Nathan: Hi, I’m Nathan from the DVCC and I’m here with Roxanne this evening; I’m just going to ask her a few questions to hopefully get an insight into how she’s got such great results and speak about any difficulties that she might have had, as I’m sure there will be literally thousands of people who will find this interview very beneficial.
So Roxanne, can you please introduce yourself and how long have you been at the DVCC for?
Roxanne: Hi, I’m Roxanne and I’ve been with the DVCC for just over 2 months now.
Nathan: Awesome; and what results have you achieved in that time, Roxanne?
Roxanne: I have *lost almost 20lbs of fat and gained just over 5lbs of muscle.
Nathan: In 2 months, that is absolutely awesome, very well done. What were your struggles with weight *loss before you started training at the DVCC?
Roxanne: I could just never stick to anything; I didn’t have much willpower, so I would start things and be all enthusiastic to start with and then it would just go downhill.
Nathan: Ok, what kind of stuff were you doing before the DVCC?
Roxanne: Other weight *loss kind of programmes; your usual calorie controlled or cutting out carbs, that kind of thing, just classes.
Nathan: Exercise classes and stuff, ok. And have you ever tried to *lose weight using nutrition and exercise, or has it always been one or the other?
Roxanne: When I did like diet classes, like Weight Watchers and that kind of thing, I didn’t normally incorporate the exercise. I did once try and do weight training myself and do a diet, but again I just had nothing pushing me to stick to it so I just lost interest after a while.
Nathan: Which is easy to do and a lot of our clients have found that. What other diets have you done before; you mentioned Weight Watchers – how many times have you done Weight Watchers before?
Roxanne: I think I’ve done Weight Watchers twice and I have done Slimming World a couple of times as well. I did do well on the Slimming World once, I *lost a couple of *stone; but as soon as I thought I could stick to it myself without going to classes, then I just, again, fell off the wagon and gained all the weight, and more.
Nathan: Again, that’s what a lot of people find with those kind of diets, so it’s not as sustainable as it could be. What does your lifestyle look like now, in comparison to before you started at the DVCC?
Roxanne: Completely different.
Nathan: What’s changed? What’s the main thing that has changed?
Roxanne: Before, I wouldn’t have changed anything in my life to fit in the exercise; I would have just, maybe if I had time or felt like it, I would go and do the exercise, whereas now I actually find myself changing other plans so that I can make sure I come here, which is completely different for me. And then, foodwise, my attitude to food has completely changed; I kind of eat just to fuel myself now, rather than kind of living to eat.
Nathan: Ok; and do you find that your knowledge of food has changed?
Roxanne: Massively, yes. I think here you have taught me why I should eat certain foods; so now I understand why I should eat good fats and why I should eat protein, and then that helps me make the right decisions when I am away from here.
Nathan: Which is awesome. And I mean that they are great changes to have made within 2 months, so that’s awesome – very well done. How else has the DVCC helped you, has the DVCC helped you in any other way at all?
Roxanne: Yes, I mean everyone is really positive here, and everyone gets on really well and I don’t feel any pressure when I am here, and I don’t feel judged. So it has given me more confidence in myself and more confidence with doing exercise and things.
In the past, when I’ve gone to gyms, you know, you kind of feel a bit judged, whereas I don’t feel like that at all here.
Nathan: And did you ever have that, were you a bit nervous when you came to the DVCC?
Roxanne: I was, yes, because I didn’t know what it was going to be like and I thought everyone was going to be massively fit already; but there are so many different people here, all ages, all shapes and sizes; so yes, it’s great.
Nathan: I think you had the idea, as you said to me, that you thought it was going to be almost like a boot camp scenario, where the trainers shout at you.
Roxanne: Yes!
Nathan: How have you found the training?
Roxanne: Really good, yes, like you said I thought I was going to come somewhere and I was going to have someone screaming at me like a drill sergeant!
And I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to be but it’s not like that at all. But saying that, you don’t get away with anything either, you don’t get away with stopping or taking a break when you shouldn’t!
Which is a good thing, because you push us to get the right results.
Nathan: Awesome! You’ve recently signed up for the mud run that we’re going to be doing in a couple of weeks; 2 months ago could you imagine yourself have signed up for that?
Roxanne: No, not at all.
Nathan: Never would have done it?
Roxanne: I mean I have done something similar before, but it was probably a more softened down version, because it was for a Race for Life cancer research type run; so it was similar, a mud run, but this one seems quite a bit more hard core than that, so I would never have signed up for this before!
Nathan: So your confidence obviously improved enough to get you to do that, which is awesome and I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
Do you have any specific tips, with nutrition or exercise, that you could share with anyone who is listening to this and may be trying to *lose weight actively at the moment?
Roxanne: One of the big things for me has been preparation; so on a Sunday I prepare all my lunches for the full week, so then when I get in from training I don’t have to worry about making my lunch for the next day. And then also I have found things in shops that I can buy, so if I have forgotten food or I need something when I am out, then I know what I can go and buy.
Nathan: That’s an awesome one actually; I have never done that but that is awesome; so you know where you can go to get something if you do…
Roxanne: Yes, because it’s always a problem that if you forget food, then you think to yourself, “I need food, what do I get”, and then you panic and you probably think, “Oh well, I’ll just buy a sandwich because that’s easy”.
So yes, I have found that, cooked chicken breasts, you can buy them in the shops, so that’s fairly easy.
Nathan: And I suppose when you’re hungry as well, and you’re looking for something to eat, maybe on your lunch break at work, I mean, there is so much processed food that’s available, when you’re hungry and you’re looking for something, it’s easier to make a bad decision. So that’s an awesome one; good job with that, well done. Have you got any final words?
Roxanne: Just thank you! I’m so happy that I joined. I joined because I knew someone else that came, and found out about the DVCC through her; and I’m just so glad that I followed her and joined; it’s completely changed my *life.
Nathan: Awesome. Rockie’s talking about Lucy, whose interview is probably a little bit further down this page, if you wanted to view that interview as well. Thank you very much for speaking to me today, Rockie, and if you are listening to this I hope you found this interview helpful; Rockie, have a very good evening and this is Nathan from the DVCC in Milton Keynes; have a good evening.
