May 2017
The last month has been a busy time in the fitness calendar and for many clients at Fit For Anything. This month I wanted to take the time to focus on what can be achieved, no matter what the obstacles or time of life you are in. It seems to be on trend to talk about mindset, but it really is mind over matter when you need to push the boundaries of what you believe is possible.
There are many excuses we can make for not taking the opportunity to help achieve a healthy mind and healthy body: time, weight, injury, age, work. But what matters is having a positive, can-do attitude. To set your goals and work towards them no matter the setbacks.
If you can break the barriers to improving your fitness then the possibilities are endless.
What made you take the decision to get Fit?
At the end of this year I will be 60 years old. My highest weight was 126 kg which was far too high and mainly due to the medication I was on. Without going into too many details I feel it is fair to say that this medication messed up my body badly and counted for about 20 kg weight gain. With help of my son we managed to stop the prescribed medication. That was the first step to positive changes to my body. My 3 sons wanted me to loose more weight and gain strength too. I wanted it as well as I had extra motivation as I had recently become a grand-dad.
Why did you want to start training with a personal trainer?
My posture had got worse and I had lower back and neck problems.My brother Sanjay who has been training with Roel for years, put me in touch with Roel about a year ago. I started a fitness routine and I reduced my food intake at the same time. I also had some nutritional advice as my body needed to adapt to various changes.Over a period of about 3 years I managed to loose about 30 kg's this way, by now I was about 96 kg. I managed to break through various plateaus where I thought I couldn't loose any more weight but I did.
What was your exercise levels like previously?
I am a very busy business and family man and I found it hard to motivate myself. My exercise routine had drastically reduced as attention was given mainly to family and business needs.
What goals did you have in place?
The goal was to reduce weight to 90 kg, then 85 kg and ultimately to 80 kg whilst gaining overall strength and improving functional movement with limiting risk to injury.
Have you achieved them?
My lower back is fine, I have gained a lot of strength and I feel light from within, feeling fitter, more mobile and younger too. I can hold the plank position for 2 minutes now, this was 20 seconds. By Christmas 2016 I was 84 kg.
A great discipline with both food intake and a healthy consistent fitness routine with plenty of walking helped me greatly. I can recommend raw food from mainly vegetables and fruits, water and very little or no starches, grains, etc.
What would your advice be to anyone that thinks that it’s too late to start getting fit?
It is never too late but it becomes harder the longer you leave it. A strong mindset is needed and it does help greatly to see the reasons why to loose weight in the first place. Health is wealth and I want to be physically able to be the best grand-dad, husband, dad and be able to celebrate life to its fullest with people who I care about and love. We have developed a family love of training now. Roel also trains my wife Nayana and my yougest son Rajeev who is getting married at the end of this year.
May
29/4 & 6/5:Tough Mudder London West
6/5 Rat Race Dirty Weekend 20 miles 200 obstacles
13/5 & 14/5:London Revolution Bike Ride, completed by Sudheer and family.
20/5:Windsor Color Obstacle Rush Run, completed by Lauren Diventura, Emily Cooper and Sarah Laugher as part of a Christ Church School team
28/5:Hercules Festival of Sport at Merchant Taylors School
June
Threshold series "Race to the Tower" (Cotswolds) 10/6-11/6, Race to the King 24/6 (South Downs) and most popular 15/7 Race to the Stones (voted best all-round event in UK).
30/6:Start of OCR European Championships
Looking forward to training hard with you all over the next month.
Best wishes
Roel.