A CHAMPION bodybuilder and top personal trainer has revealed how he helped the “world’s fattest boy” lose more than half of his body weight.
Aria Permana, from West Java in Indonesia, went viral when pictures of him aged 11 weighing an astonishing 30 stone were published.
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Ade Rai, 53, a three-time world natural bodybuilding champion and successful businessman in his native Indonesia, set himself the ambitious task of helping the obese child turn his life around.
He revealed to The Sun Online how when he met Aria, he was eating up to 7,000 calories a day – the equivalent of 13 Big Macs.
But, after getting in touch with his family and putting him on a strict diet and exercise regime, Ade was able in just three years to get Aria’s weight down to 13 stone, a remarkable 18 stone loss.
Speaking to The Sun Online from his native Indonesia where he owns 14 fitness centres, Ade, who is still a professional bodybuilder in his 50s, explained how he got involved in Aria’s story.
Ade said he first heard about Aria from the news when he was admitted to hospital at 11, weighing almost 200kg, or 31 stone.
The poor lad, who lived in a remote village in West Java, was so large that he couldn’t fit in the shower and had to wash in a specially-built pool outside his family’s small home.
His family were unable to find clothes that would fit his mammoth frame, and so instead, he wrapped himself in a sarong while spending his days gorging on junk food and fizzy drinks.
He was rushed to hospital needing bariatric surgery to try and get his weight under control.
Upon realising that the hospital where Aria was being treated was just a 10-minute walk from one of his fitness centres, Ade reached out to the boy’s parents.
When he first visited Aria in hospital, he said the boy’s father, who works as a security officer, welcomed him “enthusiastically”.
He said that the most crucial change he made was to Aria’s daily habits.
Ade explained: “He [Aria] was taking in around 6,000 to 7,000 calories every day.”
For context, an average Big Mac hamburger from McDonald’s without fries contains 550 calories.
He told Aria’s parents to stop letting him eat and drink while playing video games.
On average, Aria would drink up to “20 cups of soft drinks and six packs of instant noodles every day,” he said.
“Switching from processed foods to homemade whole foods was also one of the key changes in his died,” Ade added.
“They need to start preparing him and the whole family with healthier meals, and structured exercise time, to get him to move as much as he can every day, and to progress gradually every week.”
He [Aria] was taking in around 6,000 to 7,000 calories every day
Ade Rai
To help with Aria’s weight loss journey, Ade bought the boy a badminton racket, a football, a basketball, and a pair of dumbells.
He went on: “As Aria lives 3 hours away from the hospital, he gets to visit for regular checkups every two weeks.
“So I made it a point that he also visited my gym after every hospital routine visit, so we can measure his improvements, then give more inputs about the exercise plan, and rehearsing new exercise moves to bring home and repeat.
“He always openly thinks of the gym visit as visiting a playground with many new fun things to do. And for that, I am relieved and glad.”
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Ade would also reward Aria for reaching his fitness goals by giving him presents such as a new PlayStation and a shirt of his beloved Liverpool.
He told him to make small changes, such as standing instead of sitting while playing video games, and ensure he didn’t fall back into his old dietary habits.
Ade still keeps in touch with Aria and his family to this day, to help him stay on a healthier path.
“I treat him like my own nephew,” he said. “Nowadays, he stays at around 87 to 90kg (between 13 and 14 stone). That means he’s lost more than 100kg and has been keeping it off for at least two years now while also getting taller.”
He added that he “hopes Aria gets more motivated and uses his own success as a platform to aim higher”.
Always humble, Ade, who shares health advice with his more than 600k Instagram followers, plays down his role in helping Aria turn his life around.
“His weight loss success is a combination of many factors,” he said. “His parents in providing his meals and supporting his exercise regime.
“The medical team who performed bariatric surgery on him. A little part from me and my team with regards to exercise knowledge, motivation, and dieting strategies.
“And of course huge credit to Aria himself, who goes through the journey so bravely and without any major complaints.
“He had always wanted to get back to a healthy weight so he can play football again.”
Ade also explained how he first got into bodybuilding at the age of just 14, before getting into it more seriously when he started university.
He started competing in the late 1980s, winning competitions in New York.
Today, he keeps up his healthy lifestyle, even if he no longer competes, and runs the fitness centre franchise Rai Fitness and Klub Ade Rai, with 14 facilities across Indonesia.
He also founded Rai Institute, a fitness certification academy that has so far trained more than 3,000 of Indonesia’s fitness professionals.
Describing his life today, Ade explained: “I’m grateful to have been blessed with good health and physical performance to this day; that has allowed me to share my knowledge and experience, especially to the Indonesian people, so they too can apply the healthy lifestyle that natural bodybuilding has to offer.”
Anthony Blair
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