Dave Crowther

My name is Dave Crowther, I am 52, and I work for a well known Telecommunications company tied to a desk and a computer.  I didn’t do that much exercise which might have something to do with the fact that a few months ago I weighed almost 22 stone!.

One of my excuses is that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, which predominantly affects my hands, knees and feet.  Two years ago I had great trouble walking, even holding a cup and getting out of a chair was a Herculean effort. Thankfully I am now on strong medication that makes me almost normal!

One of the side effects however is being constantly fatigued and lacking in energy, another is a slowing down of the bodies immune system.

So, the scene was set, I was a mess, I knew it, I wanted to do something about it, but what? –

Along came a Newsletter from New Image Fitness, an 8-week Get Fit Challenge, great, I’ll lose weight, this will help my joints cope and maybe I’ll feel better in myself?

So I joined - 3 fitness sessions a week, I’d even signed up for a Badminton evening class elsewhere.  My 23 co-challengers were much younger and very much fitter than I was.  A strange determination had taken over me, no way would I win, but that was not the aim, weight loss was.  The first two weeks were hell, I almost gave up, it was noticeable that I hadn’t exercised in many a year

Dietary advice from Jago was an eye-opener, he dispelled all the current ‘myths’ about food and dieting and I resolved to find a ‘mid-path’ that would suit my situation and that could be continued as a lifestyle change. I have not had a supermarket pre-prepared meal since that day. I now have a balance in every meal of Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates and try wherever possible to have the freshest, most natural foods.

As the weeks were ticked off, my physical discomfort began to get dramatically less and my recovery time from each session went down from 3 days to a couple of hours. Other things were also happening, despite being more able to ‘feel’ my muscles, clothes were noticeably becoming ‘loose’.  Although I was competing with other people, I was in fact only competing against myself, and I hate losing, I also hate having Rheumatoid Arthritis. I know I can never regain my health or indeed the fitness of past years, but if I can get 90% of it back than I’ll settle for that. Jago told me to set a number of realistic, achievable short, medium and long term goals all of which I have achieved bar one.

What has been the biggest letdown – the Challenge finishing.

What has been the biggest surprise – Me winning it !!.

To date I have lost over 2 stones, my fitness has jumped immensely.  Apart from attending New Image Fitness twice a week I also play Badminton three times a week.  Oh, and my clothing has gone from XXL to L.

Feel Good Factor has gone of the scale.

Sign up with New Image Fitness, you know what you have to lose.

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