By Dan Reynish

Chapter One: The Time Has Come

Feb 10, 2020 | 2:20 PM

Tuesday, July 25th, 2017, was one of the greatest days of my life. It was also one of the worst. On that day I realzed I was obese. I was no longer big boned, chubby, fat or any of the other ways I explained my weight problem over the years. I was obese, and something had to be done. My life had to change, or I could die.

A few days earlier the legendary, Emmy Award winning Canadian costume designer Juul Haalmeyer, who has worked with all the greats of television but is best known for what he did on the classic Canadian show SCTV, invited me to stop by his studio to, as he casually put it, “…take a picture in the LaRue…”.

For me, there was nothing casual about that offer. The “LaRue” was legendary! Known around the world, as the jacket that the late, great John Candy wore on SCTV while playing the character of Johnny LaRue in dozens of unforgettable episodes and scenes. Candy wore it in Polynesiantown and during the Street Beef Christmas Show and now I was going to wear it too.

I was beyond excited!! The opportunity to wear something John Candy had worn on my favourite television show of all time was unbelievable!! Until it hit me that I had put on so much weight over the previous few years that the “LaRue” might not actually fit me. I was so disheartened about being too fat that I went out to get something to eat so I could feel better.

When he died in 1994 John Candy was reported to be six feet three inches tall and about 275 pounds. I’m a few inches shorter than Candy, but I was over 300 pounds at that time, and remain so today.

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To try and calm my fear, I asked the size and Juul told me it was a 46T, by my calculations equalling a Double Extra Large. I had recently sized up and began wearing a Triple Extra Large.

All I could think was it wouldn’t fit. Plus, John Candy died of a presumed myocardial infarction, a heart attack, at the age of 43. Not only did I weigh more than he did, but I was older too. The future did not look bright for me…if I didn’t start taking care of myself.

That was almost three years ago. And today, in February of 2020, I weigh more than ever. Even though the “LaRue” did fit me and I got a picture wearing it with Juul that I’ll treasure forever, I didn’t truly start taking care of myself. Although I naively thought I had.

Yes, I started exercising more than ever before. Walking everywhere. Swimming when possible, and even taking the stairs up to my apartment on the thirtieth floor of the building I lived in from time to time.

But once I arrived at home I wasn’t eating right. And while I was out, I wasn’t eating right. Unless I was at a friend’s house for a home cooked meal, I never ate right. But I was exercising so much, I figured eventually the weight would fall off.

It did not. It does not. I know that now. Which is why I asked my co-worker John Cartwright last December if he knew anyone who could help me with my weight problem.

Being fat…sorry, being obese – a person is considered to be obese if they are more than 20% over their ideal weight – is no longer something I can live with. And it’s not just because I’m scared of dying of a heart attack like one of my idols, or because my knees hurt, or I’m afraid I won’t get to see my nieces and nephews grow up, or because I usually can’t find clothes in my size, or that I look fat on TV and in the pictures I take while traveling or with people I love and admire. It isn’t any one of those excuses. It’s all of them. And many more.

I’ve spent the last ten years putting on weight. My plan is to spend this year Losing It. It won’t be easy, which is why I asked for help. I believe in my nutritional consultant Nikki Stadnyk, Save-On-Foods and all the people I’m working with – and it is work. I also believe in me. This is going to be a difficult year, but the time has come.

And if I can do it…you can too!!