“I didn’t want to become another statistic”
Martin Fletcher has shed almost half his body weight after taking up a certain form of yoga(Image: Submitted)
A Liverpool man who lost almost half his body weight in the space of a year has described the ‘turning point’ he had when a chair at a family birthday party collapsed underneath him.
Martin Fletcher, who at his heaviest weighed almost 26 stone, told the Liverpool Echo he knew something ‘had to change’ when the metal chair he was sitting on at a family barbecue could no longer bear his weight.
He describes the moment as “the main physical turning point” that prompted him to change his life.
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Martin, from Netherley, told the ECHO: “By the time your 30s come along, all of a sudden the weight is there and you’re morbidly obese.
“It became a vicious cycle. Every time I tried to train, I’d get injured. I did high intensity workouts and ended up with a limp for eight years. I tried football, damaged my ankles.
“I was always sore, aching constantly, I was exhausted all the time and I couldn’t play with my kids.”
Martin, a musician, tried to pursue a record deal in his early 20s. But the music industry but was told he was ‘too fat to do music’.
Stung but determined, he lost four stone in just three months. But the weight returned in his 30s, and this time, it was harder to shift. By his early 40s, he was nearly 26 stone and battling a host of physical problems.
Martin before his weight loss(Image: Submitted)
He was later diagnosed with severe sleep apnoea, which meant he would stop breathing during sleep.
He said: “I’d wake up sweating, gasping for breath, as if I’d run a marathon in my sleep. I could sleep for ten hours and still feel completely exhausted. It was unbearable.”
When he did eventually manage to lose the weight, amazingly, Martin did not join any weight loss groups or change what he was eating, and in just 12 months, he lost an impressive 10 stone.
Doctors had offered Martin weight-loss injections such as Mounjaro or bariatric surgery, but he refused both, and began a certain form of yoga that he claims has “saved his life”.
Martin’s breakthrough came after watching a former paratrooper’s now-famous transformation video.
Arthur Boorman was told he would never walk unassisted again, but he defied the odds using a unique low-impact fitness programme called DDP Yoga.
Developed by former professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, DDP Yoga combines yoga, calisthenics, dynamic resistance, and sports rehab techniques into a joint-friendly, high-results workout.
It’s designed to be accessible for people of all fitness levels and has gained a huge following for its transformational stories.
Now, Martin wakes up at 5.30am and does an hour of DDP Yoga six days a week, before his busy life as a working musician begins. He now weighs 14 and a half stone – a huge loss of over 10 stone in under a year.
He said: “DDP Yoga is now the only exercise I do. I haven’t changed what I eat, just when I eat, and I’ve kept disciplined.
“Without even leaving the spot, your heart rate’s through the roof. I’m dripping in sweat by the end of the hour. I’ve done no other exercise but that. It’s saved my life.
Martin changed his life because he “didn’t want to become a statistic”(Image: Submitted)
“I didn’t want my kids to grow up remembering that day at the barbecue as just another point where things got worse.
“Every single day used to be horrendous, mentally and physically. I was aching, limping, depressed. I didn’t want to become a statistic.
“I wanted to see my kids thrive, my wife thrive, and myself thrive. The only way I was going to lose weight was by getting my mind right and committing to myself. This time, I told myself a better story.
“I took it each day at a time. If I can not do any particular move on any given day, I focus on being able to do it someday and I kept putting the work in.”
Martin said the most rewarding moment in his journey came from one of his daughters. He said: “She hugged me and said, ‘Dad, I can get my arms around you now!'”
He is now starting the process to become a certified DDP Yoga instructor, hoping to inspire others the way Arthur Boorman inspired him.