"Be easy on yourself but never quit trying."

We met with Jeremy Rogers, a driving school instructor. Jeremy managed to lose over than 20kilos in about six months through healthy eating and working out. We were happy to see a bright smile on his face as he was telling us how he overcame various difficult situations in life such as losing his mother at young age and bullying. Jeremy shared with us how working out on your self esteem can help you achieve your goals. Read below our inspiring interview.

When did you start your fitness journey?

My fitness journey started God knows when.  I am saying that light hearted as I have always tried and failed. This time however I took a step further and in June 2020 I started my current weight loss journey, through which in just 6 months I lost 20kg.

 

Were there any situations that served you as a turning point to start eating better and exercise?

My turning point was when I saw one of those before and after pictures which are regularly posted for advertising, together with that I met someone I knew who had lost weight. This made me determined more than ever to set a goal and achieve it.  On a particular occasion before that, I remember sitting on the sofa next to my girlfriend, eating a bag of sweets and telling her that I will never go to a gym or eat any healthy food.  Considering I was over 100 kilos in weight I thought that it was an impossible target for me, however with the help of a professional fitness team I started seeing results. This boosted me to keep going.

How important is exercise to you?

Today regular exercise is as important to me as eating, drinking and breathing. Training became part of my lifestyle and I cannot imagine myself not working out. Working out helped me regain back my confidence, feel energetic and make new friends who embrace a healthy lifestyle.

Do you agree that nutrition is the hardest part to keep a healthy lifestyle?

I couldn’t agree more with you that nutrition is always the hardest part. I had been to several gyms trying out new things to keep fit but I never gave priority to healthy eating. Actually, I looked at healthy food as a boring way to feed yourself and something which cannot be done for a long term. However, this totaly changed when I started attending Personal Training sessions at Fit stop. They managed to help me understand that healthy food is anything but boring. Nourishing your body makes you feel better, you do not feel addicted to sugary food anymore and it is a life changing situation. My tip to those, who like me are feeling that this is something impossible, is to take your lifestyle day by day. Put small targets, achieve them and then look forward to improve even more. Looking back to a few months ago I cannot believe how I completely changed my mindset about healthy eating. Today I do not even crave having sugary food on a  daily basis.

 

Do you feel that fitness changed you for the better?

Fitness has changed me into a more positive active person. I love riding my motorcycle and could not believe the difference in riding until I started to lose weight.  I felt like a completely new man when I rode my bike.  People are often complimenting me, they say, I am smiling even more than before and I look younger than my age. I am 48 years old but definitily feel much more alive than when I was much younger.

How do you compare the person you were before to the person you are now?

The comparison from the guy I was to the guy I am today is huge.  I have always been envious of the guys who look good. I always dreamt of being able to be like them.  I remember, on one occasion I was passing by my bathroom and caught myself in the mirror, I stopped and shed a couple of tears. Tears of happiness as the image I saw in the mirror was something I had been dreaming of achieving for years.

Do you agree that being fit and healthy had a positive impact on your mental well being?

My mental wellbeing has been affected hugely, feeling comfortable with myself both from the inside and outside is a huge achievement for me. Throughout all my life, I suffered from low self esteem, mostly when my mum died and I was only 12 years old. I experienced bullying and teasing at school about my image all the time. Finding support and help, but most of all finding people who believe in me, changed my life completely. I regret how I excused myself to not confront the much needed change in my life, for example I rarely used to go to the beach.  My excuse to others was that I did not like the sand and the sun but deep down I knew I felt insecure to wear a swimsuit in front of others.  Experiences like bullying and teasing can effect your entire well being, you start believing what other are telling you are. Surround yourself with positive people who believe in you to be able to be more successful in your fitness journey.

What was the highlight of your fitness journey so far? Any future plans?

Every time I train it feels like the highlight of the day for me, working out helped me achieve so much mentally, physically and emotionally. Being fit and healthy has also strenghten my emotional state of mind.

For the future, I definitly plan to keep on going with my lifestyle, enjoy meeting like minded people. 

Another important thing in my training is to keep doing my workouts with a trainer. Alice, my trainer makes my training sessions fun and challenging at the same time. She pushes me to push myself more each time we train, she has also a special skill how to count my reps so each time is a new enjoyable experience. 

In the coming future, I signed up for a modelling course to increase my self esteem and push myself even further. 

Do you agree that there is no age to start your fitness journey?

Age is just a number I am 48 years old. All I can say to anyone out there, is to not compare yourself to others. Just be your own competitor in life, always work hard to become a better version of yourself.

Were there any persons in your life who helped you succeed in your fitness journey?

I am lucky to be surrounded by many people who support my dreams, first of all the team at Fit Stop Personal Training,  Carlin, Ryan, Stephen,Gail , Walden and Alice who as I said before pushes me to be better.

Last but not least, my girlfriend Alena who stood by my side throughout all the ups and downs I experienced until I reached my goals.

 

Jeremy can you send a message to all our followers who are thinking to start attending a gym and eat healthier food.

My message to anyone thinking to start attending gym and eat healthy is this:

• If you are not enjoying your training, do not quit. Change the gym or the people you are around while training. It has to be enjoyed not endured.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for help for your mental and emotional well being.
• Don’t set the expectation bar too high, we are all different and unique. That is a beautiful quality.
• Don’t compare yourself to others: younger, older or newbies. We all had to start somewhere, just compare yourself to who you were yesterday.
• Be easy on yourself but never quit trying.

Thank you Jeremy for being part of  our meet and greet team. We are so looking forward to see you achieve more fitness goals. Your story will definitely inspire many people out there who wish to start losing weight but feel helpless.