Dhiren was struggling. 

At 48 years old, standing just under 6 foot, Dhiren weighed 120 kgs with a 43 inch waist. 

His size meant that every day was a battle with his mind and with his body. 

“For years I had maintained my weight at around 90 kgs. But my control on my weight started to slip around the time when we wanted to start a family. It was not an easy journey. 

Before my son was born in December 2020, we had tried several times to conceive. It was hard because we had two miscarriages. Every time we lost a child, it took a toll on my mental health. The only way I knew to deal with the stress was to resort to comforting eating and late nights in front of the TV.” 

The stress eating combined with his increasing weight caused a number of health problems for Dhiren. 

In 2020, his blood work showed that his fasting sugars were high and that he was prediabetic. With a family history of diabetes he was worried that he would suffer from Type II diabetes as he aged. 

To make matters worse, he was warned that if he continued on this trajectory, he was guaranteed to suffer a cardiac arrest before he turned 60. 

Hearing this news when Dhiren and his wife were expecting their first baby chilled him to the bone. 

“We finally had a successful pregnancy, the baby was due in December 2020 and that’s when I got the news about the state of my physical health. Just the thought of leaving my wife and my child to fend for themselves alone sent shockwaves through my body. I can’t even think about it now without panicking.” 

To top it all, Dhiren was in a lot of pain from old injuries.

As a long time gym goer and keen power-lifter he’d been in and out of gyms for most of his life. 

“I had my first set of dumb bells when I was 15 years old. And I have always enjoyed training. I guess injuries go with the territory if you lift regularly so I ended up with a partial distal bicep tear. I have had that niggling pain in my arm for years.

And one day in June 2020, I simply picked up the wheelie bin to empty it when I heard a ‘ping’. I literally saw the muscle tear off the elbow and curl up like a tennis ball at the top of my shoulder! I had completely ripped my bicep!” 

Dhiren had to be rushed to surgery to fix the tear. Post surgery, he had multiple physiotherapy sessions for his arm. However, the injury took its toll:

“There was a lot going on at the time. I had my bicep reattached in June. We had some house renovations done and then, after my son was born, I injured my ankle and I couldn’t walk properly. 

I was in bad shape. 

I felt terrible that I couldn’t help my wife with the baby and couldn’t carry the baby up the stairs because my knees hurt from being so big plus my ankle was bad. 

The truth is, all this lay heavy on me and I suffered from mild depression after the baby was born.”

Once the gyms opened up after Lockdown in early 2021, Dhiren took some steps to lose weight. He started training again and was more careful about what he was eating.

“I got my weight down from 120 kgs to 98 kgs and I thought I was doing well, but I had no idea how to keep it off. 

By the end of 2021 with all the parties around Christmas and New Year I ended up shooting back up to 105 kgs. That’s when I knew I couldn’t hack it on my own. I needed support and I decided to sign up to RNT.”

The Early Challenges 

The first few weeks of RNT did take Dhiren by surprise. 

Getting your arms around the process and settling into the rhythm can take up to a month. And how you approach the first few weeks can make or break the journey. 

“It was daunting at first. I had to meal prep and get used to cooking all this new food. Plus, my wife and I were used to cooking together and eating the same foods. So it took me a while to find the right balance to execute things.”

At the start, it took Dhiren 3-4 hours to meal prep on Sunday. Now he has the process nailed down and the week’s cooking is all done in an hour. 

“Focusing on the RNT journey takes up a lot of time: whether it’s getting in my steps or heading to the gym to train. And every time I was away from home, I felt like I was being selfish leaving my wife and little son alone. 

But then there was a mindset shift: I had to take back control of my health. I am 50 now with a 32 month old son and I want to live to see him go to Uni and longer. I wanted to be there for my wife and my brother. I had to put in the time now so I can be there for them in the future.”

Dhiren communicated this with his wife and she supported him throughout. She understood his motivations and gave him her full support. 

Rewiring years of habits takes time, commitment and consistency and it’s practically impossible without the support from family. 

Pushing Past The Comfort Zone

Dhiren doggedly followed the RNT process and in 8 months he was unrecognisable. 

“I reached 80 kgs and honestly, I was happy, I wanted to stop there. 

I thought I had enough. At that time I got the flu and was sick for a couple of weeks and I felt like I had had enough. I told my coach I wanted to stop but he advised me to take a break from the process, recoup my energies and then think about how I wanted to proceed. 

I did just that. I took my foot off the pedal for a few days and when I got my energy back, I was ready to keep pushing.”

Dhiren pushed hard after that. To help him reach his goal weight he enthusiastically joined all of the RNT Challenges that were running.

“I joined the RNT 28 Day Step Challenge and was constantly at the top of the leaderboard in getting the most number of steps. I also signed up for a photoshoot and locked in my Checkpoint weight at 65 kgs. It was something I never thought I would do, but it really incentivised me to keep pushing. The RNT Shred Challenge Group and The RNT Shoot Group kept me going, I didn’t think I could reach my target weight without the support from those groups.”

If you want to push yourself past your comfort zone to get into the best shape of your life, take the RNT Transformation Quiz linked here. 

Exercising Self Control 

Getting the last 10 kgs off was a real battle with the devil for Dhiren. 

“I was really maxing it out: 3 training sessions a week with an additional 20 mins of cardio after each training session. I was also getting 2 cardio sessions of 45 min each per week and 21k steps a day. I was eating 1150 kcal a day and my Apple watch (although I know is not accurate) said I was burning 4096 Kcal per day! 

I remember at that time my sense of smell was so intense!

I also remember experiencing heightened awareness, I felt like I was possessed!

So to cope, I made myself a chicken curry every night for 2 weeks and I only ate it when I was really hungry. I wanted to go to sleep feeling full because if I was hungry, my sleep would suffer. 

I was feeling cold all the time and took to wearing body warmers. I was craving junk all the time so I had to be extremely self controlled. I was also irritable, but I had to learn to control my temper. So I got into the habit of really using the power of my breath to compose myself before responding. 

It’s funny when I look back at it now, but it was really challenging at that time.”

After Dhiren hit 66 kgs and he completed his photoshoot he thought he’d pile on all the food he’d been denied for weeks. Surprisingly, after he hit Checkpoint he didn’t feel the need to eat all the junk any more. 

“I actually wanted to go to a desert bar and load up on brownies and ice cream, but I still haven’t done that. I realise that I can eat that at any time, it’s not going away anywhere. There is no rush. I have no desire to gorge on food anymore.”

The Reverse Diet 

Dieting hard for 18 months can take a toll and at that point when you are at your leanest, your body is so vulnerable. This is why it is crucial to navigate this phase with utmost care. 

When you are deep in The Grind, your mood, sleep, hunger, stress and libido will typically go into a state of shock.

Your sleep can be poor, hunger can consume your every thought, and your mood can get rocky!

“It took me a good 2-3 weeks of the reverse diet to feel normal again. I remember looking at myself the day before the photoshoot and I thought I was flat as a pancake but the carb loading made a difference. On shoot day I couldn’t stop smiling and it was easily one of the best days of my life. The day after my shoot I was so pumped with the extra calories, it felt amazing!”

Navigating Social Events 

Dhiren’s newly planted habits were tested soon after he hit Checkpoint with a whole host of socials. 

“When I was in the thick of The Grind, I turned down a lot of socials only going to those that I felt were important. Even for those events, I took my tupperware with me. Now, after Checkpoint, I make a very conscious decision to follow proper meal hygiene. I stick to the one plate rule, fill my plate with veg and protein and keep the carbs low. I follow that rule of thumb everywhere I go now.”

Own Your Own Journey  

Dhiren’s mindset has changed from chasing aesthetics to chasing performance goals. This shift helped him stay away from night time triggers of binge watching TV shows and mindless snacking. 

“I wake up at 4:10am every morning so I can get my gym and cardio sessions out of the way. This means I am in bed by 9:30 pm every night, even weekends. My early morning training sessions really set the tone for the day and I’m ready to take on anything that comes my way.” 

Dhiren’s been given the all clear from his doctors as well - all his health markers and blood work is normal. He feels young and vibrant and energetic. 

“When I started I didn’t think it could happen, it all seemed so daunting. But seeing my body change week on week was so motivating. 

I just followed the plan and did what I was told.

The feedback I got from my training videos was crucial to my progress, especially since I was already recovering from my bicep tear and ankle injury. 

I took ownership of my journey and I would say the same to all RNTers starting out: don’t worry about what others are doing. It’s your journey, own it!”

When Dhiren started he was sceptical as well, but today every day he wakes up smiling because he feels so great in body and in mind. 

“I signed up for year 2 and year 3 together at the same time because I want to crystallise these processes. I read on the RNT website that the longer you can keep the weight off the more likely you are to stay at this weight and I knew that signing up for year 2 and year 3 would help me nail it down so I can stay in great shape for the rest of my life.” 

Dhiren’s goal, now as he enters Investment, is to get as strong as he can while being injury free, active and mobile. 

“This is more important at my age, when you are young you recover quicker, but anyone at any age can do RNT. In fact it is vital!”

Podcast 

In Ep 347 of RNT Fitness Radio, Dhiren talks about his incredible journey and shares some deeply personal reasons for fixing his mental and physical health. 

In this podcast he says, “I’m 50 now, I have a 3 year old son and when I look back at my 48 year old self, I don’t recognise that person any more. I’m a completely different guy now.”