After years of struggling with his own physical health, Hiran was shaken to his foundations when his father’s health took a turn for the worse. 

Seeing his father fight for his life, gave him the push he needed to refocus his priorities around his own well-being. 

In his testimonial, he shares his journey and how RNT gave him the strategies and structure he had always been seeking. 

“When I hit my 40th year, I realised that I wanted to go into the new decade in the best shape of my life.”

Testimonial 

1. What were the series of moments that led to your “trigger” moment to begin your journey with RNT?

I used to enjoy quite an active lifestyle before Covid hit. But just like many people things slowed down very quickly during and after lockdown. 

It didn’t help that I was also categorised as being high-risk, which reduced my movement even further. 

Then, once things started to get back to normal towards the end of 2021, my dad’s health took a bad turn. He had been suffering from poor health for about 6 months but all of a sudden, within a few days, things got much worse. 

Over the course of the next few months, my priorities in life shifted. I was commuting back and forth to the hospital after work. 

After a few months in hospital, he started to get better and was discharged, but came to live with me as he needed full time care. 

That’s when my life and routine changed. I stopped exercising, ate badly and was generally just run down and tired.

By May 2022, my dad was well enough to go back to his home and be with my mum. This was when I started reflecting on the stresses of the past few years, especially the past 6 months and I wanted to refocus my mind and energies. 

I had been following RNT on social media for a while and when I talked to the RNT team, I was convinced and decided to sign up. 

My journey began at the end of June 2022 and 9 months later I completed my photoshoot!

2. What were your biggest problems before starting RNT?

The biggest problem was managing the stresses that my dad’s deteriorating health caused as well as recovering from the impact of the pandemic. In terms of nutrition, I was generally healthy as I suffer from colitis which meant I have always had to be careful of what I eat. 

3. What has the process been like, and the biggest challenges and obstacles?

The process has been fantastic! 

Everyone has moments when they ask themselves, “Why am I doing this?” or “Is it worth it?” but realigning with my ‘why’ helped me remember my motivation to sign up. 

One big roadblock was when I hit a plateau about 5 months into my journey. I had dropped 6kgs, but then stayed stagnant for around 2 months. 

I was being consistent in my training and steps, but noticed I was indulging in small snacks here and there. It is completely true that eating over your calorie limit hinders your progress and makes the fat loss phase longer than it needs to. 

This was quite tough for me as I thought I was doing well and started to lose motivation. But then, after talking to the coaches, we upped my cardio from twice a week to three times per week and I stopped snacking. 

It was hard to do this, but I was determined to do this. I realised it was only for the short term! Within a week I finally broke past the plateau and didn’t look back.

Handling social situations was tough as well. I was comfortable preparing meals, but on days I knew I had plans to eat out, I would struggle. Then I started checking the menus in advance before going, and balancing my food during the day accordingly, this made it much easier. 

Valuable lesson I learnt - preparation is vital!

The biggest win for me over the past 10 months has been how my mindset has shifted. 

I train in the morning before work and get the majority of my steps in on the way to work, this means I get to work fully energised and ready to tackle the day ahead. 

I work a high pressure job, so the morning routine allows me to declutter the stresses. 

Bringing my meals to work has seen a lot of my colleagues become interested in RNT, and are motivating me by words of encouragement. I just need to get them to sign up now! 

As I began to get leaner, comments from fellow gym members, friends and family made a big difference. The positivity encouraged me to carry on and reach my checkpoint.

4. How has the physical been the vehicle?

When you need to do things for people you love, you just find the drive from somewhere and the sudden thought of losing Dad was a massive eye opener for me. 

To be frank, my parents are a huge inspiration. They came to this country with nothing and worked multiple jobs to look after my brother and myself. 

My dad hasn’t had it easy. He has survived cancer a few times and then survived this rare condition as well. He is a true warrior.  My mum has had multiple falls and suffers from leg and shoulder problems but has always put my brother and I first. It’s simply amazing. 

So when something like this happens, you just need to step up and do what you can. This is in some small way to thank them and help them for all they’ve done for us. 

Plus, taking care of my physical health has been a big priority for me ever since I was in my 20s. 

Within a few months of leaving university and starting my first job, I started having stomach issues. At first doctors thought it was just stress from my new job combined with the pressure of studying after work for my accountancy qualification: but it wasn’t. 

My body started deteriorating and I started avoiding social gatherings as I would panic and even feel dizzy with worry. 

My work began to deteriorate and I would fall sick too often. After seeing a few doctors and endless tests I finally got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. It was such a relief to know it wasn’t all in my head but an actual condition. At the time of diagnosis my stomach lining had literally disappeared. It took around 3 to 4 years to get a full diagnosis! 

From that point I learnt about eating healthy as certain foods would trigger stomach cramps or worse. That was when exercise became part of my life as I needed a way to burn excess energy and find a productive way to destress.

Fortunately, I have never been a big drinker so when I found having beer or wine worsened my condition, I stopped drinking except for the odd drink once or twice a year! 

My inner mental strength has supported me and being diagnosed has helped me learn what was good and bad for my body.

My gym routine has fluctuated since being diagnosed in my 20s. I never exercised until I got diagnosed. Since then, my training has been quite erratic. I have trained on my own, with friends, and had personal trainers but I have never really found the consistency and perfect combination to suit me. I certainly never got the results and healthier lifestyle I wanted and more importantly needed!

Having found RNT, I am now combining all the lessons I have learnt on exercise techniques, nutrition and mindset for a better lifestyle. 

My perspective in life has changed in the last 18 months and I now put my mental and physical health first.  I don’t even second guess this anymore. There is no compromise!

5. What almost kept you from joining?

The cost was an important factor. I knew I wanted to make the change, and knew I had the willpower to do it. Therefore, the only thing stopping me was the cost. After budgeting for the programme, I was ready to sign up and begin a new healthier chapter in my life. When I hit my 40th year, I realised that I wanted to go into the new decade in the best shape of my life.