Heartbreak and health scare changed my life for the better says fitness trainer from Ampthill

Daniel Kidman, from Ampthill, tipped the scales at 22st 7lbs when he turned 22 years old. But after suffering a major health scare and being dumped by his girlfriend of three years shortly afterwards, he vowed to turn his life around and has since lost over nine stones with the help of online healthy food retailer MuscleFood.com

Despite being an overweight teenager, Daniel’s weight really ballooned in 2010 when he became comfortable in his first serious relationship and got his first part-time job. He ate all of his favourite treats around the clock – from pastries and crisps to regular takeaways and litre upon litre of fizzy drink.

After jokingly attempting a few sit-ups one evening at the end of 2013 with his then girlfriend, Daniel felt a horrible, sharp pain shoot across his chest and after calling the hospital for advice, was rushed into A&E. Doctors found that he had, in fact, just badly torn his pectoral muscles.

Daniel, 26, said: “After I caught my girlfriend cheating on me and confronted her about it, she told me straight to my face that she just wasn’t attracted to me anymore. If my health scare hadn’t been enough to kick me into gear, hearing those words definitely did. I was gutted.

“It dawned on me that my eating habits had spiralled out of control. I was ordering takeaways most evenings because they were quick and convenient, and I’d think nothing to polishing off an entire family-sized bucket of fried chicken to myself – in fact, I saw it as a bit of a challenge.

“Although I quickly became determined to change my health and appearance for the better, it took a while for the gym bug to bite.” Professional trainers advised him on his fitness and diet.

Daniel overhauled his diet and started buying healthy, lean meat from MuscleFood.com and learned to cook and prepare nutritious food again.

With regular gym visits, Daniel’s weight dropped to 13st 6lb in just over a year, but being slimmer was not all he wanted.

He said: “I had to stop and think about what I really wanted, and that was to be strong, healthy, and ultimately to start helping others that had been or were in the same situation as me. I quit my job in advertising literally overnight in 2015 and started training to become a personal trainer.

Toned up and now weighing a healthy 14st, Daniel is also training for his first physique competition in September and he opened his own gym, L1FT, last year.

He added: “I’ve swapped unlimited burgers, pastries and gallons of fizzy pop for a wholesome, balanced diet that’s crammed full of lean meat, veggies and protein shakes so I know exactly what’s going into my body every day.

“When I was first starting out on my journey I’d sit and scroll through MuscleFood’s website and social channels looking at pictures of their fit and healthy supporters and ambassadors thinking ‘that’s who I want to be’ and four years down the line, I can safely say that’s who I am.”

Daniel said: “I’m living proof that you can do anything you want to with time, patience and consistency. If you’re in a similar position to what I was in, just try and picture yourself doing whatever it is you want a year from now. Ask yourself what you want to look like then and how it will make you feel, and then hunt that feeling down every single day until you get there.”