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The twins are well-known businessmen in their small town, recognised almost everywhere they go.
But over the past five years their appearances began to change to such an extent people had to do a double-take to make sure it was them.
The brothers had practically become shadows of their former selves – in the best kind of way.
Between them, Martin and Marius Dreyer (41) have shed 123kg after deciding enough was enough.
They were tired of their big boeps and bulging butts – something had to be done.
Martin and Marius aren’t not only twins, they’re best friends and best friends often embark on challenges together.
If they tackled things as a team, they decided, they’d double their chance of success.
At his heaviest, Martin weighed a dangerous 192kg.
His brother clocked in at 151kg.
Now Martin weighs 122kg and Marius 98kg, having lost 70kg and 53kg respectively.
Last year, when many people found their girths expanding during lockdown, the brothers – who are single and live in Bethlehem in the Free State – reached a tipping point.
They couldn’t carry on this way.
It was time for action.
And so they said goodbye to their unhealthy lifestyle of no exercise and poor-food habits and the results speak for themselves.
At their home, the twins show YOU clothes they hadn’t been able to wear in three years.
Marius holds up size-40 trousers.
“I never want to wear this again,” he says. “These days, I wear a size 34.”
He rubs his belly which still bulges over his belt.
“There’s more work to be done,” he admits. “I have around 22kg to go.”
Marius wants to lose another 5kg.
But that pales in comparison to the amount of fat – the equivalent of 246 bricks of butter – they’d collectively managed to melt away.
The brothers, who own a liquor store in the town, used to be so overweight and unfit they battled to walk 20m from the car to their favourite coffee shop.
“We’d be exhausted and out of breath,” Marius says.
Not anymore, though. Every Sunday the twins go for an 8km hike and those cakes and treats at the coffee shop have made way for healthy, balanced meals.
Their weight problem started when they were teenagers.
Their parents, Abie and Madeleine, owned a restaurant and takeaway business in Bethlehem and the boys worked as waiters in the eatery every afternoon after school.
The temptation to nibble was impossible to resist, they recall.
“We grazed as we worked,” Marius says. “And, of course, we had easy access to the takeaway menu.”
“To put it bluntly, we got fat from eating,” Martin adds.
“Five years ago, I struggled to reach my feet to tie my shoelaces,” Marius says.
“Everything was an effort,” Martin says. “If I was pushing a supermarket trolley, I had to hang onto it just to be able to move.”
They’d tried several diets over the years but nothing worked.
They would lose weight but it would creep back kilo by kilo.
At their heaviest they wore 6XL shirts and Martin admits he didn’t have a neck.
“Everything was just this chunk of meat from my head to my torso.”
Things started changing five years ago when the twins met Ema Fourie, a presenter at local radio station MalutiFM.
She invited them to join her in her weight-loss quest and they cut out junk food, starch and sugar.
Fizzy drinks made way for eight glasses of water a day and the weight began to drop off.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
Three years ago, they fell off the wagon and pizza, hamburgers and chocolate once more became their go-to’s – and the dial on the scale began to go up and up and up.
“Yeah, we strayed from the plan,” Marius admits.
“Suddenly, we knew about every special at every takeaway joint in town again.”
When the hard lockdown was announced in March last year, the twins had to temporarily close their liquor store.
“The weeks stuck at home forced us to take stock of our lives,” Marius says.
“We agreed we didn’t want to continue living like we had been. That was the second and greatest turnaround in our lives and we’ve stuck to it since.”
The brothers now have a meal-replacement drink for breakfast and a balanced meal that includes a variety of food groups for lunch and supper.
They practise portion control diligently.
Martin admits he’s an emotional eater.
“Weight isn’t the only thing I struggle with – depression plays a key role.”
He was diagnosed with the condition eight years ago.
“You get to a point where you just don’t care about your body anymore. Your interaction with food becomes swine-like and nasty. To be honest, you really don’t care about anything at all anymore.”
Two years ago, he had a wake-up call when a friend who battled with depression committed suicide.
That motivated Martin to post a video on social media in which he encourages people to talk to someone if they feel life is getting too much for them.
A stranger contacted Martin a few days later to say he’d watched the video while holding a gun to his temple.
The video changed his mind.
“I realised then that I’d saved a life,” Martin says.
“Though you might struggle some days just to survive your depression, there are always people who are worse off.”
He’s since posted several more motivational talks on his Facebook page and has spoken about it on local radio.
“My motivation for doing this is knowing I’m making a difference in other people’s lives, and that in turn motivates me to stick to my own healthy lifestyle. But my brother’s support helps a lot too.”
The twins have always supported each other, mom Madeleine says.
She’s delighted her sons have lost weight, she adds, because she was worried about their health.
“But there was no use talking to them – they wouldn’t listen. Now I’m just grateful they’ve made that decision for themselves.”
They’ve kept some of their oversized clothes as a sober reminder of what was and what could be, Marius says.
“And on the days we’ve strayed a bit from the path or when we get a craving for junk food, we look at those big pants and shirts and that motivates us all over again.”
