TOP STORY: Tom's a big loser and he's really proud of it

CHLOE JOHNSON
Tom Davis is virtually half the man he used to be, having shed 100kg (that's the equivalent of about three 12-year-olds) from his large frame. He's now 130kg.
Five pies and a cream doughnut washed down with a bottle of soft drink was a normal start to his day before heading for work to drive a forklift. But today Tom is inspiring others with his dramatic weight-loss story. Two-and-a-half years ago, weighing 233kg and barely able to walk 200 metres, Tom was morbidly obese.
He wasn't a chubby kid, or the "fatso" in the playground - he was quite the opposite; a "gym junky" who lived for working out, playing rugby, keeping fit and, of course, looking good to impress the women.
"I was the 'kissing-the-muscles-in-the-mirror' type of guy," Tom, 38, said, with a laugh.
But the muscle shirts were swapped for XXXLs after a holiday to Wellington, about 10 years ago with a gym junkie buddy who, had a stroke.
"I just thought with all this fitness and health he still had that (stroke)," Tom, of Flaxmere, says.
"That's basically when I just gave up, and it went downhill from there."
Tom began to not care about what he put in his mouth, started skipping the gym and became "a fat lazy guy".
The tuna salads were traded in for $50 worth of McDonald's, "and that was just one meal for me", he says. The weight continued to pile on, in fact so much so that doctors feared for his health.
Tom's heart became enlarged and when his breathing became weak his doctor decided to admit him to hospital. "I was just sick. I had so much fluid in my body that they put drips in me to drain 30kg, " he says.
But realising his life was at risk wasn't the key factor that motivated him to lose weight (although it did play a huge part).
" It was when my nephew, who was 10-years-old, came up to me and asked if I would be around for his 21st. That really hurt" he says.
Tom quit work to focus on losing weight. He successfully stripped 10kg from his body, but was inclined to slip into his old ways so decided to seek professional help.
"For me, I either had to be totally committed to work, or my heath, and when it comes to health ... "
His doctor recommended the Kori Tinana Me Nga Kai Totika health and nutrition course at Te Taiwhenua gym, which is a free, six month-weight loss programme for obese or severely overweight people.
"I drove to the gym one morning and just parked outside. I sat there for two hours, just trying to pluck up the courage to go inside.
"I finally just walked in and said 'I need help'." And help is exactly what Tom got. He says his personal trainers, Heather Skipworth and Deanna Tahau, pushed him to his limit, creating a programme to suit his needs.
Their first step was to attack his diet, so instead of several pies and doughnuts for lunch he would have a sandwich and an apple.
"But eating wasn't really my problem, it was the exercise. I was put on the treadmill, the bike ... I mean my knees were banging my stomach on the bike."
Two-and-a-half years of hard slog, restricted diet and dedication later, Tom's 100kg lighter, has entered several triathlons, completed the Great Lake Taupo Walk and is a "wanna-be trainer".