can do so here.
"I have maintained this weight now for over two years to prove that it wasn't about to be all put back on and that I thought would be enough," a statement on the page read.
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