Chris beat his old habits and lost 22kg in 12 weeks!

A brief backstory on your health and how you think you got to such a point.

I was always quite skinny growing up. Later on in though, life just got busy. Work, family, stress, and apathy all contributed to the weight continuing to build up slowly but surely. While I knew it needed to change and I tried often to change, it was hard to stay committed when results or obstacles got thrown in the way.

Old habits would come back to bite again or with the busyness of young children and being needed more around the home, things like the gym and looking more after myself were put on the back seat to look after the others.

The significant moment for me came in summer earlier this year. I always try and get the year off to a good start, but this year I started with some weird heart arrhythmias which meant I couldn’t do too much while that was tested. Once I had the all clear with that I was able to get started but just needed to find a way to get started. I just needed a kick to get started and to be able to start dreaming that change could, in fact, be possible and goals could now be achievable.

Getting Started

One night while watching the footy I saw an ad for The Man Shake. I’d never heard of it before but it looked interesting. I jumped online and read the reviews and checked the Facebook and joined the support group and within a couple of hours, I’d already put in my first order. Everything I’d read looked like the same stories, real blokes trying to make a real change but actually seeing real results. Seeing the authenticity of the stories made me really want to give this a crack.

I’ve tried changing my diet, walking more and doing more exercise in the past. While it was always good for a while, it’s hard to stay committed long term when things changed or when results didn’t always come through.

With The Man Shake, though, within a few days I could already feel the difference. I was falling asleep in the chair less and had more energy which was weird because I’d been eating less. Having the Choc Super Greens in a shake I could feel like I was getting the extra benefits from the veggies by simply having them in a shake. Having the more energy allowed me to be able to get to the gym more, run around and actually outrun the kids and now that daylight saving is back for another summer we have started doing more family walks. I’ve joined the local Parkrun on a Saturday morning and I can see my times improve as my fitness improves (I’ve knocked nearly 15 minutes off my original time in only a few weeks) and I’m about to embark on a 10km fun run, things which were only dreams a few short months ago.

How did you fit the man shakes into your daily life?

It’s been easy to fit the shakes in, I usually have a shake for breakfast and one for lunch but sometimes will have the evening meal as a shake instead if I’ve had something else for lunch. Having The Man Bars as a snack has been a great way to keep the energy levels up through the day and they all taste great.

I’ve enjoyed mixing the flavours up a bit to create some unique blends and seeing some of the creations that others have made by simple additions to the shakes are great. I’d have to say chocolate and choc mint are the favourites but caramel and banana can be pretty tasty too! There’s a flavour combination for any time of day.

Chris has lost 22kg in 12 weeks and counting with The Man Shake

The biggest difference now I've lost weight with The Man Shake is having the energy and the confidence to do and try more things. Seeing results and seeing clothes which are now several sizes smaller has been great. Making other changes to our diet has also been great and it’s been with simple changes like changing to leaner meat like kangaroo, fresh fish and more salad and veggies. The recipes available on The Man Shake webpage are also really useful, simple and taste great.

My biggest roadblock was ensuring that old habits don’t get in the way but also don’t get neglected. Making sure that the work-life balance stays right and now that the kids are a little bit older (5 and 2) they can help encourage me. We’ve done some of The Man Shake celebrity workouts in the lounge early in the morning which is always fun to have others involved.

If someone is out there thinking about starting, what would you say to them to motivate them?

Just go for it. Push yourself but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach your goals or expectations. We are all different and everybody reacts differently. As long as you make some changes then it’s already an improvement on where things were. You can go as hard as you want or as easy. Enjoy the changes. It’s tough but the feelings of success are worth it.