Today, I want you to meet Troy and read about his fitness revolution.
Troy and I have exchanged a few emails, actually he sent me an amazing recipe to be shared at End of Three Fitness (coming soon), but he also mentioned how he had dropped nearly 25kg, around 55lbs, of body weight and gotten back into fitness.
I had to hear more!
Troy’s Story
I’ve been pretty busy over the last few months Since the 30th of July, I have quit grains, quit sugar, quit the gym, found crossfit, started martial arts training, found Paleo and last but not least found Eo3!
I suppose it started back in February 2011, I got a not so subtle hint, from my beautiful wife, that I needed to do something about my fitness, by way of a gym membership for my birthday. Fair enough too, I was a fit 6′ 90kg (198 lb.) army reservist when we met and was now pushing 135kg (297 lb.) thanks to almost a decade of neglect from a combination of 14 hour shifts in the mining industry combined with the demands of my ever expanding little family
So I grabbed the bull by the horns and made a commitment to hit the gym every day, whether it be for a full weights session, or if I was too sore – a cardio session instead.
After a couple of months I was doing both, as well as making good gains in strength and muscle mass. By November 2011 I had dropped down to 115kg (253 lb.) and had started filling out my t-shirts at the top instead of the bottom. My wife was happy, I was happy and life was good.
But then I got sick a few times with bad bouts of tonsillitis, some so severe I had to be hospitalised and eventually have my tonsils removed in February 2012. I used up three years worth of sick leave and obviously couldn’t go to the gym. My weight started to pile back on and by June I was 137.5kg (303 lb.) and back to staring at a fat bastard in the mirror every morning
No Wheat…Say What??
It was at this stage my parents came to stay with us for a few months and my mother suggested that maybe I should try giving up wheat as gluten intolerance seems to run in the family. I initially scoffed at the suggestion but did some reading and it did seem to make sense, when a lot of the symptoms started to line up against how I was feeling.
So I gave up wheat for a month to see how I went and there was a significant difference; no more bloated feeling after a meal, less lethargic etc. but I was still getting bad heartburn and a few other symptoms. It was then that a friend suggested that I get myself “into Paleoâ€. That drove me to more research and by the end of July, at the start of a two week vacation to Melbourne, I’d gone cold turkey on all grains and sugar.
By the time we returned from Melbourne I’d already lost 10kg (22 lb.), the only exercise preformed was walking around the city and country side with the wife and kids, taking in the sights and giving the credit card a good workout. When we got back I got right into the swing of things, cooking up a storm on the weekend to prepare my meals for the week at work (I spend a lot of time driving between worksites now) and finding ways to shoehorn exercise into the everyday grind so it became part of me.
Oh yeah, I quit the gym right after we got back! Couldn’t handle the queue of posers lining up for equipment, checking themselves out in the mirrors every five seconds etc FFS dude, your bicep is still the same size it was yesterday and it doesn’t need to be kissed
Mountain Bikes, Muay Thai and Eo3
So I started riding my MTB to work, 10kms through the hills and managed to work in a heap of body weight exercises during the day, while waiting for the laptop to finish doing it’s thing with the comms gear and instruments I work on. Then on a family camping trip I met a bloke who wanted to start doing some Muay Thai training as he hadn’t had a chance since moving away from his old club. I jumped at the chance and have been training twice a week since and we’ve just added a Saturday session every other week too.
It was during August that I found Eo3, whilst searching for ideas to build equipment for a home gym. I though it was great that this bloke was compiling a series of DIY gear and fitness ideas – most of which I have found pretty damn motivational – and just putting it out there without asking for anything in return. I read the blog for a while before I subscribed because I was waiting for the catch But there was none! Thanks Jerred and keep up the good work!
With the added inspiration of the workouts posted on Eo3, my buddy and I have started getting serious with the Hero WODs. We did a Murph (Murph = Run 1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, run 1 mile) a few weeks back and then I did it again the other arvo when he had to work late and couldn’t train. Six months ago I could hardly jog 50m, let alone run a mile.
As of today I’ve just hit 110.5kg (243 lb) and plan to reach 100kg (220 lb.) by Christmas. I’ve lost 27cm off my waist so far and feel better than I have in my entire life. No pain, no aches, no heartburn or bloated hippo feeling after eating, nor do I feel hungry anymore because I’m not trying to restrict food intake. One of the most satisfying things is random haters asking me what I’ve done to lose the weight and get fit but then giving me a lecture when I say “Paleo†– if their knickers are getting that twisted, then I must be doing something right
I don’t bother trying to preach now, when people ask me what diet I’m on
I tell them I only eat vegetarians
Viva la Revolution!!!
Cheers,
Troy
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I couldn’t be more blown away by Troy’s story, and I am so glad he decided to share it! Way to go Troy, and keep up the good work!
-Jerred
P.S. If you have a story you would like to share contact me. I love hearing these stories!