“I’m a tradie, so I always used work as an excuse. I was on my feet all day, carrying things around in the sun. With this in mind I thought I was active enough.

I remember one afternoon playing footy outside with my two young boys and realising I was looking for an excuse to sit down. I didn’t want to be the dad who was always too tired to get involved.

When I started with TMP, I honestly thought I was going to be put on some strict diet. Instead, we built a few easy meals I could prepare on a Sunday and take to work. A few months in, I noticed something that had nothing to do with the scales. I was playing outside with the kids and instead of thinking about when I could sit down, I was the one chasing them around. They probably didn’t think anything of it. But for me, that moment meant everything.”

“I used to have periods where I was really motivated and training hard, but eventually life would get busy and I’d burn out. I felt like I was already giving everything I had, so I started TMP thinking I just needed a coach to push me harder.

But instead of telling me to train harder or eat less, my coach helped me make a simple mindset change shifting my focus away from perfect workouts to simple daily habits. I realised I didn’t need to be pushed to my breaking point, I just needed someone to help me build a routine I could actually sustain.”

“I was actually pretty consistent during the week. I’d train hard, track my food and stick to my plan from Monday to Thursday. But then Friday would come around and everything would change. I wanted to go out with my mates, go clubbing and enjoy myself.

When I started with TMP, I expected to be told to stop going out if I wanted to reach my goals. Instead, we looked at what my life currently looked like and worked out how to manage it. Rather than pretending those weekends weren’t going to happen, we planned around them.

I learned how to make better choices when I was out and most importantly, stop treating Monday like I had to start from zero. The biggest realisation has been that I don’t have to choose between having a social life and making progress.”