Gutless Wonders - Garreth Handke

NAME: GARRETH HANDKE
HOME: AIRPORT WEST, VIC
JOB: CIVIL ENGINEER
AGE: 28
HEIGHT: 183 CENTIMETRES
BEFORE: 129KG
AFTER: 87KG

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THE GAIN

Handke had always been a chubby fellow. At high school he was “the fat kid” and when he left home his diet deteriorated further. Pretty soon, he was a blob. “Who could be bothered cooking when it’s just easier to grab Maccas?” says Handke. Takeaway pizza was common. Weekend drinking sessions softened his physique further and, aside from cricket and golf, he rarely raised a sweat.

THE CHANGE

As Handke continued to cast an ever-expanding shadow, pain in his lower back intensified. X-rays confirmed that he had started to develop arthritis in his spine. “The chiro said that dropping a few kilos would definitely help and that’s where it started,” recalls Handke. “I hadn’t really realised how heavy I was. When I jumped on the scales and the reading was 129 kilograms, I was taken aback.” He began by walking five kilometres in the evenings and stripped his diet of fat, sugar and carbs, particularly after lunch. Serving sizes became critical. “Because I live by myself, I ate frozen low-fat meals once or twice a week,” he says. “If I still felt hungry after dinner, I’d munch on a carrot.” He guzzled water the way he had once knocked back beers. His one indulgence was the odd can of Pepsi Max.

THE RESULT

Initially Handke had set out to lose just a few kilos, but he found that once he lit the weight-loss fuse, he couldn’t stop, dropping 15kg in 10 weeks. “I couldn’t believe how much I’d lost by just walking,” he says. Then he started running. “One kilometre became 2km, which became 3km, and eventually I was easily running 5km several times a week,” he recalls. Before long, his waistline had shrunk from 107 centimetres to 92cm. “It cost me a fortune in new clothes, but I didn’t mind,” says Handke. It also helped ease his aching back, improved his golf swing and, as a result, lowered his handicap. “Because I didn’t have the gut in the way anymore, it changed the way I held the club and hit the ball,” he says. Handke finds the treats he does allow himself these days taste better, even if they do cause him some guilt. “I find if I do have something bad, it plays on my mind and the first thing I want to do is go for a run to burn it off. I feel like I don’t want to ruin all my hard work.”

THE ADVICE

“Set small goals and don’t jump on the scales any more than once a week,” advises Handke. “It’s amazing how much your weight fluctuates from day to day.” Keep it simple – low fat, no sugar and low carbs. “Get yourself an iPod and start with walking. You’ll find that weight loss and the new lifestyle become addictive.” Lost the lard? CLICK HERE TO ENTER GUTLESS WONDERS