“In July 2013, I walked into the gym and little did I realise that my life would never be the same again.
I weighed 92 kg and Size 16 - 18 in clothes. Enter Ryan……….. and, as they say in the classics, the rest is history. “
When I put my story in writing some three months ago, little did I know that it would lead to yet another chapter that I didn’t know I had in me.
The section of my last blog, highlighted above prompted one of my very good friends to say that she wanted to know more.
“You can’t just say and the rest is history, I want to know more."
While she didn’t elaborate on what she wanted to know perhaps these questions might be, “How did I achieve what I have and how have I stayed motivated?” “Why does the partnership between myself and my trainer work?” and “Where to for us from here?”
As I have said many times, I had no idea where my gym membership would take me.
I started going after work, two or three days a week, either by myself or with one of my three daughters, all of whom were members of the same gym.
After having the youngest daughter give me a quick rundown of the equipment and what you did with it, my workouts mostly consisted of 10 minutes on the treadmill, walking not running or 1 kilometre on the bike, but never both. I was to later discover the rowing machine which I liked and gradually improved my 500 metre, then later 1 kilometre, time.
Still with no idea where all this was going, I received a phone call from a trainer at the gym. As part of my membership I was to receive a health and fitness consultation plus three Personal Training sessions for the bargain price of $70.00.
A personal trainer was not on my radar, and whether it would be a good financial decision for my family was a concern.
Anyway, I met with Ryan late one afternoon after work. Our initial meeting was very business- like, we talked about my expectations, my general health, nutrition, including what my current diet included, and finally how he could help me.
One of the first promises he made to me on that day was that if I were to train with him regularly, I would no longer need the medication that I had relied on to keep my blood pressure under control for approximately 10 years.
Did I believe this? The short answer would be no.
I left the gym that day, after making a time for my first training session, very sceptical and unsure whether I had done the right thing.
The three personal training sessions that followed must have been fairly uneventful because I am unable to recall exactly what we did. After the third, however, Ryan spoke to me about whether I would like to continue with more sessions. I explained that the financial commitment was a concern on several levels , and I believe this may have been the first time of many that Ryan would utter the words, “What price do you put on your health?”
I couldn’t argue with this and eventually after offering me another 5 sessions for what I thought was a reasonable amount, I agreed.
The second promise was made, being that if I wasn’t convinced about the training session by the end of the fifth, then Ryan would let me walk away and he would leave me to it.
I think it was by the end of the third session that I knew that I was not going to give this up.
After talking it over with Phil, I purchased a block of training sessions, this time, the November challenge. For the month of November, I would receive two personal training sessions per week with measurements of waist, arm and leg circumference, weight and a fat pinch test taken at the beginning and end of the month.
I will always remember the email I received at the end of the month from Ryan congratulating me for successfully improving my numbers across the board.
While I don’t remember the exact numbers, the one that stuck with me was the weight loss. I had started the month at 88kg and ended it at 83kg.
4 weeks and 5 kgs.
I was on top of the world.
It had taken me, prior to this, 4 months to lose 4 kgs. Weight loss wasn’t my goal as I have stated before but suddenly it became more important.
The month was up and it was time to make the ultimate commitment to my health.
I cheekily asked Ryan if he had any more specials for me and he replied that I had used up my quota and it was time to pay full price.
By now I was sure that continuing was my only choice but I did not know how I would be able to convince my family.
I was about to do something that I had not done my entire married life, and that was to choose myself over them so I signed up and went home to break the news and hope that they would adjust to the changes my new lifestyle would bring to their lives, and mine and support me so I was able to make the commitment required.
It was not just the financial commitment but also the time away from the family that would affect them.
I was working, at that stage, 30 hours a week over 5 days, so up until then my routine was all about work and family, being home in time to cook the dinner every night and have it on the table by the time Phil and the girls came home from work or uni.
The responsibility of the cooking and cleaning fell to me so it felt as though there was no time left for exercise unless the family were prepared either to chip in and help or wait until I got home before dinner was started.
I would say that pretty much the latter was what happened although Emma helped with the cooking when she could.
So the adjustments were made and we settled into our new routine. I found myself gradually losing more weight and low and behold after a routine visit to my doctor early in 2014, I was told I did not need the medication for high blood pressure any longer and that I should continue doing whatever it was that I was doing.
It was also early 2014, February to be exact, that Emma (who was now also training with Ryan after we, as we often joke, gave him to her for Christmas) and I went to Bootcamp for the first time.
It was early days for Ryan and his Saturday Bootcamp and often there were only 3 or 4 of us in attendance.
We trained down at Semaphore beach and it was here that I discovered that your emotional health was just as important as your physical health and where the Inspire Family began.
Ryan and I often spent more time talking than it had taken to train, and I was soon to discover that not only could he challenge me physically, but was constantly questioning, probing and making “the face” at just about every statement I would make during the many discussions we would have during and after each session and Bootcamp.
Slowly, as much as Ryan resisted, we became friends.
It was during one of these post workout discussions that I asked Ryan if he would consider starting a Bootcamp session for staff at the primary school I worked at.
When he agreed, we went about advertising and recruiting. We had about 20 people at that first session, and while we didn’t convince everyone that day, we still to this day have a core group of about 10 people who are committed bootcampers and part of the family.
So now we had two bootcamps, Saturday morning at Semaphore and Tuesday afternoon in the school hall.
Of course, as it does every year, winter was coming and the discussion around where we would take our Semaphore bootcamp when it was too cold to be on the sand began.
As we were already using the school hall on Tuesdays, I approached the then Principal who agreed that we could use the hall for our Saturday group.
As is the natural progression of things, we soon had 4 groups running out of the primary school halls, adding Boxing on Wednesdays and after a request from the school staff a second session on a Friday for mobility.
With this growth in group training and because of my involvement with all groups and the school, I suggested one day to Ryan that we strike up a deal and I do some admin work in exchange for some extra training.
Ryan agreed and our mutually beneficial arrangement was born. While the arrangement between Ryan and I is just that, between us, it has given us both the opportunity to help one another where each of us had a need.
Thus began the partnership that we still enjoy today. During that first year Inspire Strength and Wellness was born and I feel privileged and proud to have been there at the start.
About 18 months after I joined the gym, and much to my surprise, Phil announced that he too wanted to join the gym and very kindly asked if I would mind if he joined the same one as me.
Of course I told him I didn’t mind and I think he may have secretly thought we may go together.
As it turned out, we have very different training priorities and could count on one hand how many times we have actually trained together. I love group and personal training whereas Phil is motivated enough to train himself, following a very strict program.
He did for a time have a personal trainer but now prefers to go it alone. He has over his journey also lost a large amount of weight and is fitter and stronger than he has been in many years.
My pride in what he has achieved is immense and I look forward to a longer and healthier life together.
Now to the questions asked at the very beginning of this blog. How did I achieve what I did and stay motivated?
I ask myself this time and again.
I can’t tell you how I have and continue to achieve what I have. The weight loss, the strength and greater mobility of my ageing body, the health benefits and more importantly the changes to my emotional wellbeing has just happened through persistence, commitment and surprisingly, fun and friendship.
Sometimes it is hard and I wonder about the reasons I do this, I find it difficult to train day after day, the early mornings, particularly during winter, become tedious and I find myself thinking that maybe I will just stay in bed for that extra hour because I feel tired and unmotivated.
For me, I remember how I know I will feel after I have trained. I remember that Ryan is also committed to me, that he cares if I don’t turn up and that he also has to get out of bed on a cold, dark morning to come and train me.
Then I remember, when I am going to any one of the 5 group training sessions I attend, that there will be a group of friends who are probably feeling just like me and looking to me to keep them motivated and committed just as I look to them.
All of this is what keeps me going. I am proud to say that I have only missed two PT sessions in 4 years due to illness and very few group sessions.
As for the partnership between Ryan and myself and why it works, I’m not sure either of us knows. We seemed to have clicked right from the start.
I think we are very similar in nature, but very different when it comes to football teams and music. My need to dance where ever I am, whether that is at the gym or on the beach annoys him immensely.
His total disregard for organisation and poor time management is a constant source of angst for me.
However, we can talk about anything, and often do, wasting plenty of time talking absolute rubbish, or we can spend hours discussing anything from cricket to weird theories about anything and everything.
He has taught me the importance of movement and nutrition and that I am solely responsible for me. I often say that I am his Adelaide mum (sorry Jenni), and he is the son I never had.
I don’t think he is really comfortable with this and to tell you the truth, I think we are and hopefully always will be simply very good friends.
We also have our business arrangement which I also hope will continue for a very long time.
I will never be able to repay Ryan for the impact he has had on my life and I would like to think that both our lives are better for having met.
That brings us to Where to from here?
As far as my training is concerned, I would like to think that I will be doing what I am for as long as I can. My hope is that as I get older that my training will be able to be modified if need be in order for me to continue to be as mobile, fit and healthy as possible.
Ryan and I often joke that he will still be training me when I am 100, he will be 72. I want to believe that this will be possible because right now anything other than that isn’t worth thinking about.
I would also like to think that our business arrangement will continue for as long as it works.
My hope is that we are able to build Inspire into the business Ryan wants it to be.
As each of us moves into a new phase of our lives, and priorities change, I hope we are able to do what is best for both Inspire and ourselves.
Whatever the future holds, I will always be grateful for the life I have lived, the people who are and have been in it and look forward to what is to come.
