A man who weighed 18st 12lb has revealed how he lost five and a half stone in just six months by eating ready meals.

Stuart Campbell, 30, who is originally from Northern Ireland but lives in Herne, Kent, started gaining weight rapidly while working from home as an insurance processor during lockdown.

During this time, Stuart would wake up ‘as late as possible’, sit at his desk all day and do no exercise. 

In 2020, his 5ft 6in frame weighed 17st but by 2024, he had ballooned to 18st 12lb with a BMI of 41.4, classifying him as obese.

At his heaviest, Stuart wore size XXL clothes and ‘did not want to leave the house’ as he was paranoid people would look at him and think he was ‘massive’ and ‘disgusting’.  

Stuart Campbell (pictured) from Herne, Kent, started gaining weight rapidly while working from home as an insurance processor during lockdown 

Stuart would order greasy takeaway food at least seven times a week for both lunch and dinner

Stuart was regularly eating greasy takeaway food such as pizza, chips and fried chicken for lunch and dinner – and was doing almost no exercise.

Remembering his diet, he said: ‘I was having loads of high-fat foods like pizzas, chicken, chips, all the stuff you’re not meant to have.’

Prior to working from home during the pandemic, Stuart’s only form of exercise was ‘walking from the car to the office’ but lockdown ‘made that stop completely’.

Stuart started to consider weight-loss surgery and even looked up possible procedures on TikTok, but soon realised it was ‘so stupid’ to go down that route.

After deciding that ‘enough was enough’, the insurance processor embarked on a health journey to reclaim his own body and his life.

By walking at least 10,000 steps a day and eating around 1,700 calories with the help of Marks and Spencer ready meals from their low calorie Count On Us range, Stuart lost 5st 7lb within six months.

Instead of takeaway food, Stuart now eats chicken fillets with vegetables and mash; hunters chicken and wedges; and sweet and sour chicken with rice; which are about 300 to 400 calories per meal.

For dinner, he uses Gousto’s food boxes, choosing high-protein, lower-calorie meals.

He has found this method ‘really easy because it has taken the stress away’ and, as a result, he has been consistently losing 2.2lb per week.

After considering weight loss surgery, Stuart decided that ‘enough was enough’ and took his health into his own hands

Stuart started by walking at least 10,000 steps a day and eating around 1,700 calories

Instead of takeaway food, Stuart now eats Marks and Spencer ready meals from their low calorie Count On Us range. He has found this method ‘really easy because it has taken the stress away’

In April 2024, he also started religiously attending a programme called Man V Fat Football where a team of men wanting to lose weight are put in a team together and play in a league exclusively for those with a BMI above 27.5.

Each player weighs in before the weekly match and can score points for goals on the pitch as well as for weight loss.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Stuart moved to Kent about ten years ago for university and hoped that joining the club would help him make new friends, as he had no ‘childhood friends around’ him.

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Initially, he was worried he would not be able to keep up with the team and would be ‘the largest there’, but he soon ‘felt so welcome’ and found ‘no judgment’ from the other players, as they had all been in his shoes.

He said: ‘I would recommend Man V Fat. It’s been amazing for me, and being in an environment where everyone understands and is in it together has just been great.

‘I don’t know if I could have done it otherwise.’

Stuart is ‘so happy’ that he can now play football for longer than a few minutes.

The total amount of weight lost by Man V Fat players is 735,119,95lb – about three times as heavy as a blue whale. 

With the help of his football team and a low-calorie diet, Stuart now weighs in at 13st 5lb and wears a size medium in his clothes.

Stuart said: ‘I feel good going out now – I feel like when I was bigger, even though it wasn’t the case, I always felt like people were looking at me and thinking, “he’s massive”.

‘That was always in the back of my mind and I don’t really feel like that any more.

‘I just feel like I can enjoy my life now without this burning thought in the back of my head that everybody’s looking at me and thinking I’m disgusting.

‘I just wouldn’t go out and so I think that, alongside working at home, changed my whole personality, making me not want to do anything or go anywhere.’

At his heaviest, Stuart weighed 18st 12lb with a BMI of 41.4, classifying him as obese. By attending Man V Fat football matches and sticking to a strict diet, Stuart lost 5st 7lb within six months and now weighs in at 13st 5lb and wears a size medium in his clothes

Stuart doesn’t think he could have lost the weight without the help of weight loss programme Man V Fat

The insurance processor said he feels ‘a lot healthier’ and feels confident wearing shirts again

He added: ‘I mean, in general, I feel a lot healthier, and going out in the mornings for a walk just gives you that clear head for the rest of the day. It’s so refreshing and sets me up for the day now.

‘So, with the way I was before, my weight was held a lot around my stomach and my waist. I’d be pulling and stretching my XXL tops to fit me; a lot of shirts wouldn’t fit me because my proportions weren’t right.

‘Being able to wear shirts again is such a massive confidence boost for me because it’s something I never did before.

‘It doesn’t feel real – I still keep thinking that surely a medium isn’t the right size for me, but it is, which is just quite surreal.’

Stuart believes losing weight has improved his relationship with his wife, Chloe, 28, who works as a secondary school science teacher.

Instead of ‘sitting at home and watching the telly’ the loved-up pair now go for evening walks together to get their steps up.

‘It’s been refreshing for us both,’ he said. ‘And she’s complimented me. She can tell that I’m happier now.’

Looking to the future, Stuart is determined ‘never to let himself’ return to his larger size, as he is now ‘so conscious and aware of calories’.

He believes he has made a ‘lifestyle change for life’.

Stuart is keen to shed another stone by the end of the year and plans to stay involved with Man V Fat as a maintenance member.