Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 105, April 2018 | Page 14

MY GOAL
Half the Size, Twice the Man
You can’t lose 100 kilograms if you don’t start by losing one… that’s the mantra that 46-year-old Capetonian HR and Training
consultant Carl Potgieter adopted in September 2016 when he decided it was time to lose some weight. And then he
started walking. – BY SEAN FALCONER
A recent pic of Carl taken by his boys, with bottles of water
representing the 100kg he has already lost!
just 500m in the other direction, and if I have a meeting there, I walk instead of driving.
I initially set myself a goal of walking 3000 steps a day, but now I’m on 9000 steps a
day.”
“These days I walk four nights a week, doing 6km quite comfortably, and where my
goal used to be to break nine minutes a kay, it became 8:45, and is now 8:30. I’ve
been asked if I will take up running, and quite honestly, I can see myself running in the
future. I’m not going to run a marathon with my knees, but I love the parkrun concept.
A mate of mine is a trail runner and has been trying to get me running, while another
mate from school days has also lost a lot of weight and is a regular parkrunner, so I
definitely want to get into that.”
Of course, Carl also had to make major changes to his diet, which required huge
self-discipline. “Every time you drive past restaurants and fast-food joints, you have
to remind yourself of your goal, and I haven’t had a double chilli-cheese burger in 14
months! People think I am banting, because I am following similar principles, but the
biggest thing is eating less, eating better, and walking more. I don’t eat when I’m not
hungry, I stop when I am full, I don’t just automatically go for seconds, and another
trick is to dish up on a side plate.”
THE REAL INSPIRATION
When told that his story is inspirational, Carl is quick to say that the real inspiration in
his family is his wife, Lesley. “She was born with cerebral palsy, so she has no vision
on the right and limited control of her right leg and arm. She was bullied in high school
because she couldn’t do normal things, but she never let that stop her, and after
school she qualified as a primary school teacher.”
That saw Carl set himself the challenge of losing 100kg, which he openly admits
looked insurmountable at first. “When you weigh 240kg, you need to lose 40kg
before anybody even notices! But no challenge is ever achieved by starting
tomorrow; you need to get out there today, and see it through,” he says. “I
posted nothing on social media
until I had lost 80kg, and when
I got to 100kg lost, I added
#halfthesizetwicetheman, in
reference to my new goal of
getting from 240kg to 120kg
– I last weighed that during
National Service! Some people
say th