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"I cut the Coke and slashed the fat"


NAME: MATTHEW SEETO
HOME: SYDNEY, NSW
OCCUPATION: HUMAN RESOURCES
AGE: 24
HEIGHT: 183cm

THE GAIN For Seeto, balancing university studies with part-time work in a shopping centre proved a recipe for disaster, or rather, a recipe for junk food, turning the previously healthy student into a full-time "Cokehead".

"I was so stressed that I couldn't operate unless I was drinking Coke," Seeto recalls. "I was drinking around two litres a day and eating big boxes of grease from the food court."

His long hours meant he had no time for exercise, or at least, didn't make time. "I just thought I was too lazy and too tired for it."


THE CHANGE Completing university and finding an office job did little to halt his ballooning physique, but after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year, Seeto knew he needed to take a good hard look at himself.

"I looked at myself in the mirror and just said, 'This is unacceptable'," he remembers. "I was absolutely disgusted with myself." If diabetes wasn't motivation enough, Seeto's marriage plans fell through.

Seeto immediately cut Coke and junk food from his diet and got back to nutritional basics, eating lots of fruit and vegetables and drinking plenty of water. "I have to watch my carb intake and stay away from high-GI foods which burn quickly," he says.

He also started going to the gym seven days a week, alternating between weights and cardio, as well as hiring a personal trainer and a dietitian.

"It's become my main focus in life," Seeto says. "Once you see results, you just want to go harder and faster."


THE RESULTAt his biggest, Seeto was wearing XXL shirts and bursting belt buckles with a pants size of 42. He's now shrunk to a size 34 and when he bought a medium shirt recently, it was too big. He aims to get his weight down to 80 kilograms.

The biggest change, however, has been to the way Seeto organises his time. "I write gym sessions into my diary and instead of going home straight after work and relaxing, I'll go to the gym first, then go home and relax," he says.

"It's the same with Friday drinks. I go to the gym first, then to drinks." He also avoids making appointments that conflict with his scheduled routine.

THE ADVICE Start the weekend off at the gym. "It's the first thing I do on Saturday morning,"
Seeto says. And prepare for a long haul. "I lost about half a kilo a week and it's taken about nine months to get where I am," Seeto says. "You have to be patient."