Weight Loss Stories: Dawid Naude - Successful Weight Loss For a Financial Analyst

NAME: Dawid Naude

HOME: Atherton, QLD
JOB: Financial Analyst
AGE: 25
HEIGHT: 186 CM
WEIGHT BEFORE: 128 KG
WEIGHT AFTER: 89 KG
WEIGHT LOSS: 39 KG

Dawid Naudes Weight Loss Story

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THE WEIGHT GAIN

Naude had always been a chubby kid, but at university his weight ballooned as he was seduced by the freedom and hedonistic opportunities of the student lifestyle. “I lost track of my entire life,” he recalls. “I was failing my course, partying a lot with mates and was just a slob. I also had an afro that rivalled Don King’s. I'm not sure why, but to some extent I think I was looking for something to divert attention from my weight.”

THE CHANGE

One morning in 2006, Naude looked in the mirror and said to himself, “’What the hell are you doing?’ I realised that if I kept going like this I’d have a heart attack at age 50 and look back in regret that I’d let my weight keep me from living life.” He then looked in the mirror and mouthed the following words: “It's going to be tough, but you HAVE to do it.”
Naude started working on his dad’s prawn farm over the summer holidays and began using a rowing machine. “I said to myself, ‘No matter how tired I am, no matter how much I stink of prawns or how dirty I am, every day after work I'm going to do 20 minutes on the rowing machine before I hop in the shower.’” The stinking regimen paid immediate dividends. Naude dropped four kilograms in a week, spurring him onto greater efforts. “I became consumed by research, started eating six small meals a day and made sure that I got the right balance of carbs, protein and vegetables.”

THE WEIGHT LOSS

By the time Naude returned to uni he’d dropped 10kg. By the end of the year he was doing five-kilometre runs in under 20 minutes and had slashed 35kg. He then went to South East Asia for 13 weeks and “never even thought about carbs or fat”. He expected to top triple figures upon his return but to his surprise, only put on 2kg. “I’d changed my lifestyle and diet, but now I wasn't even thinking about those things. They were habit.”
Naude has since slashed a further 6kg and is in the process of sitting his chartered financial analyst exam. He believes his weight loss has been influential in a more committed approach to his studies and his career. His firmer physique has also meant he no longer feels the need to hide under the ‘fro.

“I used to be so disorganised and messy. Now I'm confident and energetic. My personality, in fact my entire life, has changed.”

THE WEIGHT LOSS ADVICE

Don’t give yourself any choice, Naude advises. “You need to look at it as something that is absolutely necessary. People torture themselves thinking about doing it. The most difficult part of going for a jog is putting your shoes on. Once you get started you find that it’s not that hard after all.”

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