When Josh Collier looks at the pants he wore two years ago, he says: “I don’t even know who owns those, it can’t be me!”
But the year 13 student at Masterton’s Makoura College keeps his size XXXXXL clothes as a reminder of how big he used to be.
“I’m determined not to go back,” says Josh, aged 18.
Josh has lost a staggering 80kg – not with surgery or pills – but through good eating, exercise and “a heap of determination”.
Josh says he was born big, and the weight crept on.
“My family are small, but I’ve always been a giant,” says the towering teen, standing at 6 foot 6. “My mum thinks it’s from my great uncle who was 7 foot tall and had hands like dinner plates.”
But by the time Josh was 14, he was 150kg.
At 16, he tipped the scales at 180kg.
“It was harsh. I would bowl three pies for morning tea and still be hungry. I had trouble sleeping, and would pant making a snack.”
He also became the target of bullies.
“I’ve always been mouthy, so I gave them a piece of my mind. I wasn’t depressed and didn’t hate myself,” he says. “But yeah, the fat kid always gets hassled – that was me.”
At 14, Josh looked in the mirror and thought, “I can change this.”
His parents signed him up at a gym, where he met fitness trainer Rima Marurai, who had spent 13 years in the army.
“I told it to him straight,” says Rima, aged 35. “He was obese, and if he kept going the way he was, it would kill him.”
Rimu helped Josh with a programme, but at 14 he struggled to keep up.
He dropped out, and the weight kept piling on.
Two years later, he signed up for Makoura College’s service academy programme, which gears students towards a career in the forces. “It was scary but I knew I had to do something,” says Josh.
By then, Rima was the director.
Rima couldn’t weigh Josh because the scales only went to 160kg.
“I said, you are going to have to keep coming back so I can get a reading’.
Rima taught Josh about nutrition – not a diet, but a healthy eating plan.
Josh ditched junk food, and cut out all sugar.
Rima got him training every week and soon they saw results.
“All I had to do was encourage and support – from the start he had the mindset.”
Two years ago, Josh could only run 200m. Now he runs 6km in less than 30 minutes.
Josh is keeping his career options open for next year – but in the meantime, he’s fielding calls from other teenagers wanting to lose weight.
“Yeah I guess I am a bit of a role model, he says. “My family are real proud, but anyone can do it – the hardest part is starting.”
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