Nathan: Hi, I’m Nathan from the DVCC and I’m here with Paul today. I’m just going to be having a conversation with Paul to speak about what brought him into the DVCC and what he has found as a result of using the Real You transformation process.
So, Paul, could you just introduce yourself and how long have you been with the DVCC?
Paul: Hi, my name is Paul Grigg, I am 38 years old and I have been with the DVCC since November 2014, about 9 months.
Nathan: Awesome. And what total weight *loss or overall results have you achieved in that time, Paul?
Paul: In that time I have *lost 15.4lbs of fat and gained 17.2lbs of muscle.
Nathan: Great results, very well done. Let’s go back to when you first came into the DVCC; can you recall specifically what brought you in to see us?
Paul: Yes, specifically I had been looking for something a little bit different to a normal gym. I trawled through various websites on the internet to look for what might be right for me and I stumbled across the DVCC website.
Nathan: What specific problem did you want to solve, the first time you came to see us?
Paul: Prior to coming back from being abroad, I did some body diagnostic abroad, which effectively told me that I had 27.4% body fat; this meant I had a body age of 60, which was actually the more telling thing and I knew that I had to get it sorted as soon as I got back.
Nathan: So that shocked you into making a decision?
Paul: It really did shock me into it. I was also a smoker at the time as well; I was drinking lots and not eating the right foods. I knew that I had to sort stuff out and a big part of that was going to be getting my body in the right shape and doing the right kind of training in order to lose a lot of fat in my body that I didn’t want.
Nathan: So you’ve made big changes. Did you think at the time, when you had that diagnostic, did you think the results would be that way?
Paul: It was a massive shock to me at the time when I had it; I couldn’t believe how badly in shape I was, mainly because I did exercise a little bit; whether that was the right exercises or not I’ll never know, but the reality is that it still really shocked me to have a body age of 60 when I was only 37 years old.
Nathan: I can understand that. What were the main obstacles that had prevented you from solving that problem before the DVCC?
Paul: Mainly my own outlook towards the types of exercising that I was doing; I was doing a lot of cardio previously and wasn’t interested in doing anything to do with weights or body weight exercises; it was all just to do with cardio exercise, I thought that would be the way for me to *lose body fat.
But also as well, I believed I was eating a lot of the right foods. So the foods I thought were the right foods to eat, actually as it turns out really aren’t. So I thought I was doing a lot of stuff myself and as it turned out I needed help, because I wasn’t doing the stuff in the right way.
Nathan: So you said you weren’t doing many weights, was there any specific reason for that?
Paul: I don’t like weights, so I didn’t like doing weights at all, I hated weights. I had never seen myself really as a strong person and I always associate weights with walking into a gym and seeing big muscle bound guys doing bench pressing or bicep holds or whatever it might be and getting quite intimidated by that, so actually doing weights never interested me because I knew I could never lift heavy weights.
Nathan: But you can now.
Paul: I’ve progressed a long way and I can now, yes!
Nathan: Ok, awesome! So previously you had tried exercise and you tried your own way of nutrition to solve that problem. What convinced you, when you came in and spoke to us, that the Real You transformation process would be different to what you tried?
Paul: Mainly because of the way you guys talk about it and talk it through. Obviously I had looked on the internet and the website previously and so had seen a lot of the results other people have had. When I talked to the transformation experts when I came in, they very much talked me through the activities that you do in the gym, but actually spent quite a lot of time around what you guys called the MDS, the metabolic damage solution, and the way to eat and what to eat.
I did my own research after that as well, and everything that’s in the advice around the MDS is spot on and it gave me a wake up call as to what my nutrition was looking like, as well as the exercise.
Nathan: So it was the combination of both things?
Paul: Definitely a combination of both; you can’t do one without the other really. One of the first things I learnt is that you can’t train your way out of a bad diet. So it wasn’t going to matter how much training or exercise I did, food was going to be a really big part of it as well. But then similarly, I can eat all of the right foods but I’m never going to get any tone without doing the right exercises in the centre.
Nathan: Was that something you’d talked yourself into before, talking about when you say that you can’t out-train a bad diet, was that something you thought you could do?
Paul: I think previously I thought I was my own expert around what the right diet looks like, which turned out to be wrong, and what the right exercise regime looks like, which also turned out to be wrong. So I think I kind of knew that I had to eat the right things and I knew that I had to exercise in the right way, I was just doing it in completely the wrong way.
Nathan: How has your *life changed since starting the Real You transformation process?
Paul: It has massively changed. When I first started at the DVCC I did do the odd session a week, 2 or 3 sessions a week at the start, and I think across the turn of the year as I started the MDS, I started to do 3 or 4 sessions a week and just up it by even just that one a week.
I was told from a lot of other people as well that it would give 50% better results. And since the turn of the year I’ve become so much fitter; my body age, having had another body diagnostic through my occupation, showed me to have a body age of 32 now, as opposed to 60 which I had last year, which is a massive change.
Myself now, I am far more alert during the day, at work I don’t get tired and I sleep well at night. All of the things that you would associate with a bad diet, being stressed or not exercising, have just completely reversed and I’m in the best shape now that I’ve been for the last 20 years.
Nathan: Awesome, that’s fantastic. Talking about the changes you made in the last 9 months; take me back 2 years ago, would you be able to do that 10k run that you have just done recently?
Paul: I wouldn’t have even attempted it; I wouldn’t even have tried it. In fact, I think it was about 3 years ago, I did a 5.5k run, which took 40 minutes, I walked for quite a bit of it and was out of breath and I was struggling to run round it and keep going. So I wouldn’t have even attempted a 10k. Doing that 5.5k in 40 minutes, and I did the 10k on Sunday in 49 minutes, so that goes to show how much fitter I have come round.
Nathan: How did that make you feel?
Paul: It was awesome, it was a great feeling; really, really good, because I actually felt good doing it. I felt like I could have gone on longer as well, so that is now going to challenge me to do longer runs and harder obstacle races as well. I don’t feel intimidated to go into things like that now.
I don’t actually feel intimidated to go into a normal gym now; I feel like I could walk into a normal gym and wouldn’t be intimidated, I could hold my own. Yes there are still massive muscle bound guys in there, but that doesn’t interest me; actually toning up and doing the right things is what interests me so I don’t feel intimidated walking into a gym. But clearly the conditioning centre here is my ideal place.
Nathan: Talking about a normal box gym, a commercial gym, could you tell the difference when you walked through the door, that we were not like your average gym?
Paul: Absolutely, yes, you could tell that straight away. What I liked when I first walked in was I was greeted by the transformation expert at the door, who then brought me into the centre and showed me around a lot of the equipment, but did it in a way that you know he knows it’s your first time into something like this. It’s not intimidating at all, very easily brings you into it and it’s so comforting and warm. Actually, you feel like they know exactly how you feel when you’re walking into it and they want to make you feel at ease straight away and that’s exactly how I felt and that’s why I liked it.
I could also tell by walking in that there aren’t machines everywhere; there’s a lot of free weights which is great, there’s lots of stuff that is going to require body weight exercises and lots of cardio stuff as well. Very like an old fashioned conditioning centre where it goes right back to the basics, as opposed to having machines that does it all for you.
Nathan: Having all the flash kind of gizmos and everything everywhere.
Could you give me an example of something that has happened after the transformation; I know you are still on the journey of your transformation, but since 9 months ago, could you give me an example of something that you wouldn’t have thought possible before starting the Real You transformation process?
Paul: Yes, a couple of things; being able to buy a medium t-shirt and wear it with a bit of pride, which is unbelievable!
But, joking aside, that 10k run last week. I may have tried to attempt it but I would have really struggled. But actually the bigger one is that I have signed up to do the Great South Run in October in Portsmouth, 10 miles. Not only am I going to do it but I have set myself a time of doing it, in an hour and a half, which will be a really, really good time to do 10 miles in. So that is something that is no way I would have even attempted that before.
But actually I think that on day to day stuff I feel confident now coming in here and coming into the centre to try bigger weights and higher weights and do them for longer reps; I feel more confident in myself because I feel I’m getting stronger anyway. It’s just changed a whole load of stuff, so there is a better self confidence and self esteem, that’s gone up tenfold. Because as I said I joke about wearing a medium t-shirt but it’s true, I can walk out wearing a medium shirt without my belly popping out.
Nathan: How has that affected your life then; how has that benefited you, increasing your self esteem and confidence in yourself?
Paul: I think you just feel happier within yourself, so it’s literally an internal thing. Being able to walk around or go out anywhere, walking into a supermarket, knowing that your stomach’s not piling out like a muffin top, you actually feel more confident being able to do stuff like that.
Whereas previously I would never wear short sleeved shirts or a t-shirt out and about, because I don’t have any tone or definition in my arms or anything; so I do now, definitely do and it will get better and better. So self esteem is really important, I think, and when I talk a lot about being not stressed and being able to sleep the whole night through and being alert during the day; actually some of that comes from not being stressed as a result of being happier. If you’re happy within yourself, some of that stress goes away automatically, so it’s a progression, it’s all progression.
Nathan: Awesome. So Paul, anything else you’d like to touch on today, before we end this interview?
Paul: No, only to say that I’ve signed up for another year so that’s how much I value this place and the people that work in it. The other thing is that I’ve made some awesome friends here since I’ve been at the DVCC and for that alone, it’s worth it.
Nathan: Awesome, very good from you! If you’ve been listening to this spotlight interview and would like to find out how to make a *life changing transformation like Paul has, please book an appointment for a DVCC Right Fit phone call, at www.theDVCC.com/signup.
This is Nathan and Paul from the DVCC. Paul, thank you very much for your time and if you’ve been listening, have a great day.
