AN 18-STONE takeaway addict who was told he might not live to 60 has become a top fitness model after losing six stone.
Chris Zaremba, who used to gorge on McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, dedicated his life to weight loss after the stark warning in his fifties – and won his first major fitness competition aged 55.
Chris, 62, of London, was told that his excessive eating would lead him to an early grave, being classed as obese, nearly diabetic and having elevated blood pressure.
The takeaway lover, who couldn’t even face running for a bus, has now earned himself ten trophies for his physique and dedication to fitness.
Having now shed six stone, Chris now feels younger than he did in his twenties and has finally found the benefits of being fit.
I look at old photos and I don’t even recognise myself
Chris Zaremba
He said: “I spent most of my life avoiding exercise and sport as much as I could, and spent the majority of my time in places like Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.
“The doctor told me unless I changed my ways he couldn’t guarantee I’d be around for my 60th birthday and that thought really scared me – it was the kick up the backside that I needed.”
Scared into action, Chris went from 18 stone to 12 stone after immediately changing his lifestyle, swapping Big Macs for the gym and healthy eating.
Now with his revamped fitness lifestyle, Chris says that his health has improved other aspects of his life, especially in his relationship with his wife Jenny, 48.
Despite the binging in his earlier years, Chris and Jenny have now run seven marathons, competed in triathlons and go on walking holidays for leisure.
At 55 after shedding his weight, Chris decided to put his fitness to the test in order to bag himself some silverware.
CHRIS’ AVERAGE DAILY DIET BEFORE:
Drinks: Full sugar Coca Cola, 4/5 pints of beer
Breakfast: Sugar puffs
Lunch: Fish or fried chicken and chips
Dinner: A takeaway such as McDonalds Big Mac or Pizza Hut large pizza
CHRIS’ AVERAGE DAILY DIET NOW:
Drinks: Water, 2/3 protein shakes
Breakfast: Porridge with water and fruit
Lunch: An omelette or salad
Dinner: Chicken and vegetables
Chris said: “When a PT told me I should enter one of the fitness modelling competitions, I told him never in a million years, but only a few months later I’d changed my mind and I was getting onto the stage.
“I entered the Miami Pro Fitness Modelling World Championships and I won first place in the over 50s class. I couldn’t believe it, I was hooked.”
Now happily retired from his office job, Chris now works as a personal trainer – which he has dubbed as his ‘jobby’- a hobby that pays.
His transformation in his fifties has made him ‘unrecognisable’ from the man he was 10 years earlier.
He said: “I look at old photos and I don’t even recognise myself.
“People come to visit the house and they ask who that man is in the pictures with Jenny – she always jokes that it’s her first husband but he was just a fatter version of me.
“It’s rare that a single day goes by where I don’t do some kind of exercise now.”
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