Doncaster music fan returns to Leeds Festival 14 stone lighter

Before and after: Aaron Walker lost 14 stone after a "light-bulb moment"

A music lover has returned to Leeds Festival having lost 14 stone (89kg), after he was too out of breath to see his favourite band on his last visit.

Aaron Walker weighed nearly 27 stone (170kg) at the 2021 event, and said he struggled to make the five-minute walk to a different stage.

Then in a "light-bulb moment", he decided to join a slimming club.

Mr Walker, 27, said: "I've gone from not being able to climb stairs to climbing mountains."

The Doncaster mortgage underwriter told the BBC he felt "embarrassed and anxious" after he watched his friends go off to watch the Two Door Cinema Club without him because he was too tired to walk.

Afterwards, he realised what a waste it was for "young men my age to be sat down and missing out" because of their weight, and resolved to change his lifestyle.

Mr Walker said he felt anxious and embarrassed at his heaviest

Mr Walker said it was only once he started to slim down that he realised how "unhappy, unhealthy and miserable" he had been.

He joined Slimming World a few months after Leeds Festival and has gone from 26st 7lbs to 12st 10lbs - adding he is still not done.

Mr Walker said: "I was nervous about going to Slimming World because I thought I would be the only younger man there. People associate it with older women so I did have a bit of anxiety.

"But everyone was so welcoming and encouraging. Everyone has the same goal."

Mr Walker said that he had always been on the heavy side but once he started university, his weight started to increase and he lived on takeaways, crisps, cakes and sugary drinks.

But now he prepares his own food and has replaced his old high-fat favourites with "fakeaways".

'The biggest change is my confidence'

His family are "very proud" of his weight loss and his university friends do not recognise him, Mr Walker said.

Since changing his lifestyle, Mr Walker has climbed three mountains and completed the Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge.

He said: "I've done Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon - I burst into tears when I got to the top because I never believed I would be able to do it.

"The biggest change in my life is my confidence."

Mr Walker returned to Leeds Festival last weekend "half his size" and said this time round he had "the best time" of his life.

He is Slimming World's Man of the Year 2023.