In his own words, Transformation Challenge winner Niall Rooney of Toronto tells us about his journey to health and fitness.
A year and a half ago, I was given the all clear from my Doctor after having a fractured skull and three brain hemorrhages. I felt like I was given a second chance at life, so I decided to make the most of it. I took a look at myself and I weighed in at a whopping 270lbs. Embarrassment consumed my daily tasks because of how I looked.
This is when I started training with Shane, my personal trainer at GoodLife. My initial goal was simple: to look and feel better. What is great about my transformation is that it happened gradually over time, pound by pound I watched shed away while still living my normal life and keeping motivation high.
By no means was this transformation easy, but breaking bad habits, learning about new foods and how they’re beneficial coupled with three personal training sessions a week equipped me with everything I needed to succeed.
As time went by my struggle to find clothes that fit comfortably disappeared. This massively increased my self-confidence and most importantly, my self-belief. Now 85lbs lighter, I am confident walking down the street and looking at myself in the mirror. This is a feeling that I have never experienced before now.
I want to continue my progress and share with the people around me how easy it is to change your lifestyle for the better when working with your personal trainer and putting your mind to it. Not only have I shed pounds, but have reached other achievements including my first ever chin up and a 6:30 minute mile run.
From the moment that I met Shane, he was extremely helpful. He broke down the periodization programming of my training and we worked on nutrition right from the start. He was always on time for sessions, always helpful with exercises and we had a great connection and friendship. We tried different methods of nutrition from tracking calories to flexible dieting. The way he broke down how we would work through different phases over the next 12 months was excellent. The Foundation phase was extremely helpful in fixing any imbalances I had prior to entering the Build phase. Once the Build phase began, my body started to change by dropping fat and building muscle. I was growing more and more confident each week. We worked through the Burn and Strength phase by monitoring my heart rate and working through percentages allowing me to increase my squat, bench and deadlifts to heights that I never thought I would reach. I am incredibly happy with my results and I have built a lasting friendship with Shane. I am very grateful.
*Results may vary.