Three acts. A transformation, a diagnosis, and learning how to do it properly the second time around.
At my worst I was around twenty stone. I told myself I carried it well. In reality I had chest pains walking up the stairs and was struggling with tasks that should have been nothing. I thought that was just life. It wasn't — it was a warning I wasn't ready to hear yet.
My wife decided to get fitter and joined a running club. That was the nudge I needed. Then a friend mentioned he'd joined a triathlon club and asked if I wanted to enter a race with him. That was it. Not a gym membership. Not a diet plan. An event — something to actually train for.
I'd always hated the gym — bored of the treadmill inside five minutes. But training for three sports kept everything fresh. Running, cycling and swimming meant no session ever felt the same. And for the first time in my life I wasn't training to look better. I was training to cross a finish line.
The weight came off — not because I was dieting, but because I was moving so much it didn't really matter. I'd finish a race and enjoy a beer and a good meal after. It worked. My competitive side kicked in, I started looking for marginal gains, and I got faster.
By 2018 I was doing the London Triathlon in around 2 hours 20. I weighed just under 14 stone, had a 34-inch waist, and had gone from barely making it up the stairs to competing seriously. Then in 2019 I did an Ironman. Austria. 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, then a full marathon to finish. From twenty stone and chest pains to the finish line of one of the hardest endurance events in the world. The same person. Just different choices.
During Covid I was working as a warehouse picker — physical and demanding — while training up to eight hours a week on top. HIIT workouts every morning. Six-pack. 32-inch waist. Around 13 stone. I looked incredible. I felt incredible.
What I didn't know was that a kidney tumour had likely been growing for three or four years — right through the period when I thought I was at my physical peak. The cancer was hiding behind the performance. I had absolutely no idea.
In 2024 I had a massive haemorrhage on my kidney. Scans revealed stage 4 kidney cancer, spread to my lungs. On 31st December 2024 I had my kidney removed. I went into 2025 unable to train, unable to do much at all, facing the fight of my life. The disease is currently incurable. I'm on immunotherapy.
I did what I always do when faced with something I don't understand — I researched obsessively. Diet and muscle mass both emerged as genuinely significant factors in cancer outcomes and long-term health. I wasn't going to ignore that. What I'd been doing before was impressive on the outside, but it wasn't sustainable and it wasn't built around longevity. That had to change.
After surgery I was over 17 stone, fatigued and had lost a significant amount of muscle. So I did something about it — but this time the right way. Short sessions, 30 to 60 minutes, built around lean muscle and working with my energy rather than against it. Mountain biking when my body allows. Back in the pool.
The bigger change was food. High polyphenols, no ultra-processed food, low sugar, anti-inflammatory. Not a diet — a way of eating. Real food that fills you up properly so you naturally stop reaching for the wrong things. Every meal a decision about longevity rather than convenience.
Down to around 13 and a half stone from over 17. Stronger every week. I still have the pot belly and the moobs — I'm not pretending otherwise. But I'm alive, I'm moving, and the results this time feel different because they're built on something that actually lasts.
That's what I'll help you build. Not a 12-week transformation you can't maintain. Not a programme that demands three hours a day. Something that fits around your life, works with your body and compounds over years — not weeks.
I'm qualifying as a personal trainer and taking clients from early 2027. Join the waitlist and you'll be first to hear when I'm ready.
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