This blog post has been a long time coming and the clincher was getting through 2012 weight loss intact and achieving some awesome goals.
Now 2012 would not have been the great year it has been without the journey I went through in 2011. December 2010 my good friend personal trainer Shaun Button secured himeself a job as a personal trainer with what was then known as V-Club in Sydney. He had been asking me for years to let him help me get my health in check and lose weight, and for some reason I had been to scared to. Finally something had clicked and I agreed that 2011 was the year to do it, little did I know that decision would change my life forever.
The months of January and February 2011 Shaun took it slowly with me, all I did were outdoor park sessions with my friends Adam Jacob and Paulini joining in. He was slowly building my confidence up, teaching me to push harder, get my legs strong enough to exercise harder and carry my heavy weight.
- Early in the 2011 struggling to run because of how heavy I was.
On my birthday in February Shaun knew it was time to really take the weight loss journey to the next level, and a week later I joined his gym and the weight loss really began.
Shaun had a massive challenge to take my passion for food and turn it into something healthy. He stripped everything back, no sauces, clean eating, only fresh herbs, high protein and no crab to start with. He was teaching me to eat to live, rather than live to eat. I had an epiphany because of this , food is meant to nourish us, help us and give us energy. Instead I had being using it to sap my energy, hurt by body and organs and unwittingly turn myself into this fat unhealthy person.
I had being blocking my career and my future with my unhealthy and overweight body. Finally someone was breaking that blockage, and in process of helping me get healthy Shaun was helping me to become a healthier better me but as that happened I began to learn who I was as a person and who I was creatively.
So I went from this person below to the person I’ve become now 🙂 But I’m jumping ahead way to fast, lets talk about working out.
- I had become someone I don’t even recognise. How did I become this person?
In the beginning The whole point was training my body to get used to working out, teaching me stamina and preparing me for working out in the gym. It was hard work and exhausting, and many a time I wanted to give up but Shaun just kept encouraging me and pushing me.
After we started training at the gym, Shaun could vary the training more with more equipment at hand, and mix it with weights and not just cardio. Training became longer and I had to start training my body to go sleep earlier, as we were getting up earlier to be at the gym by 6am. Workouts became longer so 5 days a week I’d be working out 1.5-2 hrs those mornings, and all that work started to show on the scales.
The biggest changes were not just in my exercising but in the food and in getting the right amount of rest. Shaun taught me that if I was working out but my diet wasnt healthy and lean then my weight loss would be slow and a lot harder. Sleep was also so important when exercising and doing weights the muscles need to break down before the repair and grow bigger, without proper rest the muscles aren’t given enough time to repair itself.
There was so much to learn and the exciting thing was seeing the weight come off, that feeling of lightness and realising what it felt like to be healthy.
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I changed from the picture above to this, and I couldn’t be happier.
So with Shaun’s help in 2011 I lost 89kgs, and because of the skills, training and passion he instilled in me I’ve survived through 2012 and kept the weight off. I workout regularly, eat as healthy as I can and balance it all with a busy lifestyle, performing, writing for Rogue Homme, styling clients, started designing my own range of clothes and songwriting.
- Attending a few events in 2012, I was able to wear the clothes I liked and showcase the new me.
- At a Style Runner event writing for www.roguehomme.com
I’ve discovered a new zest for life, being inspired to follow through on more of my passions, started writing and recording for my debut EP, and I’m dressing in clothes that I’ve always wanted to.
So this post is a Big Thank You to Shaun Button for being not just a great friend but one of the most Amazing Personal Trainers I know. Due to his skill and knowledge I have now discovered what it means to be healthy and fit, I’ve changed my life and achieving my goals.
So as we start a new year 2013 I encourage you take that first step to getting healthy and fit, and be the best you can be thats my goal and prayer for everyone.
Arrnott Olssen
Rogue Homme
