Daniel Morris, 32, was always described as one of those “stereotypical big guys”. At his heaviest, he weighed 26st 10lbs and struggled with simple, everyday tasks.
In his final year at Birmingham University in 2015, he and his friends made a plan to visit the USA, but Daniel feared he would get stuck in plane seats and wouldn’t be able to follow his dream of hiking at the Grand Canyon.
Grabbing onto that fear, he switched up his lifestyle and managed to ditch 11 stone in 11 months with simple exercises.
Daniel told Nottinghamshire Live: “Obviously, I felt terrible most of the time. I was out of breath walking upstairs, always panicking about visibly sweating when walking into college or school, and even worried if I could fit into classroom seats.
“Then, of course, there was the mental aspect of it. I was often anxious and depressed.
“I was due to travel across America after I completed my degree, and this became a huge inspiration for losing weight. I wanted to feel my best and not hold my friends back, as we had so many exciting things planned. I was worried about everything, from fitting into plane seats, to being out of breath on our planned hikes at the Grand Canyon.”
Daniel explained that the key to his impressive weight loss was setting “easily achievable goals”. He said: “I started off with workouts consisting of walks, 15 minutes on the static bike and strength training.
“Over time this developed into a full-strength routine, and eventually being able to run long distances. In the early days, I slowly built up my distance by running for 30-second intervals at a time. Soon enough, I was addicted.”
Just before his graduation, he reached his goal of losing a stone each month, bringing him to a total of 11 stone.
He now has a “much more positive outlook” on life and enjoys taking time to reflect. Daniel added: “I’m hugely grateful that my body is now able to take on these massive fitness challenges – it is just the best feeling ever!”
The 32-year-old, who is now the head of science at a special educational needs and disabilities school, has signed up to participate in the Adidas Manchester Marathon with his wife of five years, while their two children will cheer them on.
Taking place on Sunday, April 14, the Adidas Manchester Marathon is set to attract over 30,000 participants from around the world.
Daniel said: “I honestly can’t wait to take on this celebrated event in the amazing city of Manchester. My wife and I are running together and aiming to finish in under four and a half hours. We decided to sign up for the event because the atmosphere looks great, and the event is welcoming to everyone, which is often not the case with a lot of marathons out there.”
By participating, Daniel hopes that he will be able to inspire others to make a change. He added: “It almost sounds too simple, but the best advice I can give is to just put one foot in front of the other. Set smaller and more manageable goals that then feed into a larger goal and most importantly – believe in yourself!
“I was constantly dismissed as one of those stereotypical “just big guys”, so if I can do it, anyone can!”
