Avia Ustanny, Outlook Writer
LUCIEN WEE-TOM, 27-years-old and the assistant supermarket manager at the upscale Joong Supermarket in St. Catherine, is stopping customers in their tracks for more than one reason this year. In the last two-year period, the young manager has lost a total of 132 pounds, coming from 330 pounds to a "ripped" 192.
"They keep asking me where is my brother," the young man told Outlook, stating that individuals, refusing to believe that it's the same man, assume that he simply must have a brother who is a good lookalike.
His weight loss effort was not an easy feat.
As far back as this man can remember, he loved to eat. "I ate a lot," He admits.
As a baby, he would have two bottles of feeding instead of one. His appetite grew as he aged. Attending Kingston College as a teenager, he played rugby, ran and also played some football, but was still a hard packed 290 pounds by the time he graduated.
On leaving high school, his time was his own and while he exercised less, he got to indulge his love of fast food even more. Lucien loved fast foods of every kind, including pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, McDonald's and Chinese food. "I ate between 5000 to 6000 calories a day," he admits. The amount was at least three times what he really needed, so he continued to gain weight.
Wee-Tom's wife of four years, Christine grins when she put in "when he was not sleeping he was eating."
Before 2003, Lucien would make several attempts to reduce, but all ended in failure. "I tried a lot of things. I tried starving myself. I tried exercising but I gave up very quickly I tried dieting but it just did not work," he recalls.
While his wife has no problem with his weight ( he has a great personality, she quips) there were many others who would routinely made offensive remarks, especially when he was out and eating. Apparently, he was not supposed to eat because he was fat. So bad did the taunts become that "it got to the stage where I did not want to go out," Lucien recalls.
Christine states that when they went to the beach and removed his top, others felt that it was their right to ask him to put it back on. "Children would point at him and call him fat body," his wife states. "They also told him that he could not 'handle me," she recalls.
Surprisingly, the barbs hurt her more than they did him, as Wee-Tom is not the kind of man to hold grudges.
"Sometimes it really got me angry, " she told Outlook.
For this woman, Lucien's weight was never an issue. "I liked him" she said about her husband, because he was a very nice person. He has character."
But seeing the way he was withdrawing socially because of his weight, she began to encourage him to join her while she exercised. Christine was an exercise nut who loved to watch Fit TV.
Then, in November 2003 she was invited by Beverley "Dynamo" McPherson to join her nutrition programme in Greater Portmore, Christine would depart after work at her store in the same community (co-owned with her sister) to attend McPherson's fitness classes. Pining for her company, he decided to join in too.
"Christine is special," Lucien told Outlook. "She has always encouraged me to do the right thing and to do things which benefit us. She encouraged me to start my own business. She encouraged me to become an exercise partner."
The secret to Lucien's success is his wife who he said was the support team he needed. Every thing else fell naturally into place. The boot-camp style programme run by Beverly "Dynamo" McPherson whose calorie counting regime is a rigid one, whipped him into shape in one year.
"You have to be really mentally ready," Lucien added.
Yet another reason why he has succeeded in losing weight after so many previous attempts had failed was a near death experience.
"What convinced me is that it (the fat) almost killed me. One night I was sleeping ( at home in 2003) and it was as if I was having a heart attack. I could not breathe at all. I was gasping. I decided that I did not want to die like that."
Beverley McPherson who is also a teacher, gave Wee-Tom gave high grades for his menu sheets which itemised in detail how many calories he had consumed in one day, and which consistently showed totals which did not exceed his permitted limit.
"She recommended three main meals and three snacks in between, but the kind of food was high fibre cereals, vegetables, egg whites, fruits and natural juices ( no sugar added juices too) , lots of water, not too much salt or sugar and whole wheat products."
Wee-Tom reels off the list without a pause and we realise how much the programme has become a part of his life. He explains that he is also an Adventist so the emphasis on natural products was not too strange.
The first two weeks he said, was extremely difficult. Exercise was also painful, but eventually his body got used to it. His weight loss has averaged 10 to 12 pounds each month. He lost 114 pounds in 11 months.
Since he has moved from managing his own business to being assistant manager at Joong Supermarket, his hours which are nine to nine prevent him from attending the gym. However, he continues to work out with Christine while watching Fit TV. There are several hours of these programmes on morning TV.
When they have the time, the couple climb the Braeton Hill, , go jogging walking and add to their daily regime rope skipping and bicycle riding.
Lucien's personal exercise programme now includes lots of weight training. He hopes to regain about 20 pounds in the process of building more muscle. He is confident that he will soon reach his goal.
