Meet Ray
So who is this guy, you might ask, who trained and coached the two winners of the hit show, The Biggest Loser, and helped them grab victory and a whole heap of cash?
I’ve always been around fitness, having played sport since the age of four, and being heavily into rugby league and rugby union. It wasn’t until I had a scrum collapse on me at 19 years old that I injured my lower back and ended up in the gym for rehabilitation—at the time, I had a tiny frame, weighing in at just 60 kilograms (132 pounds). This served as my introduction to a career in health and fitness. Being so scrawny, I had been too intimidated to walk into a gym, as I felt my size would be laughed at by the ‘beefy’ guys—so I understand how you might feel uncomfortable at the thought of entering a gym full of fit bodies, if you’re overweight.
After the accident and following need for rehabilitation, it didn’t take long for me to become a bit of a ‘gym junkie’; I was obsessed with building muscle and got right into the hardcore muscle magazines, supplements, protein powders and rigorous training routines. Aside from watching my muscles grow, I started to watch the gym members and the changes they made to their health and fitness, and ultimately their lives. I thought that this was a motivating environment to work in and one where I could make a real difference.
With 15 years experience under my belt, my focus gradually turned to weight loss. I realised that a lot of people don’t have access to personal trainers and reliable information, and that it was the biggest area that people struggled with. This inspired me to start up a weight loss internet site Free Online Health (www.free-online-health.com), which offers support, a chat room and loads of basic and free information for the average person looking to lose weight. I wanted people to be able to ask advice from personal trainers and life coaches, and have a forum where people can share their experiences in an honest and positive way. Today the site has more than 60 000 overweight and obese people who visit each month.
My link to The Biggest Loser
Through the site, I got to meet David Hilyander, the first eliminated contestant of the first series of The Biggest Loser. After coming out of the house, he stumbled across the site and we chatted online. He happened to be good friends with Adro Sarnelli and told me that Adro had just left the house and that he really needed a trainer. I gave Adro a call and we organised to meet the next day. We started training later that day.
I was quite excited to be involved, as I had watched the US series and was a fan of the show. Adro lived a short five-minute drive from my house, which was perfect for me to train him. In the next seven weeks, I helped him to lose a further 27 kilograms (59 pounds) and take out the title of Australia’s first-ever biggest loser.
Come the next series the following year Chris Garling had me at the forefront of his mind when he left the house because of my experiences with Adro. I received an email from him two days after he left the house saying that he was eager to train with me and wanted to get things organised ASAP. I gave him a call and we chatted for an hour. My instincts told me right from the start that he had what it takes to give the title a real shake. We organised to meet the following morning at a local coffee shop, started training that day and, with a slightly different training plan to Adro’s, seven weeks later it was a case of de-ja-vu: Chris took out the title to become the biggest loser of 2007.
Why you can become a weight loss winner
Part of the reason why I wanted to write this book is to share with you just what it takes to lose big amounts of weight in short periods of time as Adro and Chris did. As you will see when you read the diaries of Chris and Adro in Part Five, ‘Secrets of a weight loss winner’, they did multiple training sessions a day and ate a very low calorie diet (basically did nothing else other than eat well, train hard and sleep) to lose their weight so quickly.
But the biggest reason why I wanted to write this book is to show you that such an extreme approach to weight loss in not only not practical for most people, but also not necessary to be a successful loser.
You already have all you need to lose weight
'Oh it's easy to lose weight when you're locked in a house, having round the-clock personal training, calorie-controlled meals and a big wad of cash to spur you on.'
'If I could be confined and earn a weekly wage, I would have
the time I need to lose weight without having to worry about
the bills because I don't have to work.'
I hear these excuses all the time. You may feel that you have
to be isolated to get results but here are your options:
You can hold out and hopefully become a contestant on
a weight loss TV show and put on extra weight in the
process—or you can bite the bullet, put your health
first and start the process now. Besides, losing weight within
the parameters of your own life is much more realistic than being chosen from thousands of applicants to be on a reality weight loss show and being removed from your everyday life in order to lose the weight.
Sooner or later you’ll have to deal with everyday food temptations—junk food at every checkout, dinner parties, special occasions, the influence of family members who eat poorly and so on—and everyday time-stealers (usually excuses) that get in the way of exercising, such as work and family commitments. If your diet and exercise routine is restrictive to the extremes,
you’re not really learning how to behave in the real world. You have to be realistic and practical; not many of us have unlimited time to do multiple training sessions and prepare a strict diet. So the sooner you learn how to behave to lose weight within your everyday life, the better. And this book shows you how.
Why will my approach work?
Why trust me, over another? It’s confusing out there with so many weight loss solutions on offer, but mine is based on facts, and you only need to look at the success Chris and Adro experienced as the evidence. I had no secret training method or special diet for Chris and Adro; just a calorie controlled eating plan and a lot of hard work in the exercise department!
My program is very progressive—it’s not just slapped together. A lot of thought has gone into each training session and into what works best on what day to guarantee results. You just have to back yourself and give it a go!
A final word
I believe that everyone can lose weight, no matter where you’re at, how many false starts you’ve had, or what obstacles are standing in your way. Because you’re always learning each time you try. You’ve got a different set of circumstances each time, which contain a different set of lessons.
You’ve only failed if you haven’t taken anything away from your previous attempts to lose weight. Each time you try, if you implement what you have learnt, you will get better and better at it. Slowly, but surely, you will learn the tricks and be successful.
To lose weight you have to keep putting one step in front of the other. When you slip up—and you will because everyone does and none of us are perfect—you can’t let it get you down. You just have to learn from the experience and keep moving forward. If you can walk, you can do it. You don’t need money for trainers, gyms or complicated diets. There’s no doubt
that you may find it hard at the start, but I can absolutely promise you that it gets much easier. You can tell yourself all sorts of lies but I know what you’re capable of. I won’t let you quit. Perseverance is the most important component of weight loss.
Just give me your commitment and I can help you turn things around.
How to use this book
Each part of this book will walk you through the weight loss and exercise changes you need to make to become a successful weight loss winner. We’re going to aim for a gradual and healthy rate of weight loss of at least half a kilo (one pound) per week. This is realistic without having to give up your day job just to train! The book will walk you through the steps necessary to
achieve success at a rate that suits your lifestyle. Step by step, you will learn how to:
- Think like a winner (Part One)
- Eat like a winner (Part Two)
- Train like a winner (Part Three)
- Get back on track, when things get off track, like a winner (Part Four) and, as a result, become a weight loss winner!
- Part Five (Secrets of a weight loss winner) includes Adro and Chris’ diaries of their countdown to winning The Biggest Loser with details of their eating plans and training programs, so you can gain an insight into what it takes to be a weight loss winner.
- The Appendix includes the diaries and planners, which you can use to keep tabs on your progress, and a list of useful contacts and websites to help you on your journey.