A young lecturer who weighed 21 stone due to gorging on ready meals, crisps and up to four litres of Coke a day has lost more than a third of his bodyweight through a strict new fitness regime. Daniel Sutton, 26, from Bath, gained weight on a student diet of full English breakfasts, pizza and an addiction to fizzy drinks. After a doctor made an offhand comment about his weight, he began walking to work, running and taking military fitness classes, tracking his progress using his smartphone. After losing eight and a half stone in seven months, he looked so different some people did not recognise him in the street. He has now run a 10km assault course in under an hour and a half for charity, and has even been pursued by a girl for the first time. Scroll down for video . Daniel Sutton, 26, lost eight and a half stone after changing his diet and attending military fitness classes . Mr Sutton said: ‘Losing the weight has also given me a completely new body and face, which I am still getting used to - but I love my new appearance. ‘I couldn’t walk the 500m from work to my car without breaking into a sweat before and now I walk up a 4km hill to work with ease. ‘Some people don’t recognise me any more - I've had to re-introduce myself to people I know, which is funny. ‘It felt like I was wearing a mask, but now people’s reactions to me are different. ‘But my mum said, the mask is off now, this is the real you. And she’s right.’ Mr Sutton said he slowly gained weight as a teenager because of a general lack of knowledge about health and fitness, and his habit of snacking on chocolate. He said: ‘The weight slowly built up ever since I was 13. I was always big, but not massive. ‘I was always the same amount of stones as my age.' Living at home with his parents, there was plenty of fresh food food for him to make fairly healthy meals with. Mr Sutton said: 'I didn’t have to go shopping and so all the food was there, so I could make fairly healthy meals easily with all the food in the house. ‘But if I was hungry, and I fancied a chocolate bar, I’d eat it. ‘If I liked the look of something I’d just eat it without thinking about it.’ By the time Mr Sutton was 26 he weighed 21 stone, eating pizza, takeaways and up to four litres of cola a day . A doctor making a comment about his weight spurred Mr Sutton into joining British Military Fitness classes which he now attends three times a week . By the time he left home at 18 to study maths at Bath university, he weighed 18 stone. At university, his diet deteriorated even further as he began to eat lots of processed food, takeaways as well as fizzy drinks and nights out with lots of alcohol. He said: ‘I’d eat microwave ready meals or meal deal lunches which always involved a big white baguette. ‘Now looking back I could have just eaten brown bread and halved the calories. BEFORE . Breakfast: Full English breakfast . Lunch: Ham or cheese white baguette with lots of mayonnaise . Dinner: Pizza, a ready meal or a takeaway . Drinks: Cola, beer and port . Snacks: Crisps, chocolate . AFTER . Breakfast: Three Weetabix with soy milk or low fat plain yoghurt with fruit . Mid morning: Protein shake, a Ryvita biscuit and a banana . Lunch: Chicken or ham sandwiches made with wholemeal bread, and mustard . Dinner: Soup with wholemeal bread . Drink: Water, no alcohol . Snacks: Snack a Jacks, baked crisps or fruit . ‘Pizza was a favourite. Or Chinese. I was definitely eating kebabs on a Friday night. ‘And huge mixed grills. I would go on JustEat and I needed to make up the delivery price so I’d add in loads of other stuff.’ He also began to drink up to four litres of Coke a day, the equivalent of more than 40 cubes of sugar. He said: ‘I drank enough to warrant sponsorship from Coke. ‘You can get Coke points. I wasn’t that bothered but my housemate loved it because I drank so much he could have my points. ‘I was drinking between two and four litres a day. ‘You get offers from the supermarket, two 500ml cokes for £1.50. ‘Then you get another one with a meal deal at lunch, then I’d buy another two litre one and drink that. He would also drink a lot of beer and port, usually four or five on regular student nights out. After finishing a PhD in maths, he moved to London to work as a software developer, but working long hours meant he still relied on processed food from the company canteen and ready meals in the evenings. He said: ‘When I started at the company I’d skip breakfast, then I’d go for a full English with my team in my break. ‘They had everything in it: bacon, sausages, fried eggs, the standard. ‘They did have healthy options like porridge but I never went for that.’ 'The motivation to lose weight came when he realised his high BMI meant he was classified as obese and his GP made a remark about his weight. After getting fit, Mr Sutton was able to run a 10km assault course race in one hour and 17 minutes, raising £150 for charity . He said: ‘I had a pain in my knee, an annoying twingy pain. ‘The doctor said “You could do with losing a few pounds” 'He didn’t say “You’re going to die”. 'But I joined the gym the next day. I’d been thinking about losing weight for a while, but now I thought I was actually going to do it.' He began running on the treadmill, going to the gym every other day. A friend’s jibes gave him the motivation to keep going. He said: ‘One of my friends and I would always have banter. ‘We’d argue to the bitter end about different things. ‘But at the end of the argument, if he was losing he would always say “Yeah but I can run faster than you.” ‘When I started training I wanted to prove him wrong.’ Delighted to be offered a job as a research assistant at his old university, Mr Sutton moved back to Bath in June to start work. He also discovered military fitness bootcamps. He said: ‘I thought bootcamps were where people ran around in gymnasiums. Mr Sutton has now been pursued by a girl for the first time. He said: ‘Now one girl pestered me. I didn’t have in my head how to deal with the situation because I’d never had that before' ‘But it was intense. There was this massive bodybuilder in this skin tight t-shirt. ‘He was the instructor. He’s from the Valleys and has a booming Welsh accent. ‘The warm up involved four lengths of a 100m sprint. ‘At the time I was thinking about making the gap between me and the back of the group smaller. ‘That was just the warm up. ‘Then we had to run through marshland. We did all sorts: 20 press ups, 20 star jumps. ‘I said to myself if I could complete one of these classes it was an achievement. ‘I dragged myself through.’ He began to attend the bootcamps twice a week, and carried on going to the gym on other days. Soon he had moved from the blue ‘beginner’ bibs at the military fitness class to the red ‘intermediate’ group who carry out more repetitions. He changed his diet, cutting out ready meals in favour of sandwiches, soups and fruit. He began to make small changes such as walking to work, taking different routes to increase the calories burned and tracking his fitness using his smartphone. On a recent holiday to a remote island near Crete he was even able to walk an hour each day carrying ten litres of water, a far cry from when he struggled to walk 500m. He was also able to run a 10km assault course race in one hour and 17 minutes, raising £150 for charity. Mr Sutton changed his diet, cutting out the ready meals, full English breakfasts he used to eat in favour of sandwiches, soups and fruit . His dramatic change in appearance also saw him pursued romantically for the first time. He said: ‘I was lucky – I was never bullied about my weight. I was always confident giving talks, I was the big confident guy. ‘I had a couple of girlfriends growing up, but I wouldn’t be confident approaching girls I liked. ‘Now one girl pestered me. She was always around wanting to chat. ‘I didn’t have in my head how to deal with the situation because I’d never had that before.' Becoming more healthy has given him a renewed sense of purpose and wellbeing. He said: ‘I feel more content now, there’s this huge sense of purpose. ‘I’d procrastinated about myself and my health for too long. 'I’ve realised, if you experiment with fitness tracking, tweak things, you find something that might work for you. ‘With all the apps, it’s become convenient to be healthy. ‘It’s great, and it’s only going to get better.’ For more information on British Military Fitness, click here .
Daniel Sutton, 26, who lives in Bath, ballooned to 21 stone by age 26 .
Ate a diet of ready meals, takeaways and up to four litres of cola a day .
Decided to lose weight after a doctor told him he was too big for his age .
Started going running on the treadmill and joined military fitness classes .
Combined with a change in diet, exercise helped him lose 8.5 stone .
His appearance changed so much some people didn't recognise him .
Was able to run a 10km assault course race in under an hour and a half .
Has now been pursued romantically by a girl for the first time .
A young lecturer who weighed 21 stone due to gorging on ready meals, crisps and up to four litres of Coke a day has lost more than a third of his bodyweight through a strict new fitness regime. Daniel Sutton, 26, from Bath, gained weight on a student diet of full English breakfasts, pizza and an addiction to fizzy drinks. After a doctor made an offhand comment about his weight, he began walking to work, running and taking military fitness classes, tracking his progress using his smartphone. After losing eight and a half stone in seven months, he looked so different some people did not recognise him in the street. He has now run a 10km assault course in under an hour and a half for charity, and has even been pursued by a girl for the first time. Scroll down for video . Daniel Sutton, 26, lost eight and a half stone after changing his diet and attending military fitness classes . Mr Sutton said: ‘Losing the weight has also given me a completely new body and face, which I am still getting used to - but I love my new appearance. ‘I couldn’t walk the 500m from work to my car without breaking into a sweat before and now I walk up a 4km hill to work with ease. ‘Some people don’t recognise me any more - I've had to re-introduce myself to people I know, which is funny. ‘It felt like I was wearing a mask, but now people’s reactions to me are different. ‘But my mum said, the mask is off now, this is the real you. And she’s right.’ Mr Sutton said he slowly gained weight as a teenager because of a general lack of knowledge about health and fitness, and his habit of snacking on chocolate. He said: ‘The weight slowly built up ever since I was 13. I was always big, but not massive. ‘I was always the same amount of stones as my age.' Living at home with his parents, there was plenty of fresh food food for him to make fairly healthy meals with. Mr Sutton said: 'I didn’t have to go shopping and so all the food was there, so I could make fairly healthy meals easily with all the food in the house. ‘But if I was hungry, and I fancied a chocolate bar, I’d eat it. ‘If I liked the look of something I’d just eat it without thinking about it.’ By the time Mr Sutton was 26 he weighed 21 stone, eating pizza, takeaways and up to four litres of cola a day . A doctor making a comment about his weight spurred Mr Sutton into joining British Military Fitness classes which he now attends three times a week . By the time he left home at 18 to study maths at Bath university, he weighed 18 stone. At university, his diet deteriorated even further as he began to eat lots of processed food, takeaways as well as fizzy drinks and nights out with lots of alcohol. He said: ‘I’d eat microwave ready meals or meal deal lunches which always involved a big white baguette. ‘Now looking back I could have just eaten brown bread and halved the calories. BEFORE . Breakfast: Full English breakfast . Lunch: Ham or cheese white baguette with lots of mayonnaise . Dinner: Pizza, a ready meal or a takeaway . Drinks: Cola, beer and port . Snacks: Crisps, chocolate . AFTER . Breakfast: Three Weetabix with soy milk or low fat plain yoghurt with fruit . Mid morning: Protein shake, a Ryvita biscuit and a banana . Lunch: Chicken or ham sandwiches made with wholemeal bread, and mustard . Dinner: Soup with wholemeal bread . Drink: Water, no alcohol . Snacks: Snack a Jacks, baked crisps or fruit . ‘Pizza was a favourite. Or Chinese. I was definitely eating kebabs on a Friday night. ‘And huge mixed grills. I would go on JustEat and I needed to make up the delivery price so I’d add in loads of other stuff.’ He also began to drink up to four litres of Coke a day, the equivalent of more than 40 cubes of sugar. He said: ‘I drank enough to warrant sponsorship from Coke. ‘You can get Coke points. I wasn’t that bothered but my housemate loved it because I drank so much he could have my points. ‘I was drinking between two and four litres a day. ‘You get offers from the supermarket, two 500ml cokes for £1.50. ‘Then you get another one with a meal deal at lunch, then I’d buy another two litre one and drink that. He would also drink a lot of beer and port, usually four or five on regular student nights out. After finishing a PhD in maths, he moved to London to work as a software developer, but working long hours meant he still relied on processed food from the company canteen and ready meals in the evenings. He said: ‘When I started at the company I’d skip breakfast, then I’d go for a full English with my team in my break. ‘They had everything in it: bacon, sausages, fried eggs, the standard. ‘They did have healthy options like porridge but I never went for that.’ 'The motivation to lose weight came when he realised his high BMI meant he was classified as obese and his GP made a remark about his weight. After getting fit, Mr Sutton was able to run a 10km assault course race in one hour and 17 minutes, raising £150 for charity . He said: ‘I had a pain in my knee, an annoying twingy pain. ‘The doctor said “You could do with losing a few pounds” 'He didn’t say “You’re going to die”. 'But I joined the gym the next day. I’d been thinking about losing weight for a while, but now I thought I was actually going to do it.' He began running on the treadmill, going to the gym every other day. A friend’s jibes gave him the motivation to keep going. He said: ‘One of my friends and I would always have banter. ‘We’d argue to the bitter end about different things. ‘But at the end of the argument, if he was losing he would always say “Yeah but I can run faster than you.” ‘When I started training I wanted to prove him wrong.’ Delighted to be offered a job as a research assistant at his old university, Mr Sutton moved back to Bath in June to start work. He also discovered military fitness bootcamps. He said: ‘I thought bootcamps were where people ran around in gymnasiums. Mr Sutton has now been pursued by a girl for the first time. He said: ‘Now one girl pestered me. I didn’t have in my head how to deal with the situation because I’d never had that before' ‘But it was intense. There was this massive bodybuilder in this skin tight t-shirt. ‘He was the instructor. He’s from the Valleys and has a booming Welsh accent. ‘The warm up involved four lengths of a 100m sprint. ‘At the time I was thinking about making the gap between me and the back of the group smaller. ‘That was just the warm up. ‘Then we had to run through marshland. We did all sorts: 20 press ups, 20 star jumps. ‘I said to myself if I could complete one of these classes it was an achievement. ‘I dragged myself through.’ He began to attend the bootcamps twice a week, and carried on going to the gym on other days. Soon he had moved from the blue ‘beginner’ bibs at the military fitness class to the red ‘intermediate’ group who carry out more repetitions. He changed his diet, cutting out ready meals in favour of sandwiches, soups and fruit. He began to make small changes such as walking to work, taking different routes to increase the calories burned and tracking his fitness using his smartphone. On a recent holiday to a remote island near Crete he was even able to walk an hour each day carrying ten litres of water, a far cry from when he struggled to walk 500m. He was also able to run a 10km assault course race in one hour and 17 minutes, raising £150 for charity. Mr Sutton changed his diet, cutting out the ready meals, full English breakfasts he used to eat in favour of sandwiches, soups and fruit . His dramatic change in appearance also saw him pursued romantically for the first time. He said: ‘I was lucky – I was never bullied about my weight. I was always confident giving talks, I was the big confident guy. ‘I had a couple of girlfriends growing up, but I wouldn’t be confident approaching girls I liked. ‘Now one girl pestered me. She was always around wanting to chat. ‘I didn’t have in my head how to deal with the situation because I’d never had that before.' Becoming more healthy has given him a renewed sense of purpose and wellbeing. He said: ‘I feel more content now, there’s this huge sense of purpose. ‘I’d procrastinated about myself and my health for too long. 'I’ve realised, if you experiment with fitness tracking, tweak things, you find something that might work for you. ‘With all the apps, it’s become convenient to be healthy. ‘It’s great, and it’s only going to get better.’ For more information on British Military Fitness, click here .
gorging on ready meals, crisps and up to four regime. Daniel Sutton, 26, from Bath, gained running and taking military fitness classes, looked so different some people did not recognise course in under an hour and a half for charity, and has even been pursued by a girl for the first was 26 he weighed 21 stone, eating pizza, takeaways and up to four litres of cola a day . A Sutton was able to run a 10km assault course race in gymnasiums. Mr Sutton has now been pursued by £150 for charity. Mr Sutton changed his diet, in appearance also saw him pursued romantically