Journey to health

Kara, Marg and Christian (left) after starting on their journey to health nearly seven years ago. 8Picture by Liam Clayton The family (above) before they began to make changes to their lifestyle.

Deciding to change his lifestyle is a moment Kara Hull will never forget.

“I went to the doctor, hopped on the scales for the first time in years and saw I weighed 142kg. I remember the doctor saying to me ‘what's the deal with your weight?' and I said ‘well obviously I don't know . . .' ”

Sitting in the waiting room after the check- up, Kara knew he had to change his life — otherwise he could die because of his weight and miss out on time with his son and wife.

In 2010, Kara and Margaret's first child, Christian, was born.

“We had been struggling to have kids — we didn't think we would be able to have kids so we sort of gave up. Then all of a sudden this little dude arrived and he changed our lives,” Kara said.

They thought they wouldn't be able to have kids because of their weight and health.

“It affected everything. You would think that would've motivated me back then to change, but no,” he said.

Kara said being a new dad was one of the coolest things.

“I remember holding him in my arms the first night he was here and thinking ‘aw man, I would gladly do anything for this dude'. People tell you that you don't know what it's like to be a dad until you hold your own child,” he said.

After Christian was born they decided to get married.

“We didn't want to have a big wedding — we went to the registry office and signed the forms, then we quietly left town and posted on Facebook . . . of course it upset some whanau but oh well, we were happy.”

Kara's full name is Karaitiana which means Christian. His son is named after him.

Kara still wasn't determined to change his lifestyle but in 2014, they were deciding to buy their first home. They had to get life insurance to be approved for a mortgage, so they had to go to the doctor and get a check- up. That was when he made the life-changing decision to lose weight and become healthy.

“I've got to do this for him (Christian),” Kara decided.

Kara Hull, 38, was born and raised in Flaxmere, Hastings where he spent his formative years. As he was finishing school his mother Janet Hull passed away.

“I didn't know what to do with my life so I mucked around in pack houses doing manual labour for a while before meeting my now-wife Marg in 2004 when I was 21.”

Marg is from Gisborne. They had been talking for a while online so he decided to visit her one weekend with a VCR player and a bag of clothes. He never left.

“She was stuck with me and still hasn't figured out a way to get rid of me.”

Kara managed to find a job at Video Ezy.

“I loved working there. That's where I got a passion for talking and socialising with people,” he said.

He also got to watch movies all day. He worked there for a couple of years before moving into a job at the consumer electronics store, Bond and Bond.

Kara says digital technology was always his “jam”. Of course he loves video games, but finding time to play these days is a bit harder now he has a whanau.

As a kid, Super Mario Bros was his favourite and as a teenager it was James Bond 007 Golden Eye on the Nintendo 64, but overall wrestling games are his favourite. He could spend hours playing them.

Now though, he is busy working, raising his son and exercising regularly — but it took a few anxious visits to new places before it became a routine.

They booked an appointment at Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti to get started on their Green Prescription. Kara and Marg were anxious about it.

“I didn't want to go there. I was admitting there was a problem. I used to always talk myself down or make jokes about my weight. Admitting that it isn't just funny was the hardest part. Physically going into a space that is focused on my body and health was a scary thing. But we both knew we had someone there to support each other through the journey.”

They were given meal ideas on how to eat better.

“We were given discounted gym memberships and so we joined the YMCA and it all began.”

Kara is an early morning person and likes to get the exercise out of the way.

“I was scared to go to the gym. I was worried about how people would react to my being there. I got there and most of the people were nice and there weren't any problems. But I hopped on the cross trainer and there were a couple of guys working out behind me who started to laugh at me.

“It was the worst feeling ever but it didn't stop me from working out.”

Kara remembers Len Wawatai saying to him: “You're going to be the biggest guy in the gym — people will look, they will laugh, but we will prove them wrong.

“I had that in my head all the time.”

Kara noticed emotional and mental changes within himself by the end of the first week.

“I was feeling sore and tired but it was good. I have an addictive personality, so once the endorphins started flowing I was hooked.”

About a month into the journey, he noticed clothes weren't fitting like how they used to. Kara would weigh himself once a week. The first week he lost 3.5kg, and the second week 4kg.

While Kara went to the gym, Marg was busy going to Zumba classes as part of a 10-week series at Freedom Health and Fitness.

When Kara was at the gym, he noticed people participating in little work-out classes at the YMCA. He wanted to give it a go and one morning asked if he and his mate could join in.

“We gave it a go and we couldn't keep up with the girls there. They were encouraging us. I liked it because we had a common goal, a common enemy — the reps.”

Kara discovered more classes that were run by Alan Hogarth. He went to one with his best mate Jeff Rangihuna, his wife and a best friend of hers, Kati Chase. He loved the style of training.

“I thought I would be uncomfortable but it was great. It's the type of training I still do today.”

After three months of going to the gym and doing boot-camps, the gym started to fade away as he enjoyed the outdoors a lot more than being inside a gym.

Kara thought he had it all sorted — he had lost over 60kg and he thought everything was fine. Regrettably, he started to eat Burger King and McDonald's again, and did everything he shouldn't have done.

“I thought I was healthy because I was fit. But the weight started to trickle back on.”

He went from 142kg to 87kg within a year, and over the next few years he gained weight and was back at 110kg.

“It was not good. I looked in the mirror and thought I was skinny, super healthy, and so did Marg, but really we weren't. We had reverted back to where we used to be.”

He remembers talking with Dr Willem Jordaan at Kaiti Medical Centre who also manages Huringa Pai. He said there was a difference between being fit and being healthy.

“I could run and do all that stuff, but I wasn't healthy.”

Kara says that is where the new journey to get healthy started. It began during the March 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.

“It was a chance to reset and fix our eating habits as takeaways were closed. On day 1 of lockdown we decided to work out at home. Afterwards, Marg put a selfie on Facebook with ‘Day 1 Lockdown Gains'.

“I said to her ‘aw man, now we need to do day 2, 3, 4 . . .' ”

Just a couple of weeks ago, the pair got to day 365 of working out without a day off.

“It was a big achievement for us.”

Kara and Marg decided at the end of 2014 they would like to set up a fitness group that was affordable for people to join in.

“We knew those who needed this stuff wouldn't be able to afford classes, so we decided to do it ourselves a bit cheaper.”

Exactly a year to the day after the pair started their lifestyle change, in 2015, Kara began to train to become a trainer.

“It's the most rewarding and best thing I've done . . . besides being a father,” he said.

Kara says seeing people change and become the best versions of themselves is the best feeling.

“The amount of change I've seen in people's lives is amazing. Of course, losing weight is awesome but it's also about seeing people become happier.

“The biggest piece of advice I can share is that it is all in your head. It's about making a switch. Whether it's a moment or a conscious decision, it's about changing the way you think that determines whether it will be successful or not. Once you change your thinking, everything else will change.

“Everyone looks for motivation — something to motivate them — but it's not about motivation. It's about being determined that you're going to do this every day, determined you're going to get up and do it!”

' If people want to connect with Kara and Marg, just “like” their HULLKFIT Facebook page and send a message.