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Home / New Zealand

Food the key, says dad who lost 102kg

Nicholas Jones
By Nicholas Jones
Investigative Reporter·NZ Herald·
23 Feb, 2012 04:30 PM2 mins to read

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Before and after shot of Damien Martin who lost over 100kg of weight. Photo / Supplied/Brett Phibbs

Before and after shot of Damien Martin who lost over 100kg of weight. Photo / Supplied/Brett Phibbs

Damien Martin now calls himself "the most unlikely gym-bunny" but still remembers what a struggle it was to lose more than 100kg.

The 35-year-old manager from Manurewa almost halved his weight from 215kg to 113kg, losing an astonishing 102kg - a shade more than the weight of All Black Richard Kahui.

Mr Martin's mother Jean died in 2001 aged 48 from obesity-related illnesses but for several years his own efforts to lose weight were futile.

Four years ago, he decided "enough was enough".

"It was just a constant start-and-fail process," Mr Martin said.

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But things changed when Mr Martin, who has a daughter, 10, and son, 8, joined a gym and completed a 12-week weight-loss challenge.

"That started the ball rolling, and I've just turned into the most unlikely gym-bunny."

Mr Martin said at his peak weight he gave no thought to what he was eating, and said the "Needn't" list [of foods which can be cut from your daily diet] would have helped him when he decided to start losing weight.

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He had since realised about 75 per cent of losing weight is down to diet.

"Definitely the more you know about what you are eating, the better off you are.

"And I think when you are in that situation, the hardest thing is to get out of it. I mean, 49 foods, you've still got options, haven't you?

"It's not like saying eat lettuce and a carrot every day."

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David Hill, a nutritionist at the Otahuhu Recreation and Youth Centre gym that runs the weight-loss challenges Mr Martin took up, also backed the "Needn't" list.

"There's lots and lots and lots of people out there who have very limited information about what is a healthy diet, or else it's just not registering with them.

"Food trumps exercise ... If [people who start an exercise programme] haven't corrected their diet the weight loss benefits of the exercise can get easily cancelled out," Mr Hill said.

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