Fun loving Joe Medway may have enjoyed life a little too much over the last few years. Standing at 185cm, Joe weighed over 179kg when he entered Camp Biggest Loser just a few months ago. Having curbed his fast food eating, beer and rum-drinking lifestyle, footy-fanatic Joe came incredibly close to taking home the title of The Biggest Loser 2010. The young Queenslander is now delighted at the prospect of enjoying a healthy and happy life that now includes overseas travel and career change.
Before The Biggest Loser, Joe’s weight was holding him back. He and his twin brother Rick loved to go to rodeos, but Joe had to watch from the sidelines as he was too heavy to ride. His Dad has had a speedboat for years but Joe was too big to use it to go waterskiing. Even his beloved footy was being affected. His weight was slowing him down more and more and altering the normally positive person inside. “You kind of lose the fight to win as the weight piles on and then you get angry and the anger starts to become focussed internally instead of outwardly and on the game. It just a downwards spiral,” Joe said.
School’s out...
Joe’s weight problems began quite recently at the age of around 18. School was over, work had begun and he had discovered beer. As a local council machinery and truck driver, Joe sat during most of his working day and, despite playing sports on most nights, his beer-drinking and fast-food eating habits meant that his weight continued to creep upwards.
“For me, the contentment of living a fun life with Lucy, a love of burgers and beer triggered a steady weight rise. Whereas I think that Rick’s weight problems accelerated after his partner had a miscarriage,” Joe said.
Not being honest
The whole family became worried about the twins’ weight problems. Joe says, “My sister tried to get me to follow the Tony Ferguson weight-loss plan one time,” Joe said. “I pretended I was following it but, actually, I never stuck with it and continued to eat and drink as usual (sorry sis!)”
Yet the twins knew they needed to overhaul their party-loving lifestyles. The previous year, they had auditioned for a couples slot in Series 4 without success and when they discovered the couples theme was returning for Series 5, they went for it – the world was ready to meet the Medway boys!
Click to enlarge photos
Joe before
Joe after Finale
Joe feels fantastic
Joe at 97.2kg.
Joe, 46.1% lighter
Perfect timing
The timing was perfect for Joe’s healthier new life. “I didn’t tell anyone at the time, but before I entered Camp Biggest Loser, I had been having chest pain for the last 14 days,” he told The Biggest Loser Club. “I never had it checked out but it shook me up. I knew that chest pains at my age were really alarming.”
With the support of Rick and his fellow contestants, Joe gained strength and built stamina. Although he is “not a runner”, Joe came second to Phil in the 21km half-marathon in week eight of the competition. He completed the race with a time of two hours and 35 minutes, and is proud to say that his brother Rick came in third.
Towards the red dust
The fast-changing pace and unexpected twists that we have come to expect of Loser saw Joe whisked off with Phil to the Northern Territory. There, the duo trained with The Commando. “It was a shock. We went from cold Sydney to stinking hot Northern Territory and we were due for some touch training with The Commando.”
“Now, I love the bush as much as the next man but you wouldn’t believe just how dusty it really was. And the number of flies that were buzzing around all the time – it was tough and it took a bit of getting used to.”
“We slept out under the stars for the first few nights – yes, we really did, and there were no five star apartments hidden away for us. Later, we moved into a drover’s cottage – that wasn’t much more than a dodgy old hut and in a way, it was worse than camping out under the stars,” Joe said.
Hard work pays off
“I learned right from the start that if you put in 100%, The Commando gives it right back to you,” Joe said.
Joe wanted to give it his all. And he really had to prove his worth to the Commando. “I gave it my all, I didn’t talk, and I showed him that I was prepared to work hard,” he said. “The Commando is a really tough guy, yes, but he is fair and he brought out a different side in me; he helped me a lot with my attitude and has made me much more determined than I thought I ever could be.”
Birthday milestone
While living in, on and with the red dust, Joe reached a family milestone. “I had my 21st birthday while I was up there.
“It was the first time that Rick and I hadn’t spent our birthday together so it was sad in some ways. I knew I had a job to do, though and I knew I had to keep doing it just like Rick had to. We could celebrate later.”
Red Dust heroes
A major highlight of his NT adventure was seeing the softer of The Commando. The trio met with Red Dust Role Model ambassador and elite Aussie athlete Kyle Vander Kuyp. Red Dust Role Models (www.reddust.org.au) is a non-profit, health promotion charity that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged youths in remote communities. Kyle brought twenty local students to meet Joe, Phil and The Commando from Yirara College and they spent a day getting to know each other. They ran relay races and took part in a mighty tug of war.
Joe and Phil were told that if they ran and completed the 42km marathon race, Vodafone would donate $20,000 to the Red Dust Role Models. “The pressure was on, the kids were absolutely fantastic and I fully intended to deliver,” says Joe.
Day of dawning
And deliver he did because when marathon day came around, Phil and Joe set off at 2.00am. Both of them dug deep and completed the marathon; they were absolutely delighted to have helped such a worthy organisation as was a very happy Commando.
Joe rejoined his Loser teammates via a dramatic sky dive. Phil and Joe did a few practice runs to make sure that it would be safe to touchdown to the other contestants. Nevertheless, Joe said, “It was the most incredible feeling ever. I was totally pumped and I definitely want to do it again. In fact, I want to convince Lucy to do sky diving with me and I want to encourage her to do some other really challenging activities with me.”
Fabulous at Finale
Joe was highly rated as a contender for The Biggest Loser 2010 title but at the Finale, Joe he was just pipped to the post by mum-of-two Lisa Hose – it was the closest final in the show's five years. But Joe doesn’t regret a single moment and he is delighted at the prospect of enjoying a healthier and happier life with family and friends.
When he started his Biggest Loser journey, Joe tipped the scales at 179.0kg; he lost 82.7kg by the time Finale came round and is now a pumped 97.2kg.
“I have discovered so much about myself. I was terrified that I would be the first person to leave the show but now, I know that I am a much tougher person mentally than I thought I ever was. I will always be grateful for this epic journey and I am a totally different person now. I even get a bit of attention from the ladies but Lucy is not worried – she knows me too well!”
Friendships for life
Although he has enjoyed meeting each and every fellow contestant on Loser, Joe counts Wayne as a special friend saying, “I met Wayne from day one when we stepped off the plane for the first time. He came up to me and he said ‘here we go!’
“We talked and talked and I got really close to Wayne – he is an AFL legend we’re mates for life. We live quite close to each other in Brisbane and both of us have decided that we would like to do a personal training course together – we have already had some offers to work at a gym.
“Teneale, Caitlin and Daina also stood out for me but Lisa is extra special – she is very caring and she has been like a mum to me over these months. I suppose a young guy like me needs a mum!"
Staying on track, The Club and Lucy
Joe admits that although he loved The Biggest Loser Club online diary, he didn’t use it as much as he could have when in Camp Biggest Loser. Now that he has reached his healthy weight range he fully intends to use it to stay on track, whether home or away. “My girlfriend Lucy and my mum, Helen, have been using The Club since I have been inside Camp Biggest Loser and they have learned masses. They are always going on about how brilliant it is,” Joe said.
“Now that Finale is over, Lucy and I intend to use the diary together. We also plan to go travelling together too – perhaps around the United States. Wherever we go, though, we are both determined to live healthier, happier lives.”