Oversized celebs fight flab
THE Idols presenter Proverb, DJ Fresh of 5FM and Simba Mhere of Top Billing are some “big” guys who have ditched slap chips and chocolate for salad.
The three have all shed flab in recent months because of wardrobe dramas, unkind comments about their size, or the risk of high cholesterol.
Mhere, who at his heaviest weighed 125kg, said people spoke in euphemisms to avoid describing him with the F-word.
“I didn’t like how people would lie to me about my weight,” said Mhere, who has lost 17kg in three months and hopes that is just the start.
Proverb, whose real name is Tebogo Thekisho, said photo shoots persuaded him to change his lifestyle.
“Before losing all this weight, I used to get depressed when I got to a shoot and the designer would say: ‘ I can’t dress him, he’s too big.’ ”
He said that he lapsed occasionally because of his love for chocolate, but he had learnt to manage the cravings.
“I got rid of the sweaty, sluggish and slow me and now my gorgeous wife can also be proud to be with me.”
A Cape Town dietician, Kelly Lynch, said that a growing number of men were coming to her for advice.
“There seem to be two distinct groups: those coming in after a diagnosis of high cholesterol or other illnesses, and healthy males wanting advice on specific sporting events,” she said.
A Durban dietician, Genevieve Jardine, said she had also noticed the trend. It had been triggered by various factors, including “problems with their digestive tracts, heartburn, ulcers, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome”.
She said weight loss and healthy eating could improve the symptoms.
DJ Fresh, who was diagnosed with high cholesterol last year, changed his diet and signed up with a personal trainer.
“My dad is 70 and is much fitter than me. I refuse to have that. ”
He does not set foot on a scale and therefore does not know how much weight he has lost.