I've always been a quite sporty person and always thought as long as I was fairly active it didn't matter too much what I ate. Slowly but surely this caught up on me through university days of enjoying perhaps a little too much alcohol and lazy eating habits of takeaways and microwave meals. Steadily I put on weight and although continued a fairly active lifestyle, this became less so as the demands of work took its toll and I often found myself sat unmoved at a desk all day and then spending evenings vegged out eating a takeaway in front of the TV. I also got caught up in the laddish culture of being able to consume masses of food easily.

It wasn't until returning from a trip from America and getting on the scales and tipping 18 stone, that the alarm bells started ringing, however I still didn't know what to do and looked to blame it on genetics, a slow metabolism, nothing but take actual responsibility for my body. I still thought relatively I didn't over eat that much and played football and cricket and went for walks so what could I possibly do.

I'd tried going to the gym before and this had, had little effect and all in all was a pretty disillusioning environment, the monotonous trudge of the treadmill which yielded little reward, left me disillusioned and fad calorie/point counting diets had got me nowhere, any initial weight loss quickly returned.

I decided the I should try and get professional help, as if to say one last push to see if I could overcome what I consider were impossible hurdles out of my control and I was simply stuck the way I was.

I had seen FITISM on line and went for an initial consultation, the concept seemed like a breath of fresh air. Straight away the concepts I had in my mind were debunked. It felt like a place I could attend, without being intimidated by the all those fit people in the gym. I felt was give a licence of how to use a gym, how to get the best out of it and it didn't involved endless hours running nowhere! I could do this I thought to myself.

The nutrition guide was engaging too, and resonated well, it seemed so obvious when explained that our bodies would struggle with all this processed food after all we had developed to eat natural foods and this again opened my mind to a new way of approaching food.

Armed with these new concepts and someone to be accountable to, I set off on the journey with fresh hope and vigour.

Encouraged along the way I instantly saw results. Friends and family could not believe the change and soon had the enjoyment of having to buy a new wardrobe of clothes as the old clothes became too big. It made shopping fun and I began to dress myself better as I had new found confidence in myself.

Having lost all the weight and having a new healthy lifestyle I feel like I've been given a new lease of life. I have more confidence in who I am which has enable me to pursue a new career, I enjoy playing sport more as I am much fitter and am able to compete and achieve more than I ever have in the past. Being healthier has inevitably given me more energy and a much more balanced lifestyle, the best thing about it is that it simple and when you put it into action it all makes sense, I can't believe I lived my life any other way now.