The long haul to a healthy weight

How do you lose 42 kilograms while still enjoying fat-dripping burgers and scoops of greasy hot chips?

Start walking to work.

That's if work is nearly 10 kilometres away and you haul 62kg of bricks and wood on your back, and weights around your arms.

The first time John Broadbelt decided to walk to Canterbury Meat Packers in Bulls from his house in Marton in October 2007, it took him nearly three hours and was enough to make the 33-year-old man cry.

He had told his workmates he was going to do it but it was not until he stumbled in, dizzy, hyperventilating and drenched in sweat that they took him seriously.

"Somebody ring an ambulance, catch me before I faint," he yelled.

But at 146kg there was no way anyone could hold him up.

To everyone's surprise he did it all over again the next day, and the next, for 20 months.

His back and legs would ache, he would get into bed at night and be too tired to move, but rain, hail or shine he persevered nothing got in his way.

"I just used to chant to myself, `left foot goes forward, right foot goes forward' or sing along with my music to distract myself."

Before long, walking to and from work wasn't enough. He filled a back pack with firewood and stones, and grabbed some hand weights to lug with him on the trip.

"I wanted discipline I was annoyed I had let myself get to this weight so I wanted a challenge.

"I thought, if you let yourself get that heavy again you will have that big bag of bricks waiting for you."

He also started taking a friend with him on his walks a heavy chunk of wood he named Wilson.

"I introduced Wilson to make things more interesting.

"I created rules, like I had to hold him out in front of me and couldn't let him touch my torso so as to work on my arm muscles."

Mr Broadbelt also started taking longer walks on the weekends.

In February, he walked to Palmerston North from Marton with 42kg on his back.

Then to make it harder, he took a 15-hour walk from Marton to Taihape in April.

"I wanted to mix things up, this route had more hills." He left at 4.20am and got there by 7.30pm.

"People would stop and ask me what I was doing and I would joke that I was walking to Taihape to get some milk because Marton had run out."

He now weighs about 105kg and still enjoys the odd meal of fish and chips or McDonald's, but said it was nothing like the three servings of KFC he used to eat each day.

"I looked at my wife Jocelyn and thought if I'm going to be around for her and the kids I need to do something."

Since losing 23 centimetres from around his waist, he has thrown out all his "fat" clothes.

"I'm never going to get like that again I can promise you that."

His daily trudge has even inspired a number of families in the neighbourhood to start walking together.

"If I've inspired others to get fit then that's great.

"You just need to believe in yourself, persevere and have fun with it."

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

Tips for weight loss from Manawatu Public Health Organisation clinical dietician Suzanne Aitken:

If you are seriously overweight seek medical advice.

Plan your meals in advance and stick to the list at the supermarket to avoid impulse buys.

Do not cut out whole food groups from your diet.

Watch portion size at dinner half the plate should be vegetables and then a portion of meat and carbohydrates.

Portions should be the size of your palm.

Never skip breakfast.

When starting an exercise regime start slowly and gradually increase, aim for 30 to 60 minutes of exercise each day.

- © Fairfax NZ News