Who ate the pies??

The pizzas, the sausage rolls, the donuts, the kfc, the maccas, the whole chicken, the fried food, the desserts, the m&m's, the mars bars, the snickers, the hamburgers, the hot chips, the potato cakes, the pasta and whatever



else I could get my hands on?


This fat .............. (insert own word here!!)



The reason for this post is due to the fact that I was scrolling through some older photos (within the last 4-5 years) and realised that I was 1 BIG UNIT. Some say now that at 93odd kgs I am still a big guy, but at 125kgs, 93 is nothing. The above footy shot was 2006 when I came out of retirement and gave footy one last shot. For someone of my size and fitness, I actually had a good year.

From there my goal was to lose some weight to aid & extend my football career, so I started to run, which my legs could not handle, so I then decided that swimming would help. Bought myself a bike and 4 years on, I am off to Kona.

My first race I was somewhere in the realm of the below 2 photos (say 105kgs) but still carrying a lot of weight!


When I look back at these pics, I realise that losing 30odd kgs has not only made my triathlon career more successful than I ever imagined, but also made my life enjoyable. The weight that I was carrying is mind blowing when I look back on it, especially compared to now, but also when I remember the type and quantity of food that I was smashing at the time, I am really lucky not to have had a heart attack or two in those times.

My standard day was consist of a somewhat reasonably healthy breakfast: Maccas, then mid morning snacks would involve fried dim sims or sausage rolls (yes many of) or something of the like in a good quantity. For lunch, there was a convenient chicken shop across the road and whilst I would wait for my whole chicken and chips, I would snack on a few more dim sims (4 or 5). The only real saving grace for me was the fact that the shop closed at 2pm ish so there was no afternoon snack.

Dinner would either be a $20 odd dollar feed from KFC or a lazy 2 large pizzas. This may sound ridiculous, but by my photos, I was just that!! Throw in drinking a large quantity of alcohol on a regular basis (still haven't changed that part!!) it was a recipe for disaster! I always remember the 2 pizzas that I would eat regularly on a Saturday or Sunday at work after a big night the night previously. My mates would laugh in astonishment/embarrassment in my eating/drinking ability and wondered how/why I could keep doing it.

The biggest turning point for me was being with a mate one day (Watto) and saw myself side on in the mirror. I actually did not believe that the person looking back at me was in fact, me!! I am really glad that I made that observation as I can say that I am achieving something with my life. By being the way I was, I now know how to live a balanced life, perhaps extreme at times, but as the saying goes.....sleep all day, play all night.....No no not that one (that was my previous life) Now it goes like, train hard, play hard.

Keeping this balance keeps my mind in check and also my perspective on life realistic. There are of course times where you put your head down and get stuck into the job at hand and put aside distractions and other negative influences. But for most part, this sport keeps me fit, healthy and happy, why would I want to change anything??




Long long way from 4 years ago!!

For now...

X-Man

PS. I can also say that it is so much easy putting it on, than taking it off....Photos are motivating!!


For the record, my dad and I had a pizza eating competition, I managed 24 slices of a large and Dad devoured 27 slices of a large (crusts had to be eaten) before he went to have some dessert!!