Kent Sport member Tristian Smith is a third year Drama and Multimedia student at the University of Kent. He share’s his inspiring health and fitness success story with us…
My time at University has been an incredible experience which has influenced my outlook on my health. The first year at university is supposed to be about parties and socializing but my ultimate aim was to get my life on track, I decided to embark on my journey to change my life style. Physically and mentally it has been a struggle but with perseverance I have achieved my first target of losing a total of 87lbs.
I have always attempted to lose weight, struggling through many yo-yo diets piling on the pounds as soon as they ended. I reached my biggest weight of 21 stone and 8 lbs in March 2013 and decided it was time to make a change. The thought of struggling to fit into XXXL range lingered, I knew my waist was reaching over 50 inches and chest was increasing to over 57 inches in radius. My first action was to go the gym for two hours every day after college, I was apprehensive about which machines to use as I lacked the knowledge of which area of my body it benefited. With my lack of knowledge I rotated using each machine for 3 sets of 12 reps until I had finished my session. Initially I could barely run for two minutes at 4 Mph, I would always give it my best effort and persevere until I felt satisfied with my work. I started to monitor my daily intake of food, previously I would eat over 5000 calories per day whereas now I eat on average 1200-1900. I do not completely restrict myself and allow one cheat day a week, which allows me to consume up to 3000 calories.
Then and Now:
Since beginning my journey my knowledge of exercise and fitness has expanded helping me achieve my goals. It has not been easy and there have been many failures but I proceed to keep going, I change my routine to tailor to my body targeting specific areas which I want to improve. December 2014 enabled me to conquer my biggest weakness of cardio, I previously could never run for more than a few minutes due to my asthma. From joining a running club I have been pushed harder than I have ever been before, rather than achieving my goals alone others influenced me to proceed. Over the Christmas break 2014 I completed my first mile without stopping to rest, this progressed to my first 5K in January 2015. I now go on daily sprints with my girlfriend of minimum 5K and have had my diagnosis of asthma quashed. I completed my first ever half marathon in December 2015 with a time of 2 hours and 50 minutes. I have now signed up for the Paris Marathon in 2016 which I am in training for.
It’s been a slow journey to achieve my current weight of 15 stone 9lbs but I have made the correct lifestyle changes to help me with my weight loss. I have played sports for the University American Football team as well as solid work in both the gym and kitchen. Stripping my knowledge back to basics, I have learnt how to plan each meal to ensure I receive the correct amount of nutrients. Rather than consuming plain rice, chicken and salad, I have created innovative meal plans which both look and taste good as well as balanced. My diet varies dependant on my training regime, I generally use the principle; 30% carbohydrates, 40% protein and 30% fats. When training for high intensity sports I increase my regime on top of any other training, combining this with increasing my carb count by 50%. This is to ensure my glucose and glycogen stores were full and ready for constant energy.
When I first started I went to the gym every single day not allowing myself a rest day which ended up with me injuring myself, now I go to the gym at least 4 times a week, and run varying distances from 1.5 mile sprints, 10k casual jogs to 10 mile endurance runs at least 5 days a week. This will slowly increase as I begin training for the marathon next April. I do a lot of strength training with deadlifts, shoulder curls, bicep curls, weighted squats, deadlifts into military presses and leg press etc. I try to stick to the principle of 5 sets 15 reps unless I’m going for a personal best weight wise then I’ll drop it to 6 sets 8 reps initially. These type of sets and interval training really do shred the weight off and show definition quickly.
I will not stop until I reach my end goal weight of 11 stone, the Paris marathon definitely going to be the toughest thing I’ll ever do in my life but it is my motivation to succeed. I update with my progress on my website ironically called from cake to protein shake http://fromcaketoproteinshake.weebly.com so check it out if you can! In the future I want to do a personal training qualification, as I have experienced all the ups and downs with losing weight and the social stigma perceived in a gym environment. Anyone can lose weight I was at the top of the scale and now I can be proud of myself and my health is 1000x times better and getting clear of Asthma is my proudest achievement.
Mike Burrell, Kent Sport Fitness Instructor, says of Tristian’s achievements: ”Tristian has shown what can be achieved through hard work and consistency, and I am tremendously proud of him. The majority of the work was off his own back, but he was always willing to learn and ask the staff questions to help his progress.” Kent Sport wishes Tristian good luck for the Paris 2016 marathon. If you have any questions about health and fitness don’t hesitate to approach our fitness team in the Sports Centre and for information about Kent Sport fitness consultations and personal training visit www.kent.ac.uk/sports/healthandfitness/fitnessconsults.html.
