Wright way to weight loss

By Paul Dunlop
ADRIAN Wright is a big loser, but couldn’t be happier.
Over the past 12 months, he has shed more than 60 kilograms.
Losing weight became a winning habit for Mr Wright soon after his 60th birthday, when he made a commitment to change his life.
For years, the Maryknoll man had accepted being heavy.
But when his weight crept up over 170 kilograms it became obvious something had to give.
Mr Wright had tried all sorts of diets but never found one he could sustain.
The change came when he went to a Weight Watchers meeting in Pakenham.
“One of my sons was going and he talked me into tagging along. I haven’t missed a session since,” he said. “It’s completely changed my life.”
In his first week on the program, Mr Wright lost five kilos. It’s been downhill ever since.
He began walking each day and combined the regular exercise with a well-balanced diet. Not rocket science perhaps, but surprise, surprise — it worked.
Mr Wright’s old belt now looks like a hula hoop when he slips it around his waist. But despite his success, has no plans to rest on his laurels.
“I want to get down further, my aim is to lose 70 kilos,” he said. “I’m still a big boy but I’m committed to doing something about it.”
A keen racing fan, Mr Wright laughs when his weight loss is described as akin to losing a jockey.
He said his children – two of whom live overseas – got the surprise of their lives when they came home for Christmas.
Mr Wright said before the turnaround, he was “buggered, health-wise”. High blood pressure and tiredness were just two by-products of a 172 kg frame.
At his heaviest, the genial bus driver also suffered from the sleep disorder sleepapnoea, a condition that meant he suffered day time fatigue and risked zoning out at work.
It was a problem that could have cost him his job.
Mr Wright’s love of driving his bus and the support of his children gave him the inspiration and Weight Watchers provided the information he needed to make significant – and sustainable – alterations to his lifestyle.
The youngsters on the school bus he drives from Maryknoll each day have also kept Mr Wright going. “We joke around, I tell them I’ll be lining up for Nar Nar Goon footy club this season,” he said.
Mr Wright, who has just turned 61, walks a couple of kilometres several times a week and religiously checks food labels and packaging for information about fat content and kilojoules.
He said the Weight Watchers program, in which foods are given a points rating that adds up to a total daily allowance, made it easy to stay on the wagon.
“You know where you stand, I can still have a beer if I want, even a meat pie although I wouldn’t waste so many points on something like that.
“I’ve left it late in life but by hell it has changed me. Before, in hot weather I’d be sitting down as close to the air conditioner as I could. Now I just feel like getting up and doing things.”