ABU DHABI // Just weeks before his son was due to be born, Mark Henaway was told his overweight and inactive lifestyle put him at high risk of type 2 diabetes.
Doctors warned him that it was unlikely that he would live to see his newborn son through school if he did not make immediate lifestyle changes.
At the age of 38, Mr Henaway, who wore XXXL-sized clothes at the time, felt a sense of deja vu. His own father had died at 38 because of health complications and all he had ever envisioned was being an active part of his son’s life.
“My dad died when he was young so I always wanted to be there when my son grew up. I wanted to go out there and play sports with him in my old age,” said Mr Henaway, an Australian.
“It was sort of like ‘wow, maybe I won’t get to do that after all’. It was a major trigger.”
Mr Henaway, who is 172 centimetres tall (5 feet 7 inches), tipped the scales at 96 kilograms.
He admits he lived on an unhealthy diet of fast food.
“I used to drink sodas, eat hamburgers and a lot of takeaway food like McDonald’s, cake, ice cream and candy. All the stuff you shouldn’t.”
Then, shortly before his son Ethan was born, a colleague prompted him to seek medical help.
“One day I was going to the office and my colleague said I didn’t look well,” he said. “I went to the doctor and he said at the age of 38 I was at risk of type 2 diabetes.
“It was very scary. I was knocked out at hearing those words. Growing up I had heard my relatives having it but I never thought I would be at risk. It took me by surprise.”
The news in that doctor’s room in April 2006 forced Mr Henaway to turn his life around.
“I had to completely change my diet to eating more fruit and vegetables and eating lean meat and protein shakes and drinking water.”
Mr Henaway also slowly built up an exercise routine.
“This started by pushing my son in the pram,” he said. “I used to push him three kilometres in the morning and three kilometres at night.
“Strange enough, I never thought I was overweight. It was only until I started losing weight and started seeing photos of my body changing that I realised I was overweight.”
It took Mr Henaway two years to reach his target weight. He dropped to 74 kilograms and now wears either medium or large-sized clothes.
During his lifestyle overhaul, Mr Henaway embraced fitness.
“I joined a gym and in March 2008 did my first sprint triathlon,” said Mr Henaway, who lives in Dubai and works in Abu Dhabi designing traffic-management systems.
In September 2008 Mr Henaway completed his first 10-kilometre race.
“It was an awesome achievement,” he said. “Something I never comprehended I would ever be able to do. I was over the moon.
“What I do to maintain is I set goals of what I want to achieve. I have done several half-marathons and the Dubai marathon in 2012, which was fantastic to cross the line. Earlier this year I did an ultra marathon – 250 kilometres over seven days – in which I supported the Walk for Life campaign.”
Mr Henaway is due to join thousands in the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s Walk 2014, on November 7, to pace the five kilometre main walk around Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit. It aims to encourage the community to take at least a 30-minute brisk walk each day.
It is a cause close to Mr Henaway’s heart. Not only was he at high risk but his mother also had type 2 diabetes.
He would encourage others to take part and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
“The five kilometres 2014 walk is a great place to get started, he said.
“It is a great event ... and the camaraderie that comes along with it makes you feel good inside as well as the health benefits.”
jbell@thenational.ae
