My Journey - The Fat, The Thin, The Healthy

The reality that a lot of personal trainers, coaches and even representatives in the health and fitness industry is that they have never had the same struggles as 90% of the people they are trying to help. It's all well and good trainers and professionals say they understand and know how it feels but do they???, in my experience it's rare you have a PT that used to be very fat or even know what it's like working a shift based job, and trying to fit training in with Meal prep and family life and all the other things that need you're attention/time.

My personal transformation started around mid 2009 this picture was just before then -

This is Richard our Personal Trainer 10 years ago, before he started training

I was around 21 stone at my heaviest, and what this photo doesn't tell you is how depressed I was and hated life, now lets be clear I had a normal up bringing I wasn't overly bullied or had any major trauma in my life to make me feel this way, the simple truth was I was unhappy with how I looked, also between working a very demanding shift based job the 40+ cigarettes a day, binge junk food sessions and when work allowed me to drink I would to the point I would pass out, and very little sleep on top of all of this it's no wonder I looked how I did and felt how I did.

It got so bad that 4days after the above photo was taken I was planning on take my own life, I felt alone and completely helps with no hope in sight. I want to stress how depression is a serious thing and it can effect you in ways you can't control or expect. Thankfully I had a moment of clarity just a moment, but in that moment I told myself 6MONTHS just give it 6months and if I haven't or couldn't change anything about myself or my situation then I would carry out what I had planned.

The next day I starting looking online at ways too lose weight and diets and exercise and programmes, and very quickly got swallowed in the information over load of fitness, I struggled to see the wood from the trees but eventually I went with a low carb diet structure with a mix of long duration cardio and weight training, no particular plan or goal in place 18months later I lost about 10stone,

I'm sure a lot of you will think I'm happy and healthy in this picture but believe me I was far from either, firstly due to how I ate and trained I screwed my hormones over big time, a 11year old girl probably had higher test levels than me here, my joints hurt and even had pancreas and kidney issues all due to almost no carbs for over 8months and chronic fatigue from over training and under fueling, also that I had turn into a skinny-fat (someone who is thin or slim everywhere except their belly), this is only made worse by the fact I'm 6 foot 3 so it really highlighted my pot belly even more.

My answer to this was to suck my belly in everywhere I went no matter who I was with even if I was on my own, instead of looking at the root of the problem I decided to cover it up with a quick fix.

I soon realised I had gone from one end of the scale to the other from extremely fat and unhealthy and unhappy to extremely thin and unhealthy and unhappy.

By this point I was completely bought into all the bull sh@t this amazing industry has to offer, that is there only to make a fast buck off people and screw what happens to them after that or because of it.

It was not until I started focusing on health instead of visual everything started to click into place, and the more I looked into the science and medical angle the more everything made sense, and my plan and goals became clear.

I need to build muscle plain and simple by doing so I would seem less lanky, look better and feel more confident and also that by having more lean muscle mass my body needs more calories on a day to day basis so when I came to dieting back again, it would be much easier to lose the excess weight (the pot belly).

Don't get me wrong hind sight is a wonderful thing and if I focused on building muscle at the start I have no doubt I would be a lot further along with my goal then and now, but by things happening the way they did gives me a huge insight on what other people go through, and how I can help and advise them through my own personal experiences as well as the knowledge I have acquired.

Fast forwarding a few years of trial and error and increasing my knowledge and skill set further, I put on about 50lbs of muscle and my body drastically looked different, admittedly I don't have great genetics (wide shoulders, deep and long muscle bellies, thick bone structure) but non the less, I wasn't skinny fat anymore, after focusing on building muscle for about 6years I learnt 5 hard facts

.Be patient building muscle takes along time (naturally)

. Food and sleep is the most important thing

. You have to train not workout

. You must have a plan for you don't follow anyone else's plan as it won't work for you

. And you can't out train your genetics, work with them to enhance what you do have.

About 2years ago I decided to try a course of testosterone (steroids), I spent a lot of time researching and finding out as much Information as possible before hand and also meet with a few experts on designing what I would be doing and how, (FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING DOING Steroids I'm not going to tell you not to do it or to do it, it's something that you have to decide for yourself, all I will say is DO YOUR HOMEWORK it's serious drugs that can seriously damage you so educate yourself and speak to professionals).

This picture is towards the end of a 2year bulk I did and ran the testosterone for 6months at the half way point, size went up as did my strength but I did have some negatives for example my back broke out into very painful spots,

This was partly down to the testosterone but also my lack of knowledge and experience to combat this side effect, thankfully after coming off my cycle for about 6months, it had pretty much all gone but still not nice to deal with.

About 18months on and here I am still training as hard as possible and eating rite while juggling a very busy life and enjoying every single challenging, beautiful moment of it, and that's what this journey and this industry has given me STRENGTH, strength to deal and handle what ever life throws my way, whether it be physical, financial or even emotional I know I have the strength to handle it, and that's why I want to help and introduce as many people to their true inner potential as possible, because their is enough bull sh@t in this industry as it is, people using you to get their next house or car and missing the most important thing, and that's truly helping people achieve and become something or someone they never thought possible. I'M SORRY I've rambled on again but I really want you guys to see how passionate I am about health and fitness and the amazing gifts its given me so far, if you are interested in finding out and seeing what you are truly capable of, please contact us via our Facebook page or direct through our website, consultations are free, and for any enquires you will receive a further 10% discount code for any of the clothing offered on our website, have an awesome day 😎

check out my video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA4pEpwxTEA

#fattofit #epressedtohealthy #myjourneytohealth #buildingmuscle #bodytonedfromfat