SCOTTY PEARSON, the drummer in Elemeno P who is losing weight on a very public stage in this week's episode of Downsize Me!
KEY POINTS:
You'd think he'd be fit, hammering away on the drums regularly, as well as running his construction company. But before the show he weighed a hefty 135kg.
It's a pretty brave move doing a show like this. Did they approach you?
Yeah, they did. It was a friend of a friend type thing and they knew of me, and they must've been bandying about who was a reasonably well-known person who was chronically obese [laughs]. So next thing you know I've got the show. But I did think about it long and hard because it is hugely humiliating, especially the start of the show, where they highlight your lack of discipline and how unhealthy you are. I watched Jeremy Corbett's episode, and I was still trying to decide and he called me up and he said, "Look, it's kind of changed my world". So I thought: "What the heck?".
How did you get over that humiliation?
Leanne [the show's personal trainer] and I got on quite well and she's quite tough. But one day I said to her, "What the hell am I doing? This is so embarrassing. How am I going to do this?" She said, "Look, there are people out there who look up to you." And I know I'm not some A-list star, but certainly people do recognise me, especially young people, and she said, "You're promoting that it's actually fine to be unhealthy and overweight and if you can get some people to think that's not the best thing to be then it's worth doing". Basically, she said, "Get over yourself." And it's changed my life.
Aren't New Zealand musicians meant to be starving though?
Exactly [laughs]. But it's cheaper eating [unhealthily] and it's way more expensive for me to eat healthy. I spend an extra $100-plus a week. You can get a McDonald's drive-in for $6, you can't get a nice salad anywhere for that.
So it's NZ On Air's fault [you're a bit chunky]?
Yeah, thanks Helen.
They say on the show that you are reasonably fit because of the drumming, but did you realise you were that unhealthy and on the verge of diabetes?
I quit smoking about a year ago and started putting on weight and was in the worst shape of my life. Nothing was working very well anymore. I definitely knew I wasn't very healthy and tried a few things but I didn't really have a lot of discipline and being so busy and being single it's really hard because for me my biggest problem was convenience and eating out a lot.
How did it change your life?
I'm 43 now, but I was getting warning signs that I wouldn't be living much after 50. I work hard on my business and the band and you think "what's the point in busting your nuts on your mortgage when I might only be here for another five years?". And the fact I had to do it because being in the public eye there was a sense of not wanting to fail. That was a big incentive for me.
Did losing weight make you a better drummer?
Without a lie I don't get half as fatigued. We've just done a tour and I wasn't sweating half of what I used to. It's exciting. I haven't done any real exercise since playing school hockey. It's the best thing I've done in a long time.Scott Kara
Scotty Pearson Fights the flab on Downsize Me!, Tuesday, 7.30PM, TV3
