"Les was never judgemental and quickly taught me that it was not a diet I required, but a change of lifestyle."
All my life I have been overweight. My mother and father raised me and my 4 siblings very well and I was always fed a good balanced diet. Unlike my siblings though I was in constant search for extra food and found myself raiding the cupboards for midnight feasts when everyone else had gone to bed. We never had junk food in our cupboards when growing up, my mother was quite strict on that, so I would eat anything form cheese to condensed or evaporated milk and pretty much anything I could lay my hands on. I certainly did not need this extra food but food was an obsession for me. I was the middle of 5 children 2 older brothers and 2 younger sisters and probably felt that I didn’t really fit in anywhere. At school I was a bit of a recluse and when I showed interest in girls I was the chubby kid that they only wanted as a friend, I was the good laugh kid. I left home at 20 still a reasonable slightly chubby size and that’s where the big problem started. My confidence grew no end after leaving school and I started work for the same company I’m still at today. I then started a family and complacency set in and without mother’s control on my food before I knew it I was at a hefty 22 stone. Finding myself single again I knew I had to lose weight. Being in my mid-twenties I found it reasonably easy to lose weight with good old fashioned slim fast.
Then complacency again and another failed relationship back up to 22 stone. That was when I met the woman that was to become my wife who was a personal trainer. She was very hard to win and I found myself practically stalker her in the gym that she worked at. This did work wonders for me and with careful eating and a lot of training I managed to lose 5 stone in 3 months. In my head, it was what I had to do to win her over although I knew that was never really the case, I was now 34 yrs old. We met and was married within a year and that was some 14yrs ago. I have so say I’ve been on and off a diet all my adult life with frequent visits to the gym, but the weight gradually crept back on.
bout 7yrs ago I weighed myself again and the weight was back to 21 stone 12 lb so I installed a gym at home and with better eating I managed to lose a stone in 6 months, not great but still a loss. That is when my wife asked my boss/close friend what she should get me for my birthday whom himself had great success with LSPT and he suggested some pre-paid lessons with Les, as they both knew I was trying something but not really getting anywhere. Feeling a bit annoyed if I’m honest because I thought I didn’t need any help, after all my wife was a personal trainer but would I listen to her when it came to exercise, being my stubborn self, no way, So I begrudgingly went to meet Les Slinn which I have to admit was a turning point.
Then complacency again and another failed relationship back up to 22 stone. That was when I met the woman that was to become my wife who was a personal trainer. She was very hard to win and I found myself practically stalker her in the gym that she worked at. This did work wonders for me and with careful eating and a lot of training I managed to lose 5 stone in 3 months. In my head, it was what I had to do to win her over although I knew that was never really the case, I was now 34 yrs old. We met and was married within a year and that was some 14yrs ago. I have so say I’ve been on and off a diet all my adult life with frequent visits to the gym, but the weight gradually crept back on.
bout 7yrs ago I weighed myself again and the weight was back to 21 stone 12 lb so I installed a gym at home and with better eating I managed to lose a stone in 6 months, not great but still a loss. That is when my wife asked my boss/close friend what she should get me for my birthday whom himself had great success with LSPT and he suggested some pre-paid lessons with Les, as they both knew I was trying something but not really getting anywhere. Feeling a bit annoyed if I’m honest because I thought I didn’t need any help, after all my wife was a personal trainer but would I listen to her when it came to exercise, being my stubborn self, no way, So I begrudgingly went to meet Les Slinn which I have to admit was a turning point.
Les was never judgemental and quickly taught me that it was not a diet I required, but a change of lifestyle. I found his sessions very addictive and always pushed myself to my limits but Les always made sure I trained within my capabilities. Most weeks I dropped weight but my lifestyle prevented this every week and there were occasions that my frequent heavy socialising caused the scales to go the wrong way. This is when I knew this was sustainable, as I didn’t feel I was on a diet but with training and sensible eating the scales generally moved in the right direction. I am never going to be a saint and my socialising still continues to get in the way, although I think Les wishes it didn’t, but 3 steps forward and the occasional 1 back was sort of working for me and then I hit a plateau, stabilising around 19.7 stone.
Then Les said he wanted me to run the MAD MARCH HARE 5km in 2014. I told him he was mad as I haven’t ran anywhere since I left school but he convinced me I could do it. I started training with very short runs and started a fund raising page and managed to raise £1000 for HELP THE HEROES. I have to admit I found it very difficult but Les gave up his own time to pace me all the way round and with his support I actually achieved a reasonable finishing time. There were people running the 10km at the same time and I remember saying to him there is no way I could ever do that, he just sort of gave me that smirk as if to say he knew better, that is where the running bug got me and now further down the line with two 10km runs under my belt, both paced with Les giving up his time, at my side I find myself addicted to running. I generally run 4.5 miles 3 times a week and actually continued to run on my holiday to Zante in April. I am now able to resist the “unnecessary calories” like deserts and the odd sneaky unofficial pint, as a vision of Les tutting pops up in my head and find myself making better lifestyle choices. I managed to twist my ankle last Saturday and the first thought in my head was dammit I won’t be able to run for a couple of weeks now, something I never thought I’d hear myself saying.
The support that Les and his team give is just overwhelming and I believe they get as much out of our successes as we do. They genuinely want you to succeed but are realists too and know occasionally you can slip. I am now just over 18 stone and the running is definitely making the difference in weight loss with me. I still have a fairly hectic social life, and being a smoker does not help but my goals are to keep reducing it all. My next target is to reach 17 stone for my August holiday which I am confident I can achieve, that will be equal to the lightest I have ever weighed in my adult life, although my size is equal to that already. I kept a pair of jeans in my wardrobe (my courting jeans) that I haven’t managed to wear for 12 yrs but I am wearing them now. I feel great and my fitness has never been better, Les has introduced me to a better addiction and although I know I’ve still got a long way to go my mind is set on the continuing story. I am now 48yrs old and find it much harder to lose weight but have proved it is doable. So don’t hesitate, if you want to lose weight and improve your fitness the achievable way ring Les now!!!
Malachi Chambers - June 2017
Then Les said he wanted me to run the MAD MARCH HARE 5km in 2014. I told him he was mad as I haven’t ran anywhere since I left school but he convinced me I could do it. I started training with very short runs and started a fund raising page and managed to raise £1000 for HELP THE HEROES. I have to admit I found it very difficult but Les gave up his own time to pace me all the way round and with his support I actually achieved a reasonable finishing time. There were people running the 10km at the same time and I remember saying to him there is no way I could ever do that, he just sort of gave me that smirk as if to say he knew better, that is where the running bug got me and now further down the line with two 10km runs under my belt, both paced with Les giving up his time, at my side I find myself addicted to running. I generally run 4.5 miles 3 times a week and actually continued to run on my holiday to Zante in April. I am now able to resist the “unnecessary calories” like deserts and the odd sneaky unofficial pint, as a vision of Les tutting pops up in my head and find myself making better lifestyle choices. I managed to twist my ankle last Saturday and the first thought in my head was dammit I won’t be able to run for a couple of weeks now, something I never thought I’d hear myself saying.
The support that Les and his team give is just overwhelming and I believe they get as much out of our successes as we do. They genuinely want you to succeed but are realists too and know occasionally you can slip. I am now just over 18 stone and the running is definitely making the difference in weight loss with me. I still have a fairly hectic social life, and being a smoker does not help but my goals are to keep reducing it all. My next target is to reach 17 stone for my August holiday which I am confident I can achieve, that will be equal to the lightest I have ever weighed in my adult life, although my size is equal to that already. I kept a pair of jeans in my wardrobe (my courting jeans) that I haven’t managed to wear for 12 yrs but I am wearing them now. I feel great and my fitness has never been better, Les has introduced me to a better addiction and although I know I’ve still got a long way to go my mind is set on the continuing story. I am now 48yrs old and find it much harder to lose weight but have proved it is doable. So don’t hesitate, if you want to lose weight and improve your fitness the achievable way ring Les now!!!
Malachi Chambers - June 2017