An IT worker who consumed over two thousand energy drinks a year fought off a heart attack scare to lose eight stone
34-year-old Darren Burns weighed a hefty 22 stone, previously living off a diet that saw him put away over 5,000 calories a day.
It was only when he saw himself in a photo with former Newcastle United footballer Papiss Cisse that he acknowledged the reality of his weight gain. The situation took a further turn for the worse when burns was admitted to hospital following a ‘frightening’ heart attack scare.
Burns was told that he could have easily developed diabetes. Doctors also remarked that his hospital admission was probably triggered by an energy drink addiction. Thankfully, Burns has now completely turned his health and lifestyle around to slash an incredible eight stone off his waistline.
The Gateshead man had previously taken his sweet tooth to extremes, regularly chowing down on sharing bags of chocolate to consume over 5,000 calories per day. He says:
“I could take down a 1,000 calorie burger with chilli cheese fries, breaded chicken and a bar of chocolate afterwards. That’s not to mention a ridiculous amount of fizzy drinks.”
Burns’ weight gain increased to a whopping 22 stone, exacerbated by a stressful work life that prompted the father-of-one to gulp down six energy drinks a day. It took two significant life moments for Burns’ health to truly come to the fore.
“I always knew I was a big lad, and carried it quite well in my mind initially.
“But then I was out for a meal with my friends and got a photo taken with a footballer. I saw the photo and just thought “oh my god, what on Earth has happened to me.””
Although the photograph provided a visual picture of his health, it wasn’t until he was admitted to hospital with chest pain that Burns knew lessons needed to be learned.
“It got really frightening. They put me on a heart machine and were concerned I was having a heart attack. In the meantime, the guy next to me was actually having one.”
Having been rushed to hospital, Burns was relieved to later find out that the palpitations he had experienced were most likely a form of panic attack brought on by stress and an addiction to energy drinks.
“I’ve got a daughter and thought that I had to change or I wasn’t going to even be able to live an active lifestyle and play with her.”
“I went to the doctors and the nurse was very blunt with me. She said that if I don’t change my diet or lifestyle right now, in perhaps 10 years I would get diabetes.
“She also said I might not even be able to walk because I’d be that big.”
Burns eventually decided upon a proactive approach to losing weight, first turning towards friend and PT, Lewis Cooke, who helped him kickstart an incredible eight stone transformation.
Darren’s daily diet
- Breakfast: protein pancakes when not during intermittent fasting
- Lunch: lots of protein – chicken breast, high protein salad, or shake with oats in
- Dinner: grilled chicken burger in a bun with homemade sweet potato fries
- Snacks: protein drink or protein bar, low fat crisps, protein mug cake
Going from coach potato to sweet potato, Burns completely altered his diet, ditching junk food while also finding a new passion in the form of fitness.
“Lewis really helped me get off on the right foot and I learnt a lot about nutrition and how to workout in the gym through his program, amazing coaching and support.
“I hated cardio and found out that I loved lifting weights!”
With Cooke taking a step back from direct coaching to focus on his full-time career, Burns turned to LDN Muscle.
“I decided to invest in the LDN Muscle Cutting guide after researching it. It wasn’t that expensive, but the information in there was amazing.”
Helping the 34-year-old with his training, Burns maintained regular contact with the LDN Muscle team for advice.
“They’re very honest about everything, and that’s exactly what you need when there are so many supplements out there.
“If they didn’t believe in something, they’d just say. Not only that, but they’d always answer any questions I had really quickly.”
Having achieved such impressive levels of weight loss, Burns now plans on adding muscle size.
If you – or someone you know – has made an impressive transformation with a story to tell, you could be featured on JOE’s Transformation Tuesday!
Just send your nominations to Alex.Roberts@JOE.co.uk
Read more from JOE’s Ditch The Dad Bod series
