Matthew: Hello, this is Matthew from the DVCC and I am here with Lorna Shinton. I am just going to ask you a few questions, hopefully to get an insight into how you have made such great results.
So Lorna, if you could please introduce yourself, and how long have you been at the DVCC?
Lorna: I have been coming for six weeks.
Matthew: Fantastic, good from you. So, what have been any difficulties that you have had, as I am sure that there are literally thousands of people who have found themselves in the same position as you were?
Lorna: You mean difficulties before?
Matthew: Yes.
Lorna: Oh, just living life on a daily basis; I was so unfit, so tired, so lethargic – just really not in a good place, and just putting on weight month on month, year on year. That’s it really.
Matthew: Just general day to day?
Lorna: Yes, just general day to day. Just not liking what I saw in the mirror, not being able to shop for clothes in normal shops – just horrible.
Matthew: Ok – so, what results have you achieved?
Lorna: Well, since coming here obviously, I have *lost nearly 13 pounds of fat.
Matthew: 12.9 specifically, good from you…
Lorna: Yes, and I’ve put on 3 pounds of muscle. But apart from that, that to me is almost secondary, because I am just so much more energised, I am happier, I’m more positive; I feel I can do things that I could never have done before and I think that is just my confidence building.
Matthew: Such as?
Lorna: I am quite a shy person and I would never have put myself out there or speak out of turn or put an opinion forward, because I didn’t want anybody looking at me, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.
I have kind of got a bit more confident now and think that what I have got to say is valid and I don’t care if people look at me or whatever, because I know that I am just as valid as anybody else really. It’s just, it’s the whole thing, it’s made a difference to my whole life, not just my physical life, so it’s really good.
Matthew: Brilliant, awesome. What were your struggles with weight *loss before you came to the DVCC?
Lorna: Food wise – I hate any diet that you follow; it’s so restrictive because you either have to count calories or count points or count sins or weigh and measure this, that and the other, and it is just so frustrating and it is so restrictive that, because there’s no end in sight to it, you kind of fall off the bandwagon and have a massive binge.
So the food side of things here, although I’ll be honest it is restrictive, especially for that first two weeks, there’s an end in sight so you kind of think well that’s fine, I can do it because I know there’s an end in sight where I go on to a next phase and introduce different things. And you kind of just, I don’t know, when you’re limiting calories or what have you, you kind of want to eat other stuff, whereas this sort of thing, your cravings sort of diminish.
So the food side of things, now it’s just so much easier to handle because you look at the whole thing. And before coming here, exercise wise, I’ve joined gyms, I’ve joined exercise classes, I’ve joined so many things; and I just stopped going, even though I’m paying for it I stopped going, because if I don’t enjoy something I’m not coming, I don’t care how much I’m paying, I’m not coming if I don’t enjoy it.
Here, I think because it’s a different approach, everyone is so friendly: trainers, the other clients, everyone – you feel like part of a family almost, and it makes you keep wanting to come. And it also, I think, because you book your appointment and you kind of – I think if you didn’t turn up, people would think, “Where’s Lorna, why is she not here?”
So that makes you want to come, but it’s not even that, you just want to come anyway, I want to get in as many sessions as I can, because I love coming, and it’s just a totally different way of exercising than I have ever exercised before.
Matthew: Brilliant, awesome; that’s good, I’m glad you enjoy that.
Lorna: I love it, absolutely love it. I said to my husband, because I’ve signed up for a year and I actually said to my husband last night that I can’t even think about not coming; a year from now I can’t even think about ending it then. I think it’s just become part of my natural day to day life; it’s just a habit now.
Matthew: Good. So have you ever achieved weight *loss through diet and exercise, or has it always been one or the other?
Lorna: Never through exercise, I’ve never achieved anything through exercise because I’ve never been committed enough to go for more than two or three sessions.
Even when I’ve signed up for a year at a gym, I’ve gone three or four times and that’s it. Diet – I’ve *lost weight on diets, but put more on afterwards, which is I think why I am in the…
....I mean when I originally started dieting, I was 5 stone lighter than I am now; so how can diets work if I am 5 stone heavier now than when I originally went on that very first diet? It can’t work. So no – diets don’t work – you have just got to completely change your outlook on life and you’ve got to change the way you live.
Matthew: Exactly, so you have found a combination of both exercise and lifestyle changes have made a massive change.
Lorna: Definitely, a massive difference, a massive difference. And for me it’s baby steps and I’m sure people achieve more than I have in that space of time, but to me, it’s what you said to me, it’s about progress not perfection.
As long as I am making positive changes week on week, and as long as I am seeing the results that I want, that is just magic, it’s just amazing for me, I’m just so happy with what I’m achieving – I love it. I couldn’t recommend, honestly I couldn’t recommend it enough.
Matthew: Fantastic! So you say you’ve done other diets before; are there any diets specifically that you’ve tried?
Lorna: Oh, I’ve done Rosemary Conley which is where you limit your fat and count calories; I’ve done Weight Watchers, everybody knows Weight Watchers is point counting; I’ve done Slimming World where there are certain foods you can eat and certain foods you need to limit; I’ve just tried everything.
I’ve never tried any of the sort of cabbage soup diet and things like that, but any reasonable diet that’s been out there, I’ve tried it and it just doesn’t work.
Matthew: So what does your lifestyle look like now, compared to before you joined the DVCC?
Lorna: Oh, it’s just so different. I’ve got more energy; I used to go to work, come home, I’d do a few little bits round the house and then, basically from about 7 o’clock until I went to bed I’d just be sitting on the sofa in front of the TV and that would be basically it.
Whereas now, my habit is I go to work, I come here to train, I go home, I shower, I do some bits round the house, I cook dinner, we eat dinner together; we probably go for a walk, sometimes feeling a little bit stiff so we go for a little walk around the block; me and my husband talk more, we interact more – he says I’m happier – and I’m just in a much better place.
Television wise, television hardly goes on now, I’m just too busy doing other things; it’s almost like it’s energised me to live life and not just watch television, watch other people living life if you see what I mean. In six weeks I can’t believe how different I am to when I started out, I can’t believe it.
Matthew: That’s awesome, I’m glad you feel happy and healthier now, that’s awesome. So leading on from that, obviously some of those comments have answered the next question, how has the DVCC helped you?
Lorna: It’s just completely, completely changed my outlook to life and exercise; I used to think I couldn’t do things but now I know I can do it, I’ve just got to put my mind to it and I can do it.
I think having that personal, almost one on one relationship with your trainer, because they know – you’re professionals, you know when a person is just tired or, actually you are tired but you can give more, or no – they’re ready to stop now, they’re going to hurt themselves if they carry on.
Having that trainer there to say “Keep going, you’ve only got 3 more to do, you’ve only got 2 more to do”, or whatever, it just helps you push yourself because you don’t push yourself otherwise;
You do some exercise and you think I’m tired and I’m going to stop, whereas when you’ve got a trainer there that’s pushing you and guiding you and – not beasting you, it’s not about that, it’s about encouragement and that’s how it has changed me because I’ve gone from very much a ‘can’t do’ attitude to a ‘can do’ attitude and I know I can do things I never thought I’d be able to do. I can’t explain to you, I can’t put into words the changes that it has actually made.
Matthew: Fantastic. Do you have any specific tips with nutrition or exercise that you can share with anyone listening that is trying to *lose weight? Is there anything that has worked, where you found that’s worked specifically for you?
Lorna: For me, it’s just having small goals; I mean although I have signed up for a year, I don’t really think too much about where I’m going to be in a year or think about where I’m going to be next week. I just focus on a week at a time because, when you’ve got as much fat to *lose as I have, I don’t think it does you any good to focus too much on the big goal. I think to take it in bite size chunks along the way.
Matthew: Set your goal to where you want to be and then sort of break it down into smaller goals.
Lorna: Yes, and don’t even give too much thought – although it’s always there, where I want to be next year, I don’t give it as much thought as I give where I’m going to be next week or the week after, or come Easter for example, for where I’m going to be.
I’m just breaking it down into smaller chunks and I think that for me, and I think for anybody who’s got a lot of fat to *lose, I think that’s where you need to be.
Matthew: Good, awesome advice. Any final words; anything you want to say?
Lorna: No, not really, I just want to thank everybody because everybody has been just so encouraging and as soon as you walk through that door you know it’s different, you just know; it’s just all so positive. I just love it and honestly recommend anybody to just walk through that door.
Matthew: Excellent, thank you very much. I hope you found this interview helpful; I want to thank you for your time Lorna; good work, thank you very much. 
