Mario’s winning way with weight

MARIO Suban is a loser – and proud of it!
The 48-year-old Nar Nar Goon family man has shed more than 70 kilograms in just under three years, changing his life and lifestyle for good.
It took the jolt of a serious health scare at the start of 2006, together with the realisation that he was physically unable to properly share in the lives of his wife Jane and two young daughters, Isabeau 14 and Miree 12, to shock Mario into action.
He knew something had to be done to reduce his 167 centimetre, 155-kilogram frame, and it had to be done there and then.
“I needed to change the way I was-everything was wrong and I was missing out on all the important things in my life,” he said.
“I did it and went from struggling to walk half a kilometre to riding 210 kilometres in the ‘Round the Bay’ bike ride.
“My weight ranges between 80 and 85 kilos now, and we do things together as a family again and that’s the most satisfying result.”
Mario grew up in Altona and moved to Endeavour Hills after marrying Jane in 1986. The couple moved to Nar Nar Goon in 2000 in search of more space to raise their girls.
He had always been active in his youth and loved playing sport including lacrosse and ice hockey, but his career in facility management started to have an effect during his mid-twenties and Mario openly admits to drinking and smoking far too much at that time.
That changed in 1988 when he threw the cigarettes away and took up bike riding for fitness and later began training Alaskan Malamute sled dogs as a hobby.
However, similar to many men in today’s increasingly hectic society, Mario slipped into the trap of becoming a slave to his job during the early 2000s, and his weight ballooned out of control.
While he already had blood pressure problems, it was during this time that he was diagnosed with severe sleep apnoea, a condition that, in extreme cases, can cause death from oxygen deprivation. That was the crunch for Mario.
“Sleep apnoea is basically a blockage of the airways. As soon as you start to go to sleep you choke and then wake up, so you never actually fall asleep properly,” he said.
“The tell-tale sign is that you snore and I was a big snorer. The effect is that your body is not resting and when you are awake you’re running on adrenalin. You are not fully awake at all.
“I was working extraordinary hours and my weight was going up. With sleep apnoea on top, all I was doing was in my life was work and sleep – and the sleep wasn’t real so it was a really bad scene.”
Mario did some research on the internet before discussing it with his doctor of many years.
“The doctor tested me and sure enough I had it. I was waking up something like 100 times an hour,” he said.
“He organised me a CPAP machine, which applies positive pressure to the airway and keeps it open while you sleep.
“That was the treatment but he said it was simple – I had to lose weight.”
The relief of sleeping properly for the first time in years was immediate and that provided Mario with the energy to take control of his life in April 2006.
He was not after a quick ‘Biggest Loser’-style fix, and did things at his own pace while ‘listening’ to his body. He started by ditching junk food from his diet and combined that with walking, before making the decision to join the YMCA Cardinia Life health club in August 2006.
“All of a sudden I had some energy back and I started walking. Only half a kilometre to start with but it was a big thing for me,” he said.
“It all fell into place in some ways. I did the Global Corporate Challenge, which got me walking more and they started advertising that the new YMCA gym was about to open. Jane and I sat down and I said ‘well I’ve started and it’s time to do something together’ so we both joined as foundation members.”
“I really just used the treadmill at the start and, as I got more confidence, I moved to the cross trainer. God I spent hours on that machine but it worked.”
Mario rewarded himself as he achieved each of many self-imposed milestones, which in turn, helped him set the bar higher again.
“When I made 140 (kilograms) I went off and did surfing lessons and when I got to 130 kilos (April 2007) I decided to start riding again and pulled my bike out of the shed,” he said. “But, because I’d put on so much weight, I couldn’t lock my feet into the pedals so I had to buy a mountain bike and ride that until I lost enough to get back on it.
“I started riding more and more and began riding to the gym, working out, and riding home again.”
He said there were two big events that stood out during his journey and both made an emotional impact on him.
“When I hit 100 kilos we went to Queensland and I rode on a roller coaster,” he chuckled. “That meant a lot because, a few years earlier, I tried to ride one and I couldn’t get in it. I promised myself I would lose enough to do that and I did.
“I wanted to do the ‘Round the Bay’ ride and I did that for the first time in 2007. Finishing that ride was really emotional for me. My family was there at the end and it was very special.”
In the last 12 months Mario has become even more serious about his fitness, which now includes tracking his diet, attending RPM and boxing classes at Cardinia Life and, most recently, joining the Southern Veterans Cycling Club and competing in weekend competitions.
Mario does not pretend that his weight-loss battle has been easy and there were times when it was seriously hard, however the unwavering support of Jane, his family, friends and the YMCA staff and trainers, helped him maintain the dedication to achieve the incredible result. For that he says he will be forever grateful.
“All along the way I felt I was achieving and that was really important,” he said.
“When I first started in the gym I was just one of a group of middle-aged, pot-bellied blokes struggling away on the treadmill. The staff encouraged me and everyone supported me and I’m in a much better place now.”