As the chair collapsed beneath him, 25-stone Simon Furness wasn’t sure what hurt more—his pride, or his finger, which was trapped inside the seat’s mangled metal frame.
Gritting his teeth through the humiliation and shame, after he struggled to get back to his feet he made himself a solemn vow, he would kick his £5,000-a-year addiction to Chinese takeaways, and be the slim and active family man he’d always dreamed of being.
That was just eight months ago, and since then the 57-year-old has shed an incredible EIGHT STONE, all without weight loss jabs.
Instead, the former Morrison’s truck loader overhauled his diet, swapping his beloved greasy takeaways for a healthy meal prepping service.
At his heaviest, Mr Furness, 57, from Northwich in Cheshire, weighed 25 stone and struggled to fit into 5XL t-shirts.
Due to his weight, he was unable to spend quality time with his grandchildren, but it was the horror of causing a chair in his dentist’s waiting room to collapse in October 2024 which spurred him to make a change.
He said: ‘Whenever I see old videos and pictures of myself, it repulses me’, adding that thinking about the chair incident, which left him with a painful finger injury, leaves him feeling ‘terrible’ and ‘disgusted’.
Mr Furness estimates he spent £5,000 per annum—roughly £96-a-week—on his takeaway addiction.
He recalls: ‘I’d always have a special curry with special fried rice plus a big bag portion of chips. I’d probably have a starter too.’
Simon Furness was forced to sleep in an armchair due to his size (left), before he shed eight stone (right)
The grandfather, Simon, before the weight loss eating a Whopper Burger from Burger King
His addiction totally overtook his life, and trapped him inside.
‘I didn’t go to bed for three years – I was sleeping in my chair,’ he said.
‘I was depressed. All the money I had was all going on food, on takeaways.
‘It was at least £20 a night, £100 a week. I would get them five times a week. They were so easy.
‘Because I wasn’t going out anywhere, I would sit in the chair and order off my phone to get them delivered.’
But the silvery foil tubs packed with fragrant curry, rice and chips wasn’t the only unhealthy food he was dialling in to gorge on.
Alongside his five Chinese takeaways a week, his typical daily diet included half a loaf of bread, two large tins of soup, kebab meat, a 12-inch pizza and three packs of Haribo sweets.
His poor diet and excess weight left him feeling depressed, and caused him to develop type two diabetes and severe sleep apnoea.
This condition—commonly diagnosed in people who are overweight and obese—is where your breathing stops while sleeping.
Mr Furness claims his breathing would stop 104 times an hour due to his weight.
Because of his size, he was forced to in an armchair at night for three years, the same spot he ordered his regular deliveries.
Now, following a menu from Mindful Chef, he starts the day with two to three apples and a sweet tangerine for breakfast, a wrap with salad for lunch, and a nutrient-dense and filling dinner.
He has also ditched his three bags of Haribo sweets for an apple as a healthy snack when he feels hungry.
Now the grandfather is on track to reach his target weight of 16st after turning his life around
He said: ‘I’d tried Slimming World, Weight Watchers, tried everything but couldn’t get on with it. With this one, for some reason, it just sunk in.
‘Now I go on days with my seven grandkids—proper things like a grandad should do. I’m loving it.
‘I know everyone needs a little treat every now and again—I do myself on a Friday. But in the past, I just ate whatever I wanted and paid for it.’
He added: ‘Lynda, the owner, was so encouraging. The talks she gives are amazing and it really got through to me and opened my eyes.
‘She’s made me think about what I eat before I eat it. It’s just been a total diet change.’
Last month GPs were allowed to prescribe weight loss medications for the first time in a bid to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis.
It is estimated 1.5million people across the country are taking weight loss drugs through the NHS or private prescriptions.
But a growing number of experts have raised the alarm over potentially dangerous side effects of the jabs.
So far, more than 100 deaths in Britain have been linked to the jabs, latest data revealed.
Health officials confirmed at least ten people in the UK using the injections had died from pancreatitis—a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas.
In response, the Medicines and healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are investigating if the condition is more likely to strike some patients with specific genes.
It comes just months after the death of 58-year-old Scottish nurse Susan McGowan who suffered multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis after just two doses of Mounjaro—the so-called ‘King Kong’ of weight loss jabs.
Ms McGowan is currently the only named fatality linked to the jabs in the UK.
However, medics have told of a wave young women requiring life-saving A&E treatment after obtaining the drugs privately from online pharmacies.
In the majority of these cases, the victims had no weight-related health problems but were using the drugs for cosmetic reasons. Some were not even overweight.
