Real Life

Dad’s 70kg slimdown

The Big Ward star wants to be a role model

Seventy kilograms is around the weight of a small fridge or 140 blocks of butter. But for Auckland-born Pasione Paea, 70kg means a lot more – it’s the difference between a life well lived and a life wasted.

While you wouldn’t know it to look at the strapping 1.96m security guard, this time last year, the proud father-of-one weighed in at a whopping 190kg. He couldn’t work or tie his shoes, he suffered with diabetes and back pain and, worst of all, he couldn’t run around with his darling daughter Sophia, five. He was largely confined to his house – and much of the time, to his bed.

Having once tipped the scales at 190kg (left), Pasione is back on track and Keita hopes a proposal might be on the cards!

After struggling to lose weight through diet and exercise, last August, Pasione opted for stomach- stapling surgery, which was filmed for hit TV2 series The Big Ward. Eight months on from the procedure, the 31-year-old’s life couldn’t be more different. “I’m about 120kg now, which is probably the smallest I’ve been since I was in my early teens,” Pasione tells Woman’s Day.

“I’m stoked with the results. My diabetes has gone and my back pain is almost non-existent. I was existing on painkillers for a few years, just to manage sleeping and moving, but you’re a s–t dad if you’re on drugs all the time.”

Pasione before his weight loss.

Pasione now, after a stomach-stapling surgery and a change in lifestyle and eating habits.

Keeping a watchful eye on his gorgeous girl as she races around at our photo shoot, he adds, “I was out with Sophia the other day and I started jogging alongside her – something I never would have done before. Then suddenly we were full-on sprinting. Before, if she wanted to go out for a walk, I’d just sit in the car. It’s those sorts of things that just make life so much better.”

Now working full-time and expecting a second child with his longtime love Keita, 24, Pasione never wants to return to how he once was.

“Everything I’ve done is for my two girls. I want Sophia to have a better life and a better attitude towards food than I had,” he says.

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