Four months ago I could never have anticipated the change my life would undergo during my time at Transfit. When I waddled into the Claremont gym over 120 days ago I was at my lowest ebb physically, but it was mentally that I was really hurting? I just didn't know it at the time.

When I first sat down with John Meintjies I half-jokingly told him I expected to lose at least 15 kilograms during my time at the gym. At the time he did not take me too seriously, but then looking at my 'before' photo, who could blame him?

The reality is I did not think I would be able to reach that goal either. I have battled with my weight since I was seven and have never managed to come out on top, so I knew that John, and the rest of the Transfit trainers ? Chris, Simon, Derek and Cra ? had their work cut out for them.

Over the four-month period I have often been asked if I had a goal in mind. When I first laced up my trainers and stepped onto the treadmill ? a machine I would come to know well ? I weighed 92 kilograms, and I was horribly out of shape. In my mind I gave myself a goal of 79 kilograms (a loss of 13).

How much did I lose? Try 19.4 kilograms?

Obviously, I worked my butt off to achieve the results, but I cannot stress the importance of the guys at Transfit, whose constant cajoling, motivation and overall passion for what they do, pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of. As I said it was mentally that I continued to let myself down before. I had a barrier that I thought I could never cross, and so, I never did.

My first session with John proved to be the platform for everything else that followed. After a couple of minutes on the treadmill, my man-boobs jiggling, my breath coming in short, painful gasps, I began to complain of pain in my legs. Without hesitation he told me to put it out of my mind, mentally "I was nowhere", and I needed to push on ? prove to myself that I could do this.

And so I did.

Emotional rollercoaster

I faced a lot of those mental blocks and received a lot of "you're nowhere" from John, but each time I wanted to pack it in, I simply wasn't allowed to. After the second month I experienced something quite incredible ? when I started fading mentally it was not the trainers who pushed me through the barrier, but myself.

Once I got the mental aspect right, it seemed there was no stopping the weight-loss. I continued to eat, but healthily; my portions got bigger, and I ate more frequently, but it was what I ate that made the difference. Before Transfit I ate a lot of crap, so it was not hard to cut things out. No more pizza, burgers, chocolate? and definitely no booze.

In the first month I lost 5kg, the second I shed 7kg, and before I knew it my goal of 79kg was reached, and then surpassed. But by that stage I had become obsessed with losing weight. I was constantly on the scale, bemoaning the fact that I was not losing it quickly enough. When I looked at myself I still saw the 92kg version of myself, despite knowing that the truth was far different.

It was different battle to what I first faced, but it was something that needed to be dealt with nonetheless. Again, it was John who pointed out the error of my ways. In essence that is what makes Transfit such a success. It is more than just taking out-of-shape clients, putting them on a treadmill and chatting about the Boks. They see you as a product of their business and the end-result is a walking, talking (and, in my case, writing) advertisement.

Looking ahead

I won't lie. My four months had some hardships, but honestly, they were far outweighed by the positives. Physically I have never been in better shape. And mentally I am stronger than ever.

I feel like everything has just got a lot sharper. I enjoy all that I do, just a little bit more each day. In the back of my mind I always worried that once my time at Transfit was done I would simply fall back into my old ways. What more could I possibly achieve?

My final session with John, however, put things into perspective.

As I flipped the tractor tire for the umpteenth time, followed it up with another set of push-ups and battled to hold down my lunch during another sprint around the pool, I realised that despite everything I had achieved, there is always room for improvement.

And I plan to do exactly that.

To get in touch with Transfit: e-mail them at info@transfit.co.za / or visit their website.