How I lost 139kg in three years
It took a brutal crime to jolt AJ into changing his life. Three years later through a strict diet and exercise regimen he’s a different man
IT TOOK a moment of horror for him to turn his life around. His grandmother, who lives in a flat on his property, came up to him after church one Sunday and told him her friends hadn’t arrived for the service. “Her friends had said they’d be at church so when they didn’t pitch we went to check up on them,” AJ van der Walt recalls. “And we walked in on a murder scene.”
The elderly couple had been attacked in a house robbery. The man had been killed with a hammer and his wife, who survived the attack, had been stabbed. AJ had to break down the front door and lost his balance in the process.
“I fell through the door and landed next to the man’s body. As I struggled to get up I became deeply aware of my own mortality.”
It was a serious wake-up call for AJ, who weighed 282kg at the time.
“I believe bad things are the reason why you should be positive,” he says. “Out of every negative thing something positive should flow.”
Then and there he decided to change his lifestyle and eating habits. “I discovered how brief and fleeting life really can be and realised I needed to do something about myself.”
The next day he went to his GP, who suggested a low-carb, high-fat diet – and he hasn’t looked back. “Before, I used to really indulge. I didn’t care what I ate or drank. That’s obviously a recipe for disaster.”
Today AJ (33) tips the scales at 143kg, having lost a whopping 139kg since that fateful day in June 2014. He’s started exercising seriously and next year he plans to run the Comrades Marathon.
AJ has also launched a blog to share his inspirational journey, which has resulted in a support network, and he’s become a popular motivational speaker.
“I’m doing everything now,” he says.
BUT it hasn’t been easy, concedes AJ, who lives in Hartswater in the Northern Cape. In the first year he shed 80kg. “That was when I started exercising,” he says. “Until then I’d been too heavy so I couldn’t really move.”
He started off with baby steps. “First I walked from my house to the lamppost in the street. The next day I walked to the second lamppost – I nearly died!’’
The town’s lampposts became AJ’s milestones. “One day I walked right around town. Do you know what an achievement that was?”
He didn’t stop there. “I started going to the gym and cycling. Now I also swim and run.”
AJ started with a 10km road race in Kimberley.
“That was on 6 November 2015. Then another, and another,” he says. “I jogged a bit, then walked a bit and I didn’t get cramps. I think I was too slow for cramps! I finished in one hour and 32 minutes. Last year I made it in one hour and 12 minutes.
“In May last year I did my first 21 km road race here in Hartswater. People come from all over the country to train for the Comrades on this section of road.
“By then I’d already done nine 21 km road races. It was time for a full marathon.”
This year AJ entered Cape Town’s Two Oceans Marathon. To prepare he contacted the Run/Walk for Life club and started training with fellow member Christelle Pelser (55).
“I finished 28 minutes before the cutoff time in my first marathon.” He proudly shows us his medal and competitor’s number.
“To qualify for the Comrades you have to do a marathon in under five hours. That’s the goal I’m working towards,” he says.
AJ also completed the Standard Bank 5150 Triathlon this year. “I’m an estate agent but my work allows me to do a little bit of my own thing.
“Every weekend you’ll find me at a road race somewhere around the country. I also give motivational talks. I love to work with people and that’s also why I started my blog and programme.”
AJ recently took six months unpaid leave and lived off his savings so he could devote himself fully to his blog and training programme.
“I want to help motivate people. You have more of an effect on others when you’re positive. If someone asks me to help them I do so immediately. I meet fascinating people through my blog.
“I’m willing to drive to wherever a person is based and stay there for a month if it will help to motivate the person to change their
lifestyle.”
AJ ENJOYS simple meals that are easy to prepare. “My favourite is a green salad with a steak cooked rare to medium. For breakfast I have a fried egg, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion. Now and then I’ll have a chop or sausage from the previous night’s braai. And, believe me, I eat until I’m full.
“This way I get hungry only around 4pm in the afternoon. Then I have some meat and a salad or vegetables. These days I eat only twice a day.”
He seldom indulges in the foods he used to gorge on – chips, sweets, pies, burgers, you name it – and if he does, he makes sure he gets back to eating healthily as soon as possible.
AJ gets up at 5am most mornings to exercise. “I run for an hour or an hourand-a-half and if the weather’s cold I run on the treadmill at the gym.
“In the afternoon I swim laps for two kilometres. That’s for the triathlon. I cycle when I can. I’m feeling good.”
He’s also inspired members of his family to lose weight. His sister, Saniek du Toit (37), has lost 30 kg and his mom, Marika van der Walt (61), is down by 36 kg.
His days of energy drinks mixed with vodka are gone forever, he says. “And I don’t drink beer at all. Once a month I’ll have a glass of red wine or a light whisky with water.”
So has he ever felt like throwing in the towel and going back to his old ways?
“It’s never occurred to me. Giving up wasn’t an option – it was a matter of life or death. When I wake up in the morning I decide if I want to be bitter or better. Every morning I choose the latter.
“I want people to realise they can do anything in life. That’s why I give so many motivational talks. The excess skin I’m left with is my support team.
“I always joke about it, but once during a race I heard someone applauding. I stopped but couldn’t see anyone. Then I realised it was loose skin on my arms that was flapping against my back as I ran.”
He’s determined to have the excess skin removed one day. “I’ve already spoken to the surgeon. The operations on my arms, legs and stomach will set me back about R500 000. Medical aid doesn’t pay for it because it’s regarded as cosmetic surgery.”
There have still been no arrests for the crime that made AJ turn his life around and become a new man.
“I don’t regret that I lived differently before. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today.”
‘Giving up wasn’t an option – it was a matter of life and death’