Aged 31 and weighing 156 kilograms, Auckland father of two Phill Tutunoa decided he wanted to make a change.
To do that, he decided to quit his job and start an Instagram account – pledging to run one metre for every follower gained.
His fitness journey has attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters in less than two weeks, with his account now at 141,000 followers.
Tutunoa told Breakfast he made the decision while in hospital, where he “went through a bit of soul searching”.
“I asked myself three questions: Am I happy with the life I'm living? Have I achieved anything? And is my family proud of me?
“From there, I made the decision to change my life.”
Before starting his journey, he said he was working 15-hour days, coming home “exhausted” and “emotionally wrecked”.
“I was giving my family left my leftovers, we were always agitated, and never giving enough time to my kids… When they're asking me to play, I just you know, ‘nah, I'm too tired or, you know, another day’.”
Tutunoa said that since focussing on his health , he’d gained “a lot more confidence” in himself.
He started by running to a lamp post and then walking to another, with the ultimate goal of running a marathon.
In a recent video, he shared a personal best of 10km and said he was close to losing 5kg. He aims to drop down to 100kg.
“Putting myself out there to 130,000 people, you know, I've now not really cared about how I look, and it's made me feel actually good about myself," he said.
“Doing this and sharing this journey, I've had so much more energy that I've been able to get out there. My daughter's now telling me that she wants to run.
“The only thing is I wish I had started it sooner.”
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