At the age of 32 I weighted over 160kg, I’d been overweight for my entire life. Around the age of 13 or 14 I had gone over the 100kg mark and had never been under since. I wore a size 7XL or a 50 inch waist and was very limited in my selection of clothes. I had my comfort zone and I didn’t like stepping too far outside of it.
I’m not really sure what my top weight was as I’d lost weight before I decided to weight myself and before the scales I had access to would go up that high. While not house bound, I’d never been what you’d consider active or fit. My diet wasn’t terrible, but there was definitely room for improvement. I’d tried diets and exercise to try to lose weight, some had even been successful, however old habits would return and the weight would come back on.
I was not completely inactive and by means house bound because of my weight. I’d get out and socialise with friends, complete the odd 10km charity walk, I was mostly happy. I did know however that my weight affected my confidence, it affected how I interacted with new people I met and how they interacted with me. It made the thought of going for job interviews daunting because I wondered what people would think and if they’d want to hire someone who was so over weight. There were things that I’d avoid doing simply because I didn’t like the way I looked doing them, or I didn’t think I’d be able to do them.
I had been lucky my weight hadn’t caused any obvious impacts to my health, it hadn’t held me back from doing most things. But how long would that hold out? What was I missing out on? What was my weight was holding me back from? What experiences? What people?
At 32 I decided it was now or never. I was going to do something definitive about my weight.
While my diet hadn’t been terrible, there was room for improvement. Having previously been a chef I knew how to cook and cook well. This sometimes was a bad thing, but mostly it meant that I would usually eat healthily when I cooked at home. My biggest issue was probably around the amount I would eat. So initially I started by cutting down on portion sizes and cutting out most the bad ‘treats’ I would occasionally have. The daily can of redbull was one of the first things to go. This didn’t mean I didn’t go out an enjoy myself occasionally, I just would make sure I’d eat better when I cooked for myself.
I’d always enjoyed walking, so I started exercising by going for a walk. A minimum of 4 nights a week I’d go walking for an hour or more. All the time pushing the distance I’d walk, trying to get further in a shorter amount of time.
Once I had the habit of walking down and I could see and feel results, I decided to take the next step and join a Gym and get a personal trainer. I’d been a member of a gym before and received results, however I’d get bored (I get bored easily), or injured/sick and stop going. I was hoping that a personal trainer would help push me and keep me interested. It worked! I started getting better results, I was getting fitter and loosing more weight. A personal trainer was keeping me interested by giving me the variety I needed. I would do 3 or 4 sessions a week at the gym and a couple of long walks, some Les Mills RPM and Body Balance sessions.
In the first 6 months I had a couple of different personal trainers before I ended up with Bryn Williams (trainer at Range of Motion), who is still my trainer (and friend) two years later. After a few months he started to introduce me to CrossFit. I have to admit I wasn’t convinced at first, I had the standard preconceived idea that to get fit I needed to do weights and lots of cardio. Weight and cardio was working, I’d lost around 25 kilos in a year and was down to 135 kgs, why change to CrossFit?. People were noticing and I was receiving a lot of encouragement and support from my friends.
I made an agreement with Bryn that we would do three CrossFit and one traditional weights/cardio personal training sessions a fortnight and that I’d continue to do weights and cardio on my own.
A couple of weeks prior to Christmas 2010 Bryn invited me up to the Range of Motion Outdoor Training Facility (OTF) for the Christmas work out which sounded like a bit of fun. I rocked up at 7:45 in the morning to a place up in Brigadoon weighing 131kg to do a work out with some pretty fit people. There would be no way I’d be able to keep up with them, but I’d do the best I could. It didn’t start off all that well, they made me sing, The 12 Exercises of Christmas! To my surprise, I was keeping up and holding my own with these guys. While I was doing scaled versions of some of the exercises, I was shocked that I was not only keeping up, I was actually ahead of some of the people I would have considered fitter than me. This was the first time that I’d actually measured my fitness against others and I have to say I was over the moon with what I was capable of and how far I’d come.
Also, I was hooked. This CrossFit shit was great! Flipping tyres, swinging kegs, carrying jerry cans, this was my kind of fun. Our little agreement of 1 cardio/weights session went out the window pretty quick after that and I was now doing exclusively CrossFit with Bryn. He also wrote up some more CrossFit orientated sessions that I could do on my own and we would come up with other sessions I could try. I would also get work outs off the CrossFit main site.
Bryn made another suggestion, I should consider giving up drinking for a couple of months. Cut out the empty calories. No booze and CrossFit help me shed nearly 30 kg in 6 months and improved my fitness 10 fold. I now drink occasionally, but no where near as much as I used to.
I am happy to say that I was the first client booked in for a work out at Range Of Motion in Subiaco. I was excited to see what I could do in an environment that was set up for CrossFit rather than a traditional gym. One of my proudest moments was getting my first unassisted pull up on my 34th birthday weighing only 106kg. A few short months after that I dropped below 100kg. The first time in 20 years that my weight was in double figures.
Now, 2 ½ years in, my training involves 11 sessions a week including; personal training sessions, group, strength building and skills sessions. I competed in The WOD Games which is my 5th CrossFit competition and planning to attempt the CrossFit Open. I weigh 96kg and am fitter than I’ve every been in my life. I have more confidence than I’ve ever had and enjoy taking myself out of my comfort zone to see what I’m capable of.
Some of my achievements so far:
- Weight loss of over 64 kg
- 8 unbroken unassisted pull ups
- 160kg deadlift
- 75kg clean & Jerk
- 62.5kg Snatch
- Competed in 5 CrossFit competitions
- 10th place in the Beginners division Primal Throw down, my first competition
- First place in Intermediate division of Wounded Worrier Weekend
- Clothing size is now a L
- Met some great people and made great friends
- More confident
- Have a better quality of life
What’s next for me? I still have some weight to lose and more fitness to gain so I intend to keep going with this life style.
I’ve had a lot of people tell me how they are inspired by what I have done, which while not why I did this, is great to hear. It is also partly why I’ve decided that my next step is to become a CrossFit Coach. I’ve completed my CrossFit Level One Coaching course and am now training clients.
When you are overweight or just starting out, it can be daunting to turn up to a gym or a CrossFit box and get a personal trainer who has never been overweight in their life. The point of difference I can offer is the “been there done that” aspect. I understand the mental barriers to loosing weight and getting fit and can offer support and guidance to someone who is just starting out. I can talk about what they are going through and have first hand experience at some of the challenges they will face.
If you, or someone you know, would like to set up a session to kick start your fitness or weight loss, feel free to contact me and set up a personal training session time.
Peter Scherp
CrossFit Level One Coach
Trainer, Range of Motion
Dan Williams
