Boyd’s weight took a turn for the worse at age 33, when he experienced two pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in each lung). He said: “No one really knows what caused that, but I had put weight on.” He had previously worked in the fitness industry, until he left at age 28 to pursue a sales and marketing career. Before he knew it he had ballooned to 18 stone.
“I was struggling to take the dogs out for long walks or playing with the kids.”
It was only after a conversation with a work colleague that prompted Boyd to take drastic action.
“A friend of mine started getting back in weight training and I offered him advice. He looked me up and down like I wasn’t the right person to be giving advice.”
He added: “I felt hypocritical. If you don’t practise what you preach, you don’t have a leg to stand on.”
Boyd bet his colleague that within a year, he would be in better physical shape than him.
The next day he got in contact with Luke Debono, a professional athlete who has represented Malta in bodybuilding, and asked him to be his mentor.
DON’T MISS
On his first in the gym he stuck out like a sore thumb.
And not just because he towered above everyone at 6’5.
He said: “Most of the people there were in their 20s, and I had the worst physique in there.”
He added: “It made me want to earn my place.”
However, the road to fitness was not easy.
Halfway through his first gym session with Luke, he “was sick from exhaustion”.
READ RELATED: James Martin weight loss: TV chef dropped 5 stone in 2 months with simple diet change
In a solo session the next week, he overtrained his legs and ended up in hospital for two nights on a drip.
Despite setbacks, he never gave up on his journey.
His advice to those who want to lose weight: “You definitely need a coach. The law of mastering something is to find a master and be a humble student.”
He admitted: “I did not enjoy working out. I would recommend finding a mentor that inspires you.”
“You need an accountability coach. It’s easier to give up on yourself than look someone in the eye and tell them that you’re giving up.”
Boyd also explains that you need to forgo a victim mindset.
“I was working late and travelling, and going to restaurants. You need to get the victim mindset out. I was working late, or travelling. But I’d walk past M&S to get to KFC. I was the problem, realising that is the first step.”
To lose over three stone in a mere nine months, Boyd ate high-protein, low-carbohydrate prepped food four times per day, seven days per week.
He advised others: “Stay away from packet stuff. Eat real food: if your grandma couldn’t eat it when she was a kid, you shouldn’t either.”
Eager to spend no longer in the gym than he needed to, Boyd would think about food in relation to how long it would take him to burn it off in the gym.
“The cost of a bag of chips is an hour in the gym, and it’s not as tasty in not being in the gym for that long.”
To maintain a sustainable weight loss routine, Boyd recommends finding a workout you are “excited by”, and steer clear of exercises you dread.
Finally he advised: “When you hit a goal you must reward yourself. But reward yourself with something conducive to your mission and something that inspires your goal. A spa day, a new gym outfit – not pizza or ice cream”.
Source: Daily Express | Diet
