BUILD ABODYTHAT FEELSLIKE YOURS

My life used to look very different. I had a stressful, demanding job that took up most of my time and, somewhere along the way, looking after myself just slipped further and further down the list. Bad habits crept in, the weight kept going up, and eventually I reached 154 kg — around 24 stone 4 lb. I wasn’t happy or healthy, and it started affecting what I felt able to do. I’d think twice about going somewhere because I was already worrying about getting out of breath, sweating, not keeping up or just feeling uncomfortable. Looking back, I was missing out on quite a lot of life.

I tried losing weight plenty of times, but it was always the same story — lots of motivation at the beginning, trying to change everything at once, then eventually ending up back where I started. What finally made the difference was deciding to stop winging it and actually make a proper plan. I broke things down, made changes I could realistically live with and started treating it as something I was building over time. Then the first results came... and I was hooked. Seeing that what I was doing was actually working felt amazing, and I just wanted to keep going.

I went on to lose over 60 kg, and by the time I reached my weight goal I didn’t want to stop. I started getting stronger, building muscle and seeing just how much better I could feel. The change in my physical health, confidence and overall quality of life was something I never wanted to take for granted.

That experience completely changed my direction. I left my old career, studied fitness, nutrition and behaviour change, and became a personal trainer and fitness coach. Now I get to help other people make their own changes — not by expecting them to be perfect, but by finding something that actually works for their life. And that means a lot to me.