Wellingborough slimmer who lost 20st to take on London Marathon as he loves living his new life

But since losing 20 stone, that’s 280lbs or 127kg, Adam, 51, is making up for lost time embracing life to the full, so signing up for the London Marathon is just another step on his weight loss ‘journey’.

He’s found a new lease of life after shifting a mind-boggling amount of weight, determined to get to the finish line on April 27 for his first crack at the 26.2 mile course

Running under the Slimming World banner, the weight loss group named him their ‘Greatest Loser’ in 2023 and raising funds for charity Alzheimer's Research.

And although hoping to finish in about five and a half hours, Adam’s priority is to finish and enjoy it.

He said: “I’ll be running further than ever before. I want to take it all in – and finish. I'm running to celebrate the new me and raise important funds for Alzheimer's Research. I don't want any more friends or family to have to suffer from this horrible condition.”

Sports fan Adam has always been an athletics enthusiast travelling around the world to watch events, but his weight – and lack of confidence – prevented him from taking part.

He had a brief spell as a shot putter but for his sports career he concentrated his efforts on officiating at meets. He recently qualified as a national level athletics field official.

His passion for volunteering kept him in the thick of the action but it was when his regional-level field athletics official friends took him aside for ‘conversations’ about his ability to do the physical part of the role and was given ‘gentle duties’, he knew he had to make a change.

Losing pounds had been an ever-present goal since gaining weight at the rate of a stone a year since moving to Wellingborough and Weavers School in the middle of his GCSEs.

Secondary school gave him the opportunity to get to university and study English and History. At this point he was ‘big’, but the death of his dad when Adam was 22, led to a comfort eating.

Adam said: “I don’t want to blame him, I just didn’t cope very well. In 1999, I was 25 years old and 29 stone. I know that because I was elected (to the former Borough Council of Wellingborough). I weighed myself at Boots. I would lose a stone and then celebrate with food and any celebration with food isn’t going to end well. I did Weight Watchers, the Atkins, cabbage soup – I tried them all.”

Adam tried a drug that prevents the gut from absorbing fats in food leaving them to go straight through the guts and out the other end.

He admitted he still managed to ‘cheat’ with some unfortunate side effects – Adam says with a twinkle in his eye ‘happiness is a dry fart’.

Adam said: "I would eat properly then there would be days of self-loathing – boredom, sadness tiredness, needing love. It’s a vicious circle. I would binge when I was happy, I would binge when I was sad. I would cook garlic bread and eat it. While I ate that a pizza was in the oven and I’d eat that, then sausage rolls, then crisps, sweets and doughnuts. I would eat for four people.”

At his heaviest Adam reached 38 stone having to buy clothes – 6XL – from a specialist stockist in Birmingham.

He said: “I knew I was killing myself. I was offered a gastric bypass but there would have been risks. My mum tried to make me care. She would say ‘you know you are killing yourself’. I would nod and change the subject. You can’t transfer an ounce of motivation. You’ve got to want it for yourself.”

In 2013 Adam weighed 38 stone with a BMI of 68, In July 2020 he had gradually reached 34 and a half stone.

He would eat healthy foods but would top up with junk. The penny dropped finally after a trip to the supermarket. He looked at his purchases on the checkout and saw his healthy Slimming World meals and a whole lot of ‘crap’ – sweets, crisps and biscuits.

Adam went ‘cold turkey’. He took Slimming World’s advice seriously.

"The first week I lost half a stone. By the end of the year I’d lost four and a half stone. In 2021 I lost seven stone. In 2022 another three and a half stone. 2023 I lost two and a half stone.

"I’ve just bought my first clothes without an ‘X’ on it. I haven’t had a biscuit, crisp or doughnut since July 14, 2020. By my 50th birthday in August 2023, I had lost half of my body weight.”

Adam held a celebration party with all his friends from all his different parts of his life – Doctor Who fans, athletics officials, work colleagues, Slimming World pal and political allies –marking the beginning of the new Adam Henley.

Adding Parkrun to his exercise swimming regime, he used the Couch to 5K app, training which has led to the London Marathon via the Kettering Half Marathon.

To enable him to run without being encumbered by excess skin as a result of his weight loss, last year Adam went through a operation to remove a loose abdominal ‘apron’.

Recovering well and he is very pleased with the results.

He said: “I love the new me. I’m living the life I never had. I’m doing the things I never thought I could do. Life is so much easier. It’s a chance to start again and live a whole new life.”

Adam’s advice for tackling weight loss – and a new challenge like a marathon – chime.

He said: “You can’t do it in one step. Take each day as it comes. Don’t let a meal become a bad day. Don’t let a bad day become a bad week. Don’t let a bad week become a bad month. That first week was hard – but now it’s easy.”

Last month Adam announced he would not be standing for election after serving as a Labour councillor for 18 years. He had ambitions at one time to be the MP for Wellingborough. Following his belief in public service he is back serving as a community governor – a role he loves, and working in the NHS.

He added: “I thought I was heading for an early grave, now I’m young free and single!”

To donate to Adam’s London Marathon fundraiser go to https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/adam-henley.