It was New Year’s Eve 2020 and most of the world was still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

Mark Shaw was ringing in the new year at home with his family in the usual style, lots of food, music and fun.

Everyone was having a great time. Mark was dancing in his living room when suddenly in the middle of the song, he had the overwhelming need to sit down and catch his breath.

He was sweating and felt almost ill from all the dancing.

The reality of his state of health only hit him when he watched himself caught on candid camera.

“The entire sequence of me dancing and needing to sit down had been videoed. And when I saw the clip the next day, I was appalled.

I had never seen myself like that before, my stomach was hanging over my shorts. Just looking at the width of it and all the layers and wrinkles was shocking!

Looking at myself I was disgusted!

I had no idea I looked like that, and no one had ever said anything to me about either. It seemed like there had been a slow accumulation of fat over the years and it had happened almost without me noticing!”

Prior to this moment, Mark knew he had been struggling.

He had severe indigestion and was heavily reliant on over the counter medicine to keep him regular.

He had low energy levels and would get out of breath even on phone calls and while walking up the stairs.

He could never find clothes that fit well and was always self conscious of his shape.

“Growing up, I was quite a chubby kid and was nicknamed Oompa Loompa (after the helpers in Roald Dahl’s book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory).

However, in secondary school, I took to the gym and started training, I managed to lose the chub.

But once I started law school and started working, things started to spin out of control again.”

In an attempt to get things back in control, Mark would hit the gym and work really hard for 12 weeks. He made some progress but then would slip back into his old habits.

“I remember once I was walking around with 12 packs of Rice Krispies because I had been on a diet for 12 weeks and thought I had earned my reward. This bingeing after a diet left me feeling quite ill a lot of the time.

My problem was the food, I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. But I loved my food, I was the guy who would have a starter, the main meal and then dessert with three scoops of ice cream!

My family even started storing junk food in the bottom drawers because they knew I wouldn’t go down on my hands and knees, it made me too out of breath.”

Mark’s trouble was not that he didn’t know he was struggling, it was because he didn’t have the knowledge to get himself out of this situation.

His family knew he exercised regularly so they thought this was the reality for a person in his 50s.

They believed he was doing everything he could to lose some weight and be fit and healthy.

But the situation had totally spun out of control, Mark was the biggest he had ever been - weighing 105kgs and was feeling every ounce.

The Turning Point

It was clear to Mark that the DIY plans he was hashing up from watching random videos on YouTube wasn’t helping. He knew he had to find a programme and follow the guidance from experts if he really wanted to turn his health around.

“A good friend had gone through the RNT programme and recommended I join too. I respected his advice and thought I’d look into it a bit more. So I started listening to a few of the podcasts.

And I remember, there was one podcast in particular that made me really sit up and pay attention. Everything that person said I could resonate with, it honestly felt like he was describing my life! And I thought if an ordinary person with the same day-to-day struggles as me could achieve such a transformation, surely I could do it too!”

The RNT Process

Mark was raring to go, he just couldn’t wait to get onto the programme.

“I honestly feel like I was born for this. I was convinced that once I knew exactly what I had to do and in what order, things would change dramatically.”

The Trials Of Training

Despite his best intentions, Mark found it hard to put his complete trust in the coaching team.

He was used to the idea that more was better.

So instead of sticking to the plan, he always tried to do more.

Not only did he try to squeeze in a few more reps while training, he would also add an extra cardio session during the week.

“It took almost a whole year to realise that I had got the wrong end of the stick. Ed and Ivan told me repeatedly that extra exercise was costing me more muscle and affecting my recovery time. But I just wasn’t buying it, I was caught in the false notion that more would always be better.

Now, looking back, I wonder how much those extra cardio sessions affected my recovery. I was training really hard and I know now that I was doing more harm than good. They kept telling me, but I kept doing it!”

Mark may have taken his time to absorb the learnings, but he got there in the end. He knows now that effective training is not equal to excessive training.

Navigating Nutrition

Adjusting to a new diet is always challenging. Even with the best plan and the best of intentions sticking to a new nutrition plan takes time.

“I liked the food on my plan, and I stuck to 100%. But after 7pm I always felt like I needed a snack. I thought I had so many calories left to work with so I would reach for a treat and the next thing I knew I had eaten 2-3 chocolates and had completely overshot my calorie budget.

Then to rectify this I would try to do more cardio and more sets but it ended up feeling like I was digging into a hole, instead of focusing on recovery and being mindful about my food, I was making it worse.”

At one point in Mark’s journey he reached to the coaching team and asked them when he was going to start The Grind.

For the uninitiated, The Grind is a short but intense phase in the RNT journey, it’s the last push to get RNTers to their peak physical condition.

Mark was shocked to learn that he had actually been in The Grind for three months, but because his nutrition wasn’t on point, he hadn’t reached his Checkpoint.

“I understand now how important a role nutrition plays and I am much more aware of how what I eat affects how I feel. It’s been eye-opening.”

Cultivating Mindset

If training and nutrition are the building blocks to a jaw dropping transformation, mindset is the mortar that binds the two together.

Even before Mark started on his RNT journey he read Akash’s book ‘Transform Your Body. Transform Your Life’ SEVEN times!

“I love that book, it set me up for what was coming and I was well prepared. I really think reading the book helped me cultivate the right mindset to transform my life.

I know now that I would never go back to where I was before RNT and that has occurred because my approach to training and nutrition has completely changed.”

Accountability Matters

The beginning of the RNT programme is arguably the easiest part.

The programme is new, you are seeing favourable changes in your physique and you are finally seeing a drop in bodyweight.

But after the first few weeks, the shine starts to wear off. Sticking to your nutrition plans gets harder; cravings claw at you in the evenings; you feel too tired to get in all your steps.

So, how do you keep going?

You set up an accountability network.

Our platform, RNT Pro offers peer accountability through the cohorts and our coaching team offers accountability through the regular check-ins and expert guidance. These are powerful tools.

Apart from this, it’s also essential to have an accountability network at home.

For Mark his preferred accountability network was through Social Media.

“I leveraged social media and my wider friend network to keep my momentum going. I was very public about my goals and this kept me from slipping. Mostly because I didn’t want to embarrass myself by not keeping to my word.

My friends started following my journey and they always asked me how I was getting on. As a bonus, my progress motivated others to take better control of their health.

I also loved the Pro platform daily check-in as well, it helped me stay on track.

The progress pictures were also a big motivator.

I also had a white board set up that tracked my weight. If the weight was written in blue it meant I was hitting my 1% weight loss per week, if the weight was in red, it meant that I was falling short of this mark.

All of these aspects helped me make consistent progress.”

The Physical Is The Vehicle

For Mark the physical has been the vehicle to reach better health.

“All the bad stuff isn’t there anymore. I have saved a fortune on indigestion tablets. My confidence levels have gone up. I can walk into a clothing store and buy anything I like without worrying about it fitting.

My whole family is eating better. We don’t order pizza anymore, if we feel like eating pizza we make it at home.

We all eat more fresh fruit and veg, one of my daughters has turned vegan and the other daughter trains with me in the gym.

I enjoy going on long walks, it’s my favourite mindfulness practice.

I feel like I now have a super immune system, I haven’t even caught a cold. I don’t feel overly tired.”

A Word Of Advice

We always ask our members what advice they would give to other members starting on their journey.

“Read Akash’s book. It’s so helpful and can make your entire RNT journey so much easier.

Also, don’t put off your transformation to another day - the best time is now.”

The Podcast

In Ep 317 of RNT Fitness Radio, Mark and Akash take a deep dive into Mark’s incredible transformation.

In the podcast Mark says,

“When I started on my RNT journey I knew it would work but I didn’t realise how effective it was going to be! It has had an impact on absolutely everything: my family, my friends and my overall health and well-being.”