Originally from the UK, Garry Holden has been living in Phuket, Thailand, with his wife for the past five years. The 41-year-old has battled with his weight for as long as he can remember, so when he saw that The Biggest Loser was making its way to Asia, he knew this was his chance to change.
Here, in this extremely frank and heart-felt interview, Garry reveals what life has been like as a severely overweight man and how much his life has changed for the better after losing a fantastic 30kg. Since leaving the show Garry has continued to lose weight with the help of The Biggest Loser Club Asia and is well on his way to reaching his goal weight of 80kg.
Click to enlarge photos
Garry before
On the journey
Red team challenge
Seeing double
Tell us about your relationship with your weight and food?
I have always been a big lad and was generally known as a jolly chap or, as larger people are often described, ‘bubbly’. I was the guy who made the fat jokes before anyone else could. I even created a job as a family entertainer called Mr Jelly Belly so that being fat didn’t matter.
As a teenager, I remember a comment my birth father once made on my return home from getting a haircut. He said, “Don’t worry about your hair son, it’s the rest of you that needs sorting out”. That comment has plagued me to this day, despite me remaining overweight.
Food was always a great source of comfort to me. It was the one thing I could rely on; food never let me down or disappointed me. It is only now I realise it was actually keeping me a prisoner in my own body. A big part of my problem was not knowing when to stop – I just didn’t appreciate or take notice of the amount I was eating.
How has being overweight affected you and the life you lead?
Living in Phuket with so many beautiful beaches was torture. I could never take advantage of them as I was too embarrassed to take off my shirt and being surrounded by ‘normal’ size people in swimming shorts would depress me even more. I used to think I could hide behind a T-shirt but, in reality, I just looked like the fat guy too embarrassed to get undressed.
Most people feel the heat in Thailand, but when you’re carrying an extra 50kg trust me, it’s no laughing matter. If I didn’t have to move very far or very fast then I wouldn’t. I could always chafe my way round the department store as it has air con, but walking too far outside – forget it!
Carrying the weight was more than a heavy burden. Aside from the obvious difficulty of finding clothes that fit and running the gauntlets of Phuket’s markets with the cries of, “Yes sir we have elephant size,” premiums for my health insurance rocketed. It costs a lot of money being heavy and there is certainly no dignity in it.
I suffered from constant heartburn and would pop antacid tablets throughout the day. My poor wife had to suffer my snoring every night and if that wasn’t keeping her awake she panicked when I just stopped breathing. It was not something I visited the doctors for, but I’m guessing it was sleep apnoea syndrome caused by my heaviness.
What was your low point and when did you experience your ‘moment of truth’?
Whilst I didn’t always eat fast food, if I went to McDonalds or Burger King I would find myself ordering one meal for me and another for my ‘imaginary friend’ just so the staff didn’t know it was all mine. I would then hide in my truck to eat it. That was a pretty low point and, although I was secretly ashamed, somehow I had let it take control of me.
I can’t remember exactly when, but one day it just hit me – I was 41-years-old and I weighed over 120kg! If I didn’t do something about it I would be lucky to reach 50 and the thought that my coffin would be too heavy to lift was just too much to bear. This wasn’t fair to me and it certainly wasn’t fair to my wife – she never signed up for this.
I have always been an avid fan of The Biggest Loser, even having the audacity to criticize the contestants whilst munching away on junk food from the comfort of the sofa. I never considered myself to be in ‘their league’ and yet clearly I was. An announcement on the TV said The Biggest Loser was coming to Asia and I was going to audition for it! I never thought anything would come of it and then amazingly I was one of the lucky ones chosen to be a contestant.
What was your typical diet like before starting your weight-loss journey?
Breakfast was often several rounds of toast with lashings of butter. I would often end up eating half a loaf, but I thought it was OK because it was brown bread. I also loved to eat kids’ cereals and would have a bowl of Coco Pops, but I would eat almost half a box in just one serving.
Lunch was either a burger, mega sandwich or fried chicken, usually with french fries and side orders of either onion rings or fried rice. This was frequently followed by a large chocolate ice-cream milkshake.
Dinner would either be a creamy pasta dish, roast with potatoes and gravy or a takeaway, usually an Indian. I would have a starter of deep fried vegetable samosas, together with onion bhajee. My main dish would be creamy chicken tikka masala, a large pilau rice and two or three butter naan breads to soak up all the gravy. I topped it off with side orders of sag aloo and aloo gobi and washed it down with 7 or 8 bottles of beer.
On top of my three meals a day, I would often be at the bread bin or snacking on cereals or pretty much anything in the food cupboards that would tempt me!
What exercise did you do?
Walking my dogs was about as far as I got with exercise. I have been known to play a fairly good game of tennis on the odd occasion, but my knees never thanked me for the strain it would put on them.
Have you tried other diets in the past?
I have lost count of the number of different diets I’ve tried over the years including the cabbage diet, The Atkins diet, Slimming World and WeightWatchers. For the first two or three weeks it all seemed to work well and I shed some weight, but then I would lose interest and motivation and the weight piled back on, and then some.
I always felt that because I was on a diet I would be deprived. I now realise this isn’t the case - it’s all about moderation, but it took a while for that to register!
How has your food and exercise changed while following your Club program?
My diet now is so much more varied. I eat stir-fries with tofu or fish and another favourite is grilled chicken, veg and sweet potato fries!
I now exercise at least five or six days a week and take spin classes once or twice a week. I even find that if I’ve missed the gym for a couple of days, I’m itching to get back into it. I try to mix up my exercise so that my body doesn’t adapt to the same routine every day. I love to sweat now and it’s such a great feeling when you’ve completed a really good gym session.
I learned how to use The Biggest Loser Club website to keep track of my food and exercise - it’s a fantastic weight-loss tool and I have taken this home with me to continue my journey. Being able to monitor my energy equation every day keeps me on track and provides me with nutritional information and calorie content for so many foods. I also use my heart monitor to calculate the calories I burn while exercising so that I get a more accurate reading. As I know from experience, it’s all too easy to underestimate calorie input and overestimate those calories burned!
What did The Club teach you?
Using The Club program has opened up a whole new world for me. I have learned not to underestimate the power of portion control! I realise now I was eating enough for two or three people. Now I use a smaller side plate for all my meals, which tricks my brain into thinking I have a big plate of food! I have also learned that I can have so many wonderful foods that are healthy and filling, so meal times don’t need to be boring.
There are times I struggle, but if I do fall off the program I’ve learned the trick is not to stress about it. I simply recognise where I went wrong, learn from it and use the program to help make the smart choices to get myself back on track.
What are the high points of your new lifestyle?
It may seem trivial to some, but being able to walk between parked cars without knocking the wing mirrors, buying off-the-rack clothes, having chafe-free thighs, waking up with energy and simply feeling ‘normal’. All of these taste so much better than any of the foods that accompanied me on my journey to obesity.
For the first time in my life, I can honestly say I am proud of myself. I am on my way to finally finishing something I started and I count my blessings every day that I have such a wonderful network of support from family and friends who have made this possible for me.