Jason’s new lease of life - ‘I WANT TO BE ALIVE FOR MY KIDS’

His wake-up call has resulted in a mind and body overhaul

- Rebekah Hebenton

Radio star Jason Reeves makes his listeners smile every morning as a host on Coast’s Feel Good Breakfast Show – and now the dad-of-two has even more reason to feel on top of the world.

Thanks to a lot of determination and some expert advice, the Hawke’s Bay born-and-bred broadcaster has pulled his belt in a few notches and got himself a whole new lease on life.

It was April last year, a few months before he celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with wife Louise, that Jason first decided something had to change.

“It was the school holidays and I was trying to run around with the kids,” recalls Jason. “But I was getting puffed and couldn’t keep up with them. Then I pulled out our wedding photo. Louise still looked amazing 10 years later, but I saw how much I’d changed and I felt quite embarrassed. It was a real awakening moment.”

While he wasn’t happy with the way he looked, Jason also had the terrifying thought that if he didn’t change his lifestyle, he might not be around to see Max, nine, and Olly, six, grow up.

“I thought if I don’t get myself together, in five years I could be dead. My two boys aren’t going to have a dad,’ and that freaked me out.”