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Peter Camacho loses over 80 lbs.

by Joan Aguon Charfauros

Guam - 33-year-old Barrigada resident Peter Camacho recalls being pretty active in high school, even being involved in sports. But it was with the birth of his first daughter where the weight starting to creep up on him. "I started getting comfortable ...not to say that I didn't care about my health but I you know when you get comfortable. I was going back and forth, I would lose a little and I would gain," he said.

As years passed, Camacho would be blessed with two more girls and along with those blessings came more pounds- tipping the scale at 245 lbs. He said the point in which he realized he needed to lose weight was when he had a heart to heart talk with his mother. "My mother told me that my daughters were kind of scared of losing me as a result of a heart attack or something," he said.

At first, Camacho brushed off his mom's plea because he figured he was young and he could easily lose the weight when he wanted to but knowing his daughters feared for his health, Camacho knew changes needed to be made. "So I started gradually running and walking, just cutting down my intake and slowing changing my diet," he said.

It was when his mother had a stroke a few months ago that he knew he needed to be serious and committed to not only changing up his diet but also his exercise regimen. "Almost losing her through that kind of turned my head around and it was like, 'this might happen to you', better health is where it's at," he said.

Now, Camacho who is over 80 lbs. lighter understands where he went wrong. "I guess it was a mixture of trials and tribulations in my life and being a single parent and I just let myself go. Now I'm turning it around and making it better for myself because the healthier I am, the longer I'm here," he said.

Camacho now works out close to five times a week and even his daughters join in on some of the workouts saying that as long as they are together, they can continue to inspire and motivate each other. "I want to give a big thanks to family and friends for motivating me...they are the biggest motivators...big ups to Dina and Brant McCreadie at Kontenda's Gym and all the staff...also to Team CounterShock, all the boys...for pushing...that's all you need. When you have that motivation, you can do that," he said.