You’ve seen me write success and transformation stories of one client, after another, after another. Today, we turn the tables, and I’ll tell you a transformation story from “the other side.” I’ll tell you how one of my trainers, Alex went from being 240 pounds, with a 46-inch waist circumference, to where he is today, at 148.5 lbs., with a 30-inch waist circumference.

After all, we all like origin stories, right? How did superman become superman? How did spiderman become spiderman? And, of course, how does a personal trainer become a personal trainer?

That’s what you’ll hear about in today’s article.

But before we do, here is his before and after picture:

Jealous? Want help changing your body like Alex did? See if you qualify to work with us by filling out this questionnaire.

 

In the Beginning…

Most people naturally assume that personal trainers are genetic specimens, who are naturally fit, don’t struggle with food, have no problems with exercise, etc. How untrue that is. And it certainly wasn’t the case with Alex.

As a kid, Alex did a lot of sports. He played hockey and baseball, did karate, and more. Despite all those sports, he was still overweight. The typical “fat kid.” It didn’t really bother him as a kid, until he hit his teenage years, when he became more self conscious.

Plus, during his childhood, everyone in his household was always on a diet, and watching their weight. He describes his cupboards as being filled with low-fat, high carbohydrate snacks. Because, back in the 90s, low-fat diets were the craze. But these low-fat, high-carb snacks were still nothing more than junk food.

Alex’s parents tried to motivate him to eat healthier foods, so this made tasty food a “forbidden pleasure.”

Once Alex was old enough to make his own food choices, he would binge every chance he got.

Life As a “Fat Kid”

As mentioned earlier, his weight didn’t bother him as a kid, but when he got to high school, it started to take its toll.

Because of the weight, he was self-conscious, and didn’t have confidence. Because of that, he always tried proving himself in other ways. He looked up to the older kids, who seemed “tough”, and tried hanging out with them. He tried fitting in hard to get their approval.

As a result of hanging out with the wrong crowd, a lot of things started going down the drain…

• His work at school started to slip, and he didn’t care that much about doing well at school

• His previous, “less cool” group of friends didn’t get along so well with him

• He had problems with his family

He kept trying to impress the older, cooler, tougher group of friends, and that didn’t go so well.

Besides that, physically, he was tired all the time, and at only 17, he started having chest pains. Frequently.

Life was starting to feel out of control.

The Turning Point, and the Transformation

When Alex was 17, he enrolled in a weight training class, and after a few weeks, he started to have more energy.

This was the first time in years when he felt in control of his life. He liked that feeling. So he started to research exercise and nutrition. Early on, his research consisted of pretty much bodybuilding magazines. Not a great source of information. And my articles weren’t around at that time, either 😉

He started following those routines, and he made some progress, but it was short-lived. Also, he was impatient, and his ego was bigger than his muscles, so he tried progressing too quickly, which caused a few nagging injuries. On more than a few occasions, he nearly threw out his back.

After a few years of this (now, around 20 years old at this point), he was a bit wiser, and started lifting using his head. He started using a proper progression, and different exercises, like squats and deadlifts, that he was finally able to see consistent results.

Along the way, he’s tried every supplement and diet imaginable. He admits that he thought that the “magic pill” that would melt fat and build muscle was the secret to everything. After wasting thousands of dollars on supplements that didn’t work, he came to a realization that proper exercise and nutrition will take you farther than any supplement, by itself.

While trying all the bad diets out there, Alex was diagnosed with both a Candida infection and Leaky Gut Syndrome. To treat those, he was prescribed a specific dietary intervention. And it worked. That’s when his eyes really opened up to the quality of his diet.

He also started tracking his calories. But that wasn’t the full picture. He also started tracking carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, and that’s when his eyes really opened up. He realized that having been formerly overweight, even though he was lean now, he didn’t have the same physiology as someone who has been lean his whole life. So he needs to modify his diet to his body. He tends to gain fat quickly, unlike someone who has been lean their whole life.

Now, at age 30, he weighs more or less the same as he did at 20, but he’s stronger, leaner, smarter, and most importantly, healthier.

What’s Life Like Now?

Although at first, he didn’t see personal training as a career, and worked in some customer service jobs, eventually personal training as a career made more and more sense to him. He’s got a great transformation story himself, he understands people who struggle with weight issues, body image issues, etc. And he loves helping people. Plus, he doesn’t just figure “well, this approach worked for me, so it must work for everyone.” Instead, he acknowledges that different people respond differently, so he spends a good chunk of his time researching how to help people who aren’t like him (women, those with injuries, much older folks, etc.)

Even to this day though, not every day is a perfect day from a nutrition perspective. Even now, 10 years after his transformation, he still falls off the bandwagon occasionally, but he quickly gets back on. He feels better now, at 30 than he did at 20.

And now, those important habits are just a part of his life. Planning meals ahead of time, fitting in exercise, no matter how busy he gets, getting enough sleep, etc.

Knowing where Alex came from, what motivates him is when people see and think “if he can do it, I can do it.”

His transformation story, along with other habits, like his attitude about professional development, how warm, personable, and non-judgmental he is are some of the many reasons why I brought him on to my team.

If you’d like the opportunity to work with Alex, or anyone else on my team (who, by the way have their own interesting stories of how they got into personal training), feel free to fill out this questionnaire, to see if you qualify.