Josh: Hi, this is Josh from the DVCC and I am here with Jan Gascoyne who’s been training with us since December and has had some pretty amazing results since then. And I just like to share her experience with you so you can pick up some tips and tricks about how she did it. So Jan, first of all, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?
Jan: Forty-nine.
Josh: Forty-nine. How much weight have you *lost?
Jan: 2 *stone in six months.
Josh: That’s awesome. And in dress sizes?
Jan: I’ve gone down from just over 16, and I am now a 14.
Josh: Wow. Okay. So, what I want to do first is go back to when you were that weight in December. How did you feel when you were that weight?
Jan: I was feeling very lethargic and most evenings, by the time I wouuld get home, I just wanted to go to sleep. I had no energy whatsoever.
Josh: Okay. And what were your habits back then? Were they different to what you do now?
Jan: I thought actually I was eating quite healthily.
Josh: Yes, that’s what is really interesting. A lot of people who become clients of The DVCC felt they wereeating healthily and couldn't understand why they were putting on weight.
Jan: Because over the years, I have been a yo-yo dieter. So I have *lost weight before with various slimming clubs and I put weight on and then it came off. I have now learned new ways of eating which despite overeating and the various diets I’ve done in the past, for me, this is not a diet but a way of life and I’m much happier eating the way I am eating now.
Josh: That’s great to hear. So specifically, remembering back, what was it that you were doing differently back then? Did you eat different foods or different times or…?
Jan: For me, it’s been cutting out the sugars and the carbohydrates that have really made me feel that much better.
Jan: I definitely had sugar cravings. I used to for a long time. I used to not be able to have biscuits or anything like that in the house because if I open them, then I have the whole lot!
Now having really avoided sugar, I don’t have those cravings anymore, so it’s reducing that problem. And I was eating too many refined carbohydrates. I didn't actually realise, and I didn’t really consider how the "healthier" versions, the pastas, the jacket potatos made me feel but they did make me feel very heavy. I "felt" heavy, not just weighed heavy.
Josh: I find it interesting how it can make you feel quite helpless to be thinking that you’re doing everything "right" but actually what you were doing didn't make you feel very good.
Jan: Yeah, that’s when I started to get very frustrated. I thought I was being good and I had cut down my portion sizes and was eating healthy balanced meals, and I still couldn’t lose the weight. It seemed that I could only *lose weight by drastically dieting, cutting calories massively or counting.
Josh: Okay. And obviously your can't sustain that for long-term, and it actually causes you more harm than good in the long run.
Jan: No. You go on a diet, you *lose the weight and then you think "great". Now so I can eat what I want.
Josh: So what about now, how is what you do now different?
Jan: Now, I feel so much better. Not only is it the weight *loss, but I feel better in my mind. I wake in the evenings, I feel more energetic, I feel more alert. Mentally, I feel that much better.
And now, instead of perhaps watching people with a plate of chips and think, you know, I can’t eat that, I’m on a diet; I’m looking and thinking, oh, I really wouldn’t want to put that in my body. I really, really don’t want that fat be stored.
Josh: Yes, that’s a massive improvement. So obviously you work, how have you manage to fit your training and all of this nutrition stuff around your lifestyle?
Jan: Well, I train in the mornings, so I come down as early as I can after the school run because I do have a job. I use the shower facilities to get ready for work and head of, straight after training at DVCC. I find it fairly simple. I take my lunch to work with me. On the odd occasion, I haven’t had anything, I have gone down to M&S and can pick up some food as what I am eating now its fairly easy to find something.
Josh: So it’s more like you’ve adopted the lifestyle.
Jan: Yes, definitely. Yes.
Josh: Okay. So for people listening, what’s been the hardest thing about maintaining the habits that you have now?
Jan: Probably fitting the sessions around commitments, not just work but I have family commitments too. I do find the fact that I have booked my sessions online helpful, because I am a committed person. So if I commit to something, I will do it. So if I could just come and go when I felt like it, I would wake up in the morning and think, actually I cant be bothered to get out of bed which we all have those mornings.
Josh: Yes.
Jan: If I am booked in to a set time, I will actually be here. So the whole thing is working out when you could come but conversely the easy thing is because I can book in advance, I do that. And if you look, I’ve actually booked all my sessions right up where the booking allows it!
Josh: I like that. And so before we close, what advice would you give to someone who is in your position or rather who is in the position you were in, in December. Someone who’s not exercising?
Jan: Most definitely to give it a try. I came along here with just an intention, because it’s a commitment in terms of time and money and effort but if you just give it a try and say, okay, I’ll just give it a month, just give it a trial, I think you carry on with it because it makes you feel so much better so quickly. And whilst the training is very good and the nutrition help is very good, equally, the members are fantastic. I have never belonged to something where I felt like I was a part of it so quickly.
Josh: That’s really nice thing to hear, Jan. So I’m Josh and this has been Jan Gascoyne from The DoubleVision Conditioning Centres. Thanks very much for listening. Bye.
Jan: Thank you.
