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My journey back to health.... by Sergeant Scott Mackenzie

This time 12 months ago I was 131kg. I had never been a small person but over the last 10 years, I found myself getting bigger and bigger. The bigger I got, the less motivated I was to do exercise or eat right. At some point, I hit a critical mass (pun intended) whereby my motivation to lose weight was overtaken by my brain telling me there was no point in even trying any more. If I ever got motivated to go to the gym, I was so lethargic I would do minimal effort and get so sore, I wouldn’t go again for weeks or months.

My wife and I were trying for a child at this time and although I was excited by the concept, I was extremely anxious about how I was going to be a dad when I couldn’t even do up my shoelaces without being out of breath. Going to the doctor didn’t do much for my confidence either. He took a series of blood tests that revealed I was pre-diabetic, my “bad cholesterol” was 11, I had high blood pressure and at serious risk of a heart attack. On top of this, I felt uncomfortable in my own clothes and I clearly remember a low point when I felt my 3XL police shirt getting a bit tight again and went to order a larger size but saw that 3XL was the biggest I could get.

Having a serious affect on my physical and mental wellbeing, one day by pure chance I ran into a colleague that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. This colleague was almost unrecognisable by the amount of weight he had lost. I spent the next half hour talking to him about the same experiences that I was having, and I decided to go back to my doctor for another crack. My doctor gave me a referral to a nutritionist and also to go see a bariatric surgeon. I’m not for a second suggesting that surgery is the answer for everyone, because it’s not. But it was the help that I needed to able to kickstart my own journey.

I pretty much had to start from the beginning again, I’ve had to seriously adjust my diet, exercise, and lifestyle. When I initially went back to the gym, I went as hard as I used to, but I then injured myself so I couldn’t do anything for weeks. Once I had recovered from injury, I started with exercises that felt like I was giving a token effort, but it was what my body needed to build up the muscle again. I have now kept my exercise as a regular habit, if I don’t exercise for a few days now, I really start to miss it. I’m a very results driven person, and so I find it difficult to do exercise unless I can see it having an effect. This was a barrier for me when I was bigger because I could never do enough exercise to see any results. But now that I can actually do the exercise and see results, I am motivated every day to keep going.

I have also changed my perspective on food. I used to see food as something that was purely for my enjoyment and to eat as much as I could. I now see my food as a source of energy for my body and if I don’t eat the right food, I will have no energy for the day.

I’ve had to make sacrifices and work very hard to get where I am now, and will continue to have to do this for the rest of my life. Making these sacrifices mean that I’m now 44kg lighter, I’m no longer pre-diabetic, my bad cholesterol is now 1.1, I’ve dropped 4 shirt sizes and have an entirely new wardrobe, but most importantly – I’m the best person I can be now for my 13 week old daughter. I’ve (hopefully) added years on to my life and I feel so much happier and healthier.

If you’re feeling like it’s too late to do anything, or if you struggle with weight, please don’t give up. Don’t let it get out of control like I did, talk to someone. I understand it is a very personal journey and just because I’m talking about it now, doesn’t mean I wanted to 12 months ago. But please talk to a professional that can help you. I owe it to my colleague for talking to me about his journey, and I hope that talking about it now will encourage someone else that was in my position to do the same.

My advice to anyone who wants to take that step is to take one step at a time. If you try and get instant results, you will overdo it and feel like you have failed. Get back to basics and start with a clean slate, don’t worry about what you used to be able to do.

Last week I went for a 10km run, something I thought I would never be able to do again. And I no longer get puffed doing up my shoelaces.

This is my journey, and I encourage you to start yours. Whether you are new to fitness or already active, make yourself the priority, what’s stopping you!