‘I was dying every day’, says man who lost 100 kg

Being obese was never a problem for Danny Farrugia until his body started weighing him down, forcing him to stop working and developing a range of health conditions that culminated in a heart attack three years ago.

“I never had self-esteem issues... But I realised I had a real problem when my body started falling apart as I grew older... After the heart attack I had had enough and was losing interest in life,” the 55-year-old said.

“Then my relatives brought my grandson, Liam, to visit me. He encouraged me to get better and I pulled myself together and decided that I would change to be around longer for him,” he said, holding up a photo of Liam, who has Down Syndrome.

Since then, Mr Farrugia has lost a whopping 100 kilos in weight. Now, as his weight fluctuates between 80 and 90 kilos, he is aware that for most of his life he was an obesity statistic.

A recent European health survey showed 58 per cent of Maltese adults are obese or overweight. Malta has the highest proportion of obesity among men in the EU and the third highest among women.

Health Minister Joseph Cassar had said some obese people did not realise they fell into the category and needed to take action if they wanted to live a longer, healthier life.

Having been there himself, Mr Farrugia wants to use his experience to encourage others to lose weight.

“There is help out there... And don’t use the fact that healthy food is expensive as an excuse. I live on less than the minimum wage and I’m managing to eat healthily now,” he said.

Mr Farrugia hads been obese since he was a child but he did not perceive his weight as a problem. As he entered his teens it started bothering him that he could not find clothes that fit and he managed to lose some weight – but it did not last long.

The problem really hit him when he was forced to stop working in his early 30s since his back was caving in under his body weight, which reached a maximum of 180 kg, and he developed scoliosis.

This placed a financial burden on his wife and their two children, but the family adjusted and they made do with what they had.

As the years passed, the health conditions started piling up. He had high cholesterol and high blood pressure and, in 2007, suffered a mild heart attack. While in hospital he was losing hope but pulled himself together for the sake of his grandchild, Liam, who is now 11.

“To tell you the truth I’m not scared of death. But I want to die once and, as things were, I was dying every day,” he said.

Meanwhile, a friend gave his telephone number to Antonella Vassallo, who hosts the weight-loss television programme Kilo, and who invited him to join the programme.

Since he was waiting for an angioplasty to unclog his blood vessels, he decided to wait three months. This gave him an opportunity to focus on losing weight with others’ support and he managed to lose over 70 kg over seven months.

“I think one of the things that helped me most was the help of the psychologist... I changed the way I think and learnt that, if you want to lose weight, there are no ifs... you just have to do it,” he said, adding he had immense support from his wife Jane.

Now Mr Farrugia, who lives in Paola, walks for about an hour every day.

He always had a passion for cooking but learnt to swap oils and fatty foods for fresh herbs. He cut down on red meat and now eats legumes that are a tasty and a healthy source of protein.

“I eat everything now. Unfortunately, some obese people diet by starving themselves, then they gain the weight again... The key is balance and moderation.”