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Lost 42kgs of excess fat by walking to work...

Progress

By Progress
in General chitchat

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Progress Member

Progress

Posted
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Good on him! :nod: Cool to see a real-life inspirational story in the press for a change.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/24791 ... thy-weight

(not sure if Stuff still delete their articles after a while, so here it is just in case)

How do you lose 42 kilograms while still enjoying fat-dripping burgers and scoops of greasy hot chips?

Start walking to work.

That's if work is nearly 10 kilometres away and you haul 62kg of bricks and wood on your back, and weights around your arms.

The first time John Broadbelt decided to walk to Canterbury Meat Packers in Bulls from his house in Marton in October 2007, it took him nearly three hours and was enough to make the 33-year-old man cry.

He had told his workmates he was going to do it but it was not until he stumbled in, dizzy, hyperventilating and drenched in sweat that they took him seriously.

"Somebody ring an ambulance, catch me before I faint," he yelled.

But at 146kg there was no way anyone could hold him up.

To everyone's surprise he did it all over again the next day, and the next, for 20 months.

His back and legs would ache, he would get into bed at night and be too tired to move, but rain, hail or shine he persevered nothing got in his way.

"I just used to chant to myself, `left foot goes forward, right foot goes forward' or sing along with my music to distract myself."

Before long, walking to and from work wasn't enough. He filled a back pack with firewood and stones, and grabbed some hand weights to lug with him on the trip.

"I wanted discipline I was annoyed I had let myself get to this weight so I wanted a challenge.

"I thought, if you let yourself get that heavy again you will have that big bag of bricks waiting for you."

He also started taking a friend with him on his walks a heavy chunk of wood he named Wilson.

"I introduced Wilson to make things more interesting.

"I created rules, like I had to hold him out in front of me and couldn't let him touch my torso so as to work on my arm muscles."

Mr Broadbelt also started taking longer walks on the weekends.

In February, he walked to Palmerston North from Marton with 42kg on his back.

Then to make it harder, he took a 15-hour walk from Marton to Taihape in April.

"I wanted to mix things up, this route had more hills." He left at 4.20am and got there by 7.30pm.

"People would stop and ask me what I was doing and I would joke that I was walking to Taihape to get some milk because Marton had run out."

He now weighs about 105kg and still enjoys the odd meal of fish and chips or McDonald's, but said it was nothing like the three servings of KFC he used to eat each day.

"I looked at my wife Jocelyn and thought if I'm going to be around for her and the kids I need to do something."

Since losing 23 centimetres from around his waist, he has thrown out all his "fat" clothes.

"I'm never going to get like that again I can promise you that."

His daily trudge has even inspired a number of families in the neighbourhood to start walking together.

"If I've inspired others to get fit then that's great.

"You just need to believe in yourself, persevere and have fun with it."

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Gym rat Veteran member

Gym rat

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What a legend

:nod: What a good role model for people wanting to lose 42kg.

what about people who want to lose 41kg?

I would also class that person as good role model for a person wanting to lose 41kg as well.
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Laver Senior member

Laver

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Yeh that was front page of our local paper,

Best article I've read in many months, what bullshit they put ni the newspapers these days.

Great article, great story, mad props, he's awesome. And congratulations on the paper for giving it the attention it deserved.

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Rag the Dog Member

Rag the Dog

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This fella walks past my house nearly every day, even in the rain :clap: . He always has hand weights and a huge pack. He is a real neat dude too. I thought he was an army dude when I first saw him. Every now and then I see him miles away from home strolling down state highway 1. Awesome character

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john.broadbelt New member

john.broadbelt

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Hi all.

Its all about giving it a go and believing in yourself !! check out my hard case auction on trademe ( type in john broadbelt in trademe ) - Im fundraising my trip to U.S.A - to chase a goal , to referee a rugby league game in the united states - MORE WILL BE EXPLAINED ON CAMPBELL LIVE TV3. got a facebook thing going on at the moment feel free to join me and if you want share a yarn if you wish up to you of course , its all good. my journey has been done on 100% will power and self believe , no assistance in any way , besides wilson ( block of wood ) , couple of weights , bag of firewood and the odd brick or 2. and the roads on rangitikei and manawatu.

which ever way you do it - believe and back yourself !!

cheers

john broadbelt

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Progress Member

Progress

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Hi all.

Its all about giving it a go and believing in yourself !! check out my hard case auction on trademe ( type in john broadbelt in trademe ) - Im fundraising my trip to U.S.A - to chase a goal , to referee a rugby league game in the united states - MORE WILL BE EXPLAINED ON CAMPBELL LIVE TV3. got a facebook thing going on at the moment feel free to join me and if you want share a yarn if you wish up to you of course , its all good. my journey has been done on 100% will power and self believe , no assistance in any way , besides wilson ( block of wood ) , couple of weights , bag of firewood and the odd brick or 2. and the roads on rangitikei and manawatu.

which ever way you do it - believe and back yourself !!

cheers

john broadbelt

:clap: The man himself! Welcome to NZBB mate!

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mungoman New member

mungoman

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Hi Johnnie, well done mate :clap: Ya got more staying power than me. Slothy would be proud of you. We must catch up before i shoot thru to Denmark again. When are going to the states ? i will be there in early oct. catch ya later . Mungo. P.S. Hi Jos.

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