Weight Loss Transformation – Adrian Owen – Amazing Loser

You know what it’s like – you wait for a bodybuilder transformation story and then two turn up in a matter of weeks.

We’ll come onto this but your dad was actually Mr New Zealand wasn’t he? 

He was indeed.

What was it that prompted you to put on weight then?

As a small business owner and a relatively new father of a girl and a boy – Maya 6 and Ryder 5 – I lost myself in trying to keep my business going through the recession and the steep learning curve of being a new dad. All of my past personal goals went out the window and I ended up lost, and in the end I lost me and who I am as a person. I ended up overweight, lethargic and hated myself, no, disgusted with myself and hid away not wanting any contact with outside people.

How did you know it was time to lose weight?

This came when I fell asleep behind the wheel of our car with my family in it. Luckily my partner woke me before we crashed into a parked car. Later that month we were at a birthday party, and we were taking photos of the day, and I saw one of me and I didn’t know who it was initially as I was so overweight.

[blocktext align=”left”]My doctor went into the next office and came back in holding another set of scales, one for each foot![/blocktext]

You were up near 400lbs which is a really uncomfortable weight to reach – what do you remember of that experience?

The way people treated me was just different, and I think that is a combination of both people’s first impressions and also your confidence within yourself. I remember one Christmas when we had all of the family around for Xmas lunch and we were all around the table, and I had sat on quite a robust plastic stool…. alas, not robust enough as it splintered underneath my weight as I sat back from grabbing some food. The embarrassment is one thing, but when your four year old baby girl runs up to you in tears to see if you are alright, and is just in hysterics it makes you think.

What did you do to start getting help then?

My small family have been with our current doctor for some years now and I was going in for an overall check up. I took both kids along with me to see my doctor and when I hopped onto the scales it went all the way around and then some! My doctor went into the next office and came back in holding another set of scales, one for each foot! And this went on throughout the visit, 175kg, high blood-pressure, verging on Type 2 diabetes, and morbidly obese.

She looked at me with a saddened look in her eye, and told me “Adrian, if things don’t change with you and your weight problem, I will give you five years before things start shutting down.” While she was telling me this I was watching my two beautiful children playing in the office… And I thought “I can’t do this too them and I can’t do it to me.”

So when you made that decision to make a change you had a pretty impressive mentor to follow, tell us about that.

Yeah, I grew up in the gym. My dad was Mr New Zealand back in the late 80’s. I started to train with him when I was 14, so you could say my first PT was Mr NZ! I learnt so much from dad and furthered my education at Otago doing Exercise Science and commerce. After owning cafe bars, and a design studio I lost my physical health, but I had the knowledge and the resources to make the changes I needed.

So how did your diet change – can you give us an idea of what you ate after you decided to lose the weight?

The approach I took was a ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting and that’s developed now into a more paleo approach. A sample daily intake would be:

Meal 1

2 scoops Whey Protein Isolate (with water)

1/2 cup oats

Raw cashews

Psyllium husk

Meal 2

Chicken thighs with skin

Seasonal veg

Raw almonds

Meal 3

Rump steak or beef mince

Raw cashews

Spinach

Meal 4

2 scoops Whey Protein Isolate (with water)

Raw cashews

Meal 5

Chicken thighs with skin

Green Salad w avocado

Macadamia nut oil

Meal 6 (if needed)

2 scoops Whey Protein Isolate (with water)

What was the hardest thing for you about the journey?

The hardest thing I found losing weight was me, and the shit that goes through my head, the general crap that gets in our way. I now help others lose weight and find themselves again. I share all the tips and tricks that helped me and others lose weight. Check out my website or like my page on FaceBook to get these.

How has life changed now you’ve lost the weight?

I have found me. I have learnt to love myself again. I need certain things in order for me to function at a certain level, to take control over what makes me feel good! Overall, I lost 75kg and gained lean muscle mass. I entered the Wellington Body Building competition at the end of September 2014 and won my division, and qualified for the National Body Building Championships two weeks later where I took third place. It was a very humbling experience to even be on that stage.

Massive thanks to Adrian for sharing his experiences of weight loss. If you’re an Amazing Loser, or you know of one, then get in touch. Don’t forget if you want to speak to Adrian about anything to do with his story then give him a shout over on Talk.