'Paralysed' dad loses half body weight for 'dream' of playing football with kids
An obese dad left "paralysed" due to his size says his dream of playing football with his kids helped him lose more than half his weight.
Mark Marsden, 31, ballooned to around 26st 7lb at his heaviest but now says he’s “never felt better” after slimming down to far more healthy 13 stone. The professional singer and DJ admitted that “pure greed” and his “addictive personality” led him to pile on the pounds throughout his 20s.
In 2021, 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. During this time, he had to be “supervised” when seeing his son, Riley, now 11, and daughter, Amelia, now five, as he was physically unable to look after them.
Heartbroken Mark felt particularly saddened that he couldn’t be “bothered to play football” with his little lad due to his hefty frame. But he turned his fortunes around when he undertook a weight loss programme with Slimming World - and said his relationship with his kids is now “fantastic”.
Mark at one point weighed in at 26st 7lb (Mark Marsden / SWNS)
He now says he has never felt better (Tom Maddick SWNS)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’ve never felt or looked better in my life.”
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Mark, from Aston, in South Yorkshire, said he’d got into harmful eating habits during his childhood. During this time, he said he’d become used to gorging on a diet of takeaways - while being allowed to tuck into mostly fast food whenever he liked. Mark said: “My dad was a bloke and didn’t really cook meals. We looked after ourselves. We’d eat whatever he was fancying. It wasn’t a healthy meal. The main reason was pure greed and obviously convenience as well.”
His dream was to be able to play football with his kids (Tom Maddick SWNS)Mark said friends and partners hadn’t criticised his weight gain, telling him they liked him how he was during his 20s. But just over two years ago, in May 2021, his eating habits finally took their toll when he was left bedridden for three months due to painful back spasms.
He said: “I’d got nerve damage in my back through the excess weight I was carrying. I couldn’t move. I’ve never been in worse pain in my life.” Mark said he managed to lose around three stone once he had become mobile again simply by moving around.
Mark pictured with his kids (Tom Maddick SWNS)And although he’d tried various diets, he decided to join Slimming World in November 2021, where he spent the next year cutting down his weight. He said: “Within six months I’d lost seven stone just through following their food plan, a lifestyle change sort of thing.
“After that, I started exercising, and I felt really good - like I wanted to exercise.” Mark, who now goes to the gym at least twice a week. But he had never given up singing and DJing, which is his life passion.
And he’s now been able to turn this into his main profession, touring around the country while singing everything from power ballads to swing and jazz. He added: “I’m actively trying to get to the front of the stage and I buy a new suit every week - it’s fantastic.”
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