As seen in the NZ Herald

It's been hard as she has had to target it around my blood sugars

to keep a level balance with me being Diabetic.

Like a lot of larger overweight people I generally ignored my weight and size, if I did this I could think " ah it’s not that bad". I had been overweight for 26 years or so, at my largest which was only 3 years ago I weighed in at 122 kg’s, I had a 42/44inch waist approx (112cm), and wore XXL-XXXL shirts.

I always got embarrassed when buying clothes or doing anything to exert myself, as that then showed me how unfit I was or how large I had become. Basically from the end of my teenage life when I started to get larger I learned how to avoid the camera, if you don’t see yourself you can just stay ignorant.

This has meant we have had many lost opportunities over the years for me and my wife Elaine, we have visited many different countries on holiday and the only reference we have is in our thoughts and not in pictures like most couples would have.   

Back in 2000 I ended up having heart surgery angioplasty (Stent fitted) and shortly after that I was diagnosed as being type 2 Diabetic. When I was admitted to hospital for the procedure I was at that time the youngest on the cardiac ward, you would think that with these signs I would have listened closely to my body and got up and get in shape but no I just kept on my normal lifestyle of over indulgence in drink and fast foods.

We first visited NZ back in 2005 and then we came to live in New Zealand in Sept of 2007, we noticed straight away that people where more committed to getting fit and being healthy but even with these signs we still did nothing but living it up like kings, after meeting new friends I started back at playing squash, after doing this for a while we joined the gym and started a few classes, pump and body step. I lost some weight 6-8 kg’s or so but I did the usual thing for me. I was keen as at first but after a few weeks/month I  started to lose interest, dropped out and put back on a few KG’s.

In July of 2010 my mate Sara won some free personal training lessons with CEO Abe from Tomfit, after her first session she said I should meet Abe as in her words he’s “AWESOME” so I thought yeah why not, so I arranged it with him, we met up had a chat and he seemed committed to getting me where I wanted to be and not like other trainers I’ve seen in the past where its all about what they want, so I signed up for a 30 week plan, from starting my training with Abe in July of 2010 to Dec of that year I lost around 10kg’s and trimmed up, the 30 week plan has rolled into a 17 month plan and its ongoing.

Because of this training with Abe I was then introduced to Real Nutrition.

I have been going there now for the last 11 months. As I’ve mentioned in the first few months of training with Abe I lost weight and started to tone up and it felt GOOD, the main reason I started going to see Anna at Real Nutrition was because at the end of last year I went to see Abe taking part in a body building competition, shortly after that I decided that I would take a big leap of faith and participate in a body building comp the year afterwards, to be precise Oct the 15th 2011.

I started at Real Nutrition back in December of 2010 with an initial consultation where we discussed what I wanted to do, where I wanted to get to and how she was going to do this with me.

When I first began with Anna I was around 23% Body Fat, and weighed 104kg’s. Anna had her work cut out with me as I am an exceedingly fussy eater, I don’t eat fruit and I don’t like really like fish plus there’s many, many other things I just wont eat, there are so many textures and tastes that make me feel sick, she has had to work hard to get me a plan that works, its been hard as she has had to target it around my blood sugars to keep a level balance with me being Diabetic.

Since starting this journey, I have as you can see lost a lot of weight but more importantly I’ve lost body fat both visible and the killer stuff that sits around your organs and strangles them to death, along with this I have had my health soar sky high.

I’ve dropped half of my Diabetic medication, my blood pressure has dropped from 189/89 to 100/60 and I now have exceedingly low cholesterol readings.

One of the most surprising loss of weight came in the form of reducing milk in my diet. Anna asked me to cut milk out as she thought it would help me break a plateau. Before doing that my dairy intake would have been say, drinking around 5 shop bought latte’s in the week and using lite milk in my cereals on a morning and in coffee or tea at work and at home, not excessive you would think eh, but in the week I cut it out I dropped 2kg and this was the only change I made that week to my eating plan.
The great thing about Real Nutrition is that they don’t just offer their expert advice but it’s a one stop shop, they have everything from protein to supplements, they have information on line and blog constantly to keep everyone updated on health nutrition.
I strongly recommend anyone going to see Anna or any of the guys there if you’re serious about your health and keeping it or bringing it back, it’s never too late just look at me. When Oct the 15th came around I was ready for competing in the Body-Building show,

I had managed to get down to 8% Body Fat and weighed 82kg’s, I entered the Masters over 40 class and won first place.

I was and still am amazed at my achievement and it boosts my morale every time I think about what I’ve done.

I would like to finish by saying that in the last year I have noticed a huge change in myself. I now look in the mirror and see someone different starring back at me, this person has self-esteem, this person now has a purpose and is loving life.

I now have a goal and Elaine and I see past Fridays and we see a new future. I have enrolled at Maxx College and I will be starting a part time course in Business and Personal Training where at the end of this I will be taking my passion for being fit and healthy and passing it on to everyone. I want to change the lives of everyone who is unhappy with themselves, who have tried to change their life around but found it too hard or just gave up I want them to have this feeling of health.

I have to say that once you’ve tasted this you will not want to ever give it up.





If you want to know my full story or would like to chat or email then drop me a line at here.
I would love to hear from you.