My Story.
The day I stopped exercising my body started retaliating
I have always been a real sugar fiend – and although I eat well, and not too keen on takeaways, I am a sucker for anything sugary… chocolate, lollies, cakes –Sugar is my drug of choice. As a kid, I did athletics, swimming, harriers, hockey and netball, I was tall and thin as any empty calories I ate I burnt. When I left school the exercise stopped, and over the next 2-3 years through university and my OE I went from 65kg to 78Kg.
When it comes to weight, Relationships can be your best friend and your worst enemy
At 21 I met my ex partner who I was with for 8 years, and together we gained “HAPPY FAT”. In 2001 – we joined Weight Watchers (for the first time) and together lost 15kg each from healthy eating and kick boxing classes. When that relationship ended in 2004, I turned to food for comfort, and over the next few years ballooned from 70kg up to 89. In 2007, I met my wife, who like me was “round” due to food addiction. Her downfall was takeaways and mine was sweets, and over 4 years we adopted each other’s bad habits. I tried to take the weight off alone several times but couldn’t stick with it or sustain it – by the middle of 2011 my wife and I were 105kg and 120kg respectively.
The turning point
In June 2011 – my wife and I booked a lifetime trip to San Francisco. Our sole motivation for losing some weight was so that we could enjoy our trip, walk the hills of san fran and look ok in photos. We set a goal to lose 10kg each by October and lost 15, through healthy eating and walking. On holiday, we abandoned our structured healthy eating, and ate what we wanted, and lost another 3-4 kg each. When we returned from holiday, we had many complements about “looking well” and one manager asked if I had had liposuction! We realised that the 3-5 hours walking every day was the reason we didn’t gain weight, and that this was the key to continued loss – So I joined a lunchtime boot camp and started training for a 6km fun run. Initially I was horrible. I could run about 200 metres and I puffed like a 50 year old. But I slowly got better, and the better I got the more I wanted to do.
Upping the Anti
In January 2012 – I caught up with a friend who hadn’t seen me for a while, and was so proud of my achievement, she almost cried. I told her my exercise regime had become boring and she recommended joining Fit Camp at Pt Erin. Starting was daunting, I joined the advanced group – many of whom are athletes. For the first few weeks I felt like a complete imposter, I completed all the routines sloooowly. By the second 6 week programme I was no longer the slowest, I was starting to do proper press-ups and running the distance set without stopping. Seeing results encouraged me to take the next step…. which was personal training
PT WORKS!
I knew it was important to share the success I was having with exercise with my wife, and as she wasn’t quite ready for boot camp we joined ABE at TOM FIT and now go twice a week.
What worked for us training together is that Abe understands our motivations and our limitations. I am incredibly competitive – so for me he sets challenges. Disey (My wife) is less confident and more self conscious so her programme has to be fun. And it is – every session is different, and SO MUCH FUN. I burn almost as many calories from laughing as I do from exercise! The TOMFIT philosophy is also critical – Its not full of muscle heads and screaming lycra….. there is no bullshit – just straight up no nonsense strength and cardio, the trainers are all real honest people who simply want you to be successful, and because they believe it – we believe it!
The transformation
The biggest change most people have noticed in me is what they can see. Having lost over 30kg of weight and close to 80cm of size from my body I do look very different. But for me, what is more significant are the things you can’t necessarily see at a glance.
I have defined muscles now, my chronic conditions – Asthma and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) no longer require medical intervention, my aching joints, and clicking knees have dissipated. But most importantly – my attitude and mental well-being has done a complete 360. I am more positive and confident, I can cope with much more and do much more as I don’t have the burden of physical weight dragging me down mentally. Having overcome my biggest demon – I now feel almost invincible, and because of that I am willing to take more risk and actively pursue my dreams as I am no longer scared to fail.
The milestones
In the space of a year my wife and I have:
– Lost 60kg of weight and 200cm of size / girth –an average woman!
– Hiked the Tongariro, ran the Sculpt 6k and walked a 100 miles in San Francisco
– I placed in the top 3 for Weight watchers Slimmer of the Year competition
– My wife can leg press 300KG!
– We sold our house, changed our jobs and are now moving to aussie to open a business together which has been our life-long dream
The pay off
If you are contemplating making an “investment into your health and well being” contemplate this:
– What is the cost of not doing it? Hip replacements, knee surgeries, heart attacks and all of the hundreds of symptoms and conditions associated with obesity are FAR MORE expensive to deal with than proactively doing something about it RIGHT NOW.
– What will you gain? What we have achieved goes far beyond losing weight…. healthy people are happy people, it’s addictive, it’s contagious, its mid altering and LIFE CHANGING.
Thanks you Janine from the bottom of my heart for sharing your awesome story. You and Disey have done so bloody well that I am so very proud of you both and how far you have come. Well done. If you think it can’t be done, then see the pictures and read this story. It is about commitment, dedication, goal setting and most importantly, believing that you can achieve the goal.
Much love
The Chief
northshoretraining 
Well done Janine! You are a real inspiration. Good luck with your new venture in Aussie. We will miss your cheery smile at Pt Erin.