From the Trainer (Jay Bonaretti):

Initially Paul sought my personal training services as he was extremely unhappy with his physique.  In actual fact, he wouldn't let me take any "official" before photo's of him (those above were family snaps when he was at his starting weight).

Paul had seen my personal transformation and told me that he, at 49 years of age, did not expect to achieve such a dramatic result.  I told him right from the get-go, whilst I cannot guarantee that you will succeed (even though I will do everything possible to help you get there), you can achieve ANYTHING you put your mind to.  He initially advised me that his goals were to:

• Get his body weight down to 78kg (this was his primary goal)
• Tone up
• Build a little bit of muscle
• Improve his general health & wellbeing

This meant that he had to focus on cardiovascular training, accompanied by a weight training routine and a heavy emphasis on improving his nutrition.

The two major obstacles Paul had to conquer were both exercise and nutrition.  He had not exercised on a regular basis in many, many years and as a result had to begin from scratch..  Also, Paul loved his desserts which was going to be a mammoth habit to break.

Paul was determined and motivated, so we began immediately on Boxing Day 2006 (yes...he was determined, I was excited...so why not start on a public holiday!).  Initially we discussed nutrition in detail and I provided him with a fairly flexible dietary approach that incorporated tasty yet healthy alternatives.  Because of his love of desserts, I didn't eliminate it from his diet altogether, but I did advise that it must be eaten sparingly.

Because Paul is in top medical condition, the training regime I set for him was relatively challenging for his age in order to achieve maximum results.  Every week Paul was therefore able to measure his progress (check out the stats above!) which provided additional motivation for him.

Over the course of the 12 weeks, Paul amazed me with his dedication to this project.  He achieved his goal of 78kg...and then lost another kilogram on top of that to finish at 77kg!  His weights sky-rocketed and his fitness level soared with a resting heart rate in the mid 40's!  There are some huge improvements in his before and after photo's which really show off his hard work.

Paul told me that he learnt some very valuable lessons during this transformation.  The one that stuck out at him the most was the importance of consuming a well-balanced diet.  Previously he felt low on energy and had little knowledge about the foods that he ate.  But he now realises that food compliments life and not the other way around.  Whenever he was confronted with a dessert, he reminded himself of how much exercise it would require to burn it back off.  But that's not to say that he didn't eat any "cheat foods" during this transformation - he had chocolate, cake, beer, wine and went out to restaurants several times.  The difference was that he now makes smarter choices and consumes "cheat foods" in moderation.  The beauty about this approach is that Paul is now sticking to these newly formed lifestyle habits - he was never on a diet!

My congratulations goes out to Paul who has been a true inspiration to me and I'm sure many other visitors on this website.  He worked his butt off and truly deserves these jaw-dropping results!  It just goes to show that, no matter what age, if you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything!