This is my story of how I went from an overweight, unhappy, unhealthy, self-concious, self loathing man who transformed his entire life to a healthy, happy, fit and confident person. My life transformation was a hard road to navigate but I did it and so can you.

To begin my story we need to take a few steps back so I can set the scene for where I was in my life, I look back now and I can’t believe I found my self in the position I was in but like many of us, we don’t notice these things happening until one day we get the shock of our lives.

I was like most 30 somethings, working very hard to buy a house, had a nice car, took annual overseas holidays, surrounded myself with great friends and a loving family.  I was working for a multinational IT consumer security company. I was working from home mostly due to the timezone differences and spent a hell of a lot of time in aeroplanes, airports and swanky hotels.

“Working in this way can be quite isolating not to mention the toll working weird and wonderful hours can take on your body. I found myself always eating at strange times of the day and constantly snacking – Tim Tam’s were and still are a favourite of mine but nowhere near the volume is consumed these days”.

One Sunday I was off on my regular flight to San Francisco, I arrived at Sydney airport, proceeded to the check in counter. This particular day turned out to be my lucky day. I was given a free up grade to business class. So onboard I go, I’m grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. I find my seat pretty quickly and step in front of my seat.

This moment really sticks with me as the moment when my world came to a screeching halt and I realised I was fat! I think like most people who have had or are having issues with your weight you have moments when you think you’ve put on weight but mostly you adapt your life to work around your ever-expanding waist line.

Arriving home in Sydney after this trip my whole world seemed a lot darker. I continued to dwell on my weight issues and how it was making me feel. It seemed the only way to make things better was to eat more. I began to pull out of a lot of things I was invited too because I felt so ashamed of myself.

“Some days later a friend and I were having a coffee at a cafe. He handed me a flyer and said in a less than subtle way “you should give this guy a call. you really need to do something about your weight” Angrily I grab the flyer out of his hand and said yes I would call him.I realise now I wasn’t angry at my friend, I was angry at myself for finding myself in that position. Often anger and frustration would be directed at others when in actual fact it was me who I was angry at. Only now though can I see it”.

So I made the call, I arranged for my first session with the trainer, Matt. We seemed to gel almost instantly. Something that made me very comfortable and confident that Matt was the right guy for me. The first session was probably the worst. For more reasons than what you would think, obviously I couldn’t move the way I wanted to, I became breathless almost instantly and more than a few times I thought I was going to vomit. I held it together and got through it. A few days later I remember thinking “oh god, what have I done” I could hardly move. I decided to book in for two sessions a week. Those two sessions quickly became three. Usually a 6am start, done by 7 and I was home working by 730am. The best way to start the day. The training sessions in the early days became highly addictive, I was loving the endorphin rush that I was getting after every session. The weight started to come off and I thought that I was doing very well. Little did I know what was ahead of me and the challenges that I would have to face.

“I didn’t realise that there was so much more to losing weight and being healthy than just the exercise. I had to get a handle on my emotional health and also address issues I had with alcohol and emotional eating. Matt and I worked had at each session and when the results started to slow it was clear that I had other things I had to address”.

“By this stage I had enough and yet again I lashed out at him. Again I was not angry at him, it was things away from training that were holding me back. One thing Matt constantly did was stood by me during every session, making sure I progressed at every opportunity and he never gave up on me”.

Addressing some of the issues that I had away from training was so very important in improving my life. Getting rid of toxic relationships, getting out of a job that I hated, overcoming emotional issues, addressing emotional eating, learning self-respect and giving my all to everything I did were just some of the things that I learnt whilst training with Matt. I can’t thank him enough for coming into my life at a more crucial time. I can only imagine what may have happened if I hadn’t enlisted his help to get my life back. I know this may sound melodramatic but he did have a major impact on my life and I am forever thankful. I don’t underestimate the amount of work that I have had to put in and continue to but I am not sure I would have come so far without him.

“Working with a trainer who was more than just about the number of push ups I could do or how good they look at the beach was what worked so well for me. Matt had a better understanding than most of what it takes to be the best version of yourself. He prides himself on doing everything to the best of his ability and in turn instilled those attributes in me. Being fit and healthy for me is more than just having your body in peak shape, it’s about addressing all those things in your life that are disabling you from being the best you can be.”.

I remember having a conversation with Matt over a coffee about how bitterly unhappy I was with my job. Yes sure it paid extremely well, but i felt that I had no emotional connection to my job anymore and I really didn’t want to do it any longer. He suggested I leave and become a personal trainer. Given what I had gone through to get to where I was he thought that experience would enable me to be a great personal trainer. At first I laughed at the idea and was a little embarrassed to entertain the idea. But over time the idea stuck with me. It took all my courage for me to quit my corporate job. I had improved so much in my health and fitness and this seemed to be one of the last hurdles I overcame. You can imagine the inner turmoil i went through in making this decision but I did it and didn’t look back (well not really look back).

After spending the best part of 20 years working in a corporate job, the thought of going out on my own not only filled me with fear it also excited me at the same time. Starting any business is hard enough but when you’re starting one that you believe in from the ground up having gone through the journey your clients do I think there is added pressure especially because my clients are placing their trust in me that I will take them on that journey and help them achieve their goals. For me this company is more than a business, it’s a privilege and an honour to be able to help my clients reach their goals.  Looking at the picture where you see me in November 2007 at my sister’s wedding and then a picture from June 2015, I honestly cannot believe that I am the same person. The one on the left looks tired, sick and very unwell but above all very sad. I remember when this photo was taken. It was of all the family. I deliberately chose a position at the side of the image so as to not be the focus. I still feel sad when I see it. That feeling though serves as a reminder of what I don’t want the rest of my life to be. The guy on the right well what can I say. I am extremely proud of what I have achieved. I now like the guy I see looking back at me.