Solihull Member Ravi

“Over the last 12 months, I have managed to lose over 36 kilos, and drop 8 inches off my waistline!”

Here is another inspiring success story from a member of our Solihull club about his fantastic weight loss.  A regular health club attendee, Ravi saw his weight steadily increase over the years, even though he was living an active lifestyle.  “Modern life can be unforgiving on the body, mind and spirit.  As a busy professional, I spent far too much time stuck in traffic, drinking excess coffee at board room meetings, and resorting to ultra-processed foods for my daily meals”. 

 His first breakthrough came during the first lockdown, where he increased his fitness activity levels.  Working from home allowed him to incorporate into his routine a daily bike ride, long walks, and a home weight training programme: “Mentally I was committed to improving my health, however, my weight still continued to rise, and at one point I weighed over 130kg, which is when I stopped weighing myself on the scales.  It was however an important first step in developing a strong desire to improve my health”

His second breakthrough came when a friend asked Ravi for guidance around losing weight, and on building muscle: “although surprised at being approached for guidance and in effect to be a fitness mentor, I realised it was because of my professional and systematic approaches to projects, my experience as a life coach, and my confidence in my skills”. 

 As a result, Ravi became a student of nutrition, and started to learn and understand the basics around food, diet, energy, fat loss and muscle gain.  Ravi realised that good eating is a cornerstone of health and fitness, and that a lifestyle change would offer him the sustainable path he was seeking to help him burn off the excess weight he had accumulated: “As the old fitness industry adage goes: ‘You can’t out train a bad diet’, I had realised that no amount of exercise would overcome my bad diet.”

 As a result, Ravi completely changed his diet and committed himself to a calorie deficit target, along with the following actions:

-          He set an achievable daily calorie target

-          Measured all his food portions to allow accurate calculations of calories consumed.

-          Followed a low carb lifestyle, which involved increasing the consumption of protein.

-          Incorporated a lot more strength training into his fitness routine.

-          He eliminated some bad eating and snacking habits that had become a part of his daily life, including stopping the consumption of alcohol, caffeine, sugar, processed wheat, diet soda drinks.

-          Understanding energy systems, and methods to fast-track weight loss.

-          Derived the majority of his calories from lean meats and salads.

 Ravi said: “I had set up a target to not only lose fat, but to also maintain and increase my muscle growth.  Progress was consistent and relatively easy.  I was losing on average a kilo a week.”

 

With the lifting of lockdown, Ravi was able to start attending his local Bannatyne club in Solihull, which allowed him to get guidance from the trainers.  He also was able to get a reading from the InBody machine: “The feedback from the InBody machine was fascinating, and deeply worrying.  My

visceral fat, which is the fat around my organs, was at the maximum levels.  This only further motivated me to remain committed to my new lifestyle”.

Ravi welcomed the supportive atmosphere at the club and the friendliness of the staff.  He was thankful for the advice and guidance from Tom Daniels and the team, which allowed him to adapt and adjust his training programme to ensure maximum gains: “Having a safe environment in which I was able to ask detailed technical training questions was very useful for me, as it all helped me to develop my conceptual understanding of health & fitness, fat burning, and muscle gaining strategies.”

 At the time of writing this article, as well as having more energy, here are some key facts about the changes Ravi achieved:

-          Body mass is down 23.4kg

-          Reduced Percentage Body Fat (PBF) from 37.2% to 22.2%.

-          Skeletal muscle mass is down from 43.2kg to 42.3kg.

-          Visceral fat down from level 20 to level 9.

-          Body fat mass down from 44.5kg to 21.2kg.

-          Lost 8 inches off his waist.

-          Chronic indigestion disappeared.

-          Sleep apnoea disappeared.

-          Joints no longer feel inflamed, especially his knees.

 “My weight loss journey has been an enjoyable one.  I incorporated aspects of life coaching, hypnotherapy, and NLP into my lifestyle change.  Small psychological changes have led to big physical outcomes, and overall, it has been a gentle and gracious process.  My improved health, fitness and strength levels now allow me to engage in group activities that I have always stayed away from, and I have the drive and energy to achieve my other life goals – it has certainly been worth it.”

Ravi feels very passionate about health and fitness and would like to help others in achieving their goals, he is therefore planning to study for his Level 1 personal trainer qualification.  He will then continue his training, right through to level 4, specialising in nutrition coaching.