Mark Ellingworth is less than half the man he used to be and he couldn't be happier, or healthier, after shedding 108kg following a life-threatening illness.
Life began to change three years ago for the man from Takahue, 19km south-east of Kaitaia, on January 3, 2009, when he woke to find himself on a life support machine in Whangarei Hospital.
His parents were with him, preparing for the possibility of deciding whether their son's life support should be turned off.
He had contracted double pneumonia and had been given six months to live if he didn't do something. That was the wake-up call he needed to set him on the path to a much healthier lifestyle, and the loss of 108kg.
He weighed 197kg when he got home from hospital, and was barely capable of walking around the block. The first step was calling on Reuben Murray at Reubenz Gym (now Infinite Scope and Fitness) in Kaitaia.
"He has been, and still is, a great help," Mr Ellingworth said.
"The biggest thing is to ask for help. You've got to make that first step. Don't be afraid to do that."
He changed his diet, with fruit and vegetables replacing takeaways, and began walking every day, starting with five minutes at a time. In the first week he lost more than 5kg. And he's proving his stickability.
He guesses that he's had two pies in the past two years ("I know now that you have got to work it off if you have it") and spends hours at the gym.
"I'm addicted to it," he said. "I get a buzz out of seeing people improve their health."
He had been overweight most of his life, the result of a lifestyle based on playing hard, drinking, smoking and not looking after himself. The problem compounded when he was laid up for six months with a broken leg.
His size cost him his job. He got depressed and the downward spiral began in earnest.
The health problems caused by Mr Ellingworth's obesity, but now remembered only in his medical records, included Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, chronic lung disease (he gave up smoking on day one of his new life) and heart disease (which no longer requires the 16 pills he once took daily).
His next goal is to compete in a weightlifting competition in May, where he thinks he will do well but whatever happens, he is happy with his current weight of 89kg.
Mr Ellingworth conceded that he owed much to his partner.
"If not for her I wouldn't be here," he said, "but I never gave up. It's all in your head. I got it in my head that I had to do it, that was it. I feel like a different person. It's unbelievable."
Since shedding weight he has competed in triathlons and duathlons, something he never imagined he would do.