The Province
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Page: B8 / FRONT
Section: Live It!
Byline: Kate Webb
Source: The Province

'Change is possible for anybody'; Roy Kumar wins prizes for both fan favourite and trainers' top pick after losing almost 40 pounds in three months. But the real reward, he says, is his improved health and new attitude

In 2004, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock set out to demonstrate the waistline-expending effects of fast food by eating an all-McDonald's diet for one month.

But Spurlock's Super Size Me experiment was small (fried) potatoes compared to the drive-through menu Surrey resident Roy Kumar sampled every day for 25 years.

"My typical day started with a bacon and egg sandwich and blueberry muffin for breakfast, then a hamburger and fries for lunch and on my way home I would stop for a burger and chicken nuggets at Burger King or Wendy's," says Kumar, who dropped over 39 pounds and went from 57 per cent body fat to 36.7 in order to win The Province and Global TV's Fitness Fantasy challenge.

Kumar, one of four Fitness Fantasy participants who completed a three-month program designed by Innovative Fitness, came in first as fan favourite (receiving the most votes in an online poll) and was also the No. 1 pick of trainers, earning the highest scores on their evaluations.

Kumar's competitors were Angela de Ruiter, who lost 15.4 pounds; Shawn Myers, who lost 24.8 pounds; and Jane Potter, who lost 5.2 pounds.

The 45-year-old telecommunications worker started his three-month journey on March 12, weighing 242 pounds. Just over a week ago he finished the challenge weighing just under 203 pounds, and has since dropped another five to achieve his Fitness Fantasy goal of coming in under 200.

"Before, I ate fast food seven days a week -- I didn't even know how to cook -- but when the challenge started I went cold turkey and I haven't eaten any fast food since," he says.

It wasn't as simple as staving off the munchies. It took an iron will, an alarm clock set for 4:30 a.m. so he could get to the gym before work five days a week, and a stockpile of ice packs and heating pads to keep Kumar in the game. In total, he pulled off 10 one-hour gym sessions a week for 12 weeks, plus 14 charity running events over 12 weekends.

"My body was craving it," he says of his rigorous exercise program, recalling how one day near the start of the challenge he was so sore after his workout he couldn't get up from the sofa. "Thank God for wooden floors," he says. "I had to roll myself over in a chair to my heating pad, and then I was OK."

Kumar's trainer, Curtis Christopherson, owner of Innovative Fitness in White Rock, describes his training style as "straight up."

"I'm very proud of Roy," says Christopherson, who coached Kumar for an hour three times a week. "He's a guy that I would say started from ground zero and has done very well. He's lost a ton of weight and he's motivated and inspired. It's really quite life-changing for him."

That life change has given Kumar more than just a new bounce in his step. He credits the training and nutritional advice he received through the Fitness Fantasy program with reversing his Type 2 diabetes, for which he no longer has to take daily medication.

His self-esteem has also shot way up; previously, he was too anxious about his body to give himself fully to a relationship. "When you don't feel good about yourself you can't let anybody love you," he says.

Kumar says the lesson he has learned is that "change is possible for anybody -- you just have to really want it.

"I don't want to have limits put on me because of my weight or what I can't do," he says. "I used to have to watch my 11-year-old nephew play football from the sidelines. Now I'm on the field with him."

For enduring three months of cramps, sweat and fitness drills, Kumar has won a vacation to Mexico from Transat Holidays and Travel Best Bets, as well as a one-month extension of his personal training package from Innovative Fitness.

He still hasn't figured out who will accompany him on his tropical getaway -- all signs point to one of his best friends and supporters -- but with his newly found confidence to start dating again, the best prize of all might be meeting the right girl to bring along.