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My story with Jess starts in June 2020. My husband and I decided to move from Amsterdam (I am Dutch) to his home country Australia. He ended up in Alice Springs and while visiting him in March 2020 (I was preparing the sale of my business in Amsterdam and supposed to go back and forth) I got stuck in Australia as Covid took over the world.
When it became clear going back to Amsterdam was not an option, I decided to kickstart my new life in Alice Springs and accepted a job offer. As this position was mostly a desk job and we had 6 weeks of lockdown, I soon missed being active and ballooned. In Amsterdam I trained with a personal trainer for over 10 years and even though I did not see myself as a gym bunny, I always appreciated the physical and maybe even more so the mental benefits of having a couple of hours a week of
brainless ‘me-time’ to keep sane and prevent mental instability.
brainless ‘me-time’ to keep sane and prevent mental instability.
Therefore I reached out to Lasseters for personal training and they paired me up with Jess. I have to admit I had a giggle as I read her bio as they paired a pt with bodybuilding/bikini show experience with a mid 40s chubby gay man. They were right in pairing us though, because we hit it off straight away. Initially it was mostly about just getting started again and getting fit, but as we became more familiar with each other, I started sharing some goals/dreams with her and esthetics became more important to me.
After the Christmas break in early 2021 I felt fit, but was at my heaviest at 104 kg. I realised this posed a risk and I had enough of looking in the mirror and not liking what I saw. Jess took this joint quest on in a very lovingly, motivating, patient and knowledgable way. We took our time, but steadily I noticed how my body changed. I felt stronger and stronger and by November 2021 I lost 22 cm off my waist and 20 kg while gaining a lot of muscle, especially in my upper body.
Since then we have kept setting goals and she did what my personal trainers in the past have not been able to do; she turned me into a gym bunny! Our sessions are filled with laughter and it means so much more than just a workout. She keeps me sane and I hope I do the same for her sometimes. We both ended up as foreigners in a remote setting in the middle of a great country, that we now call home. We laugh about it as we do not always know whether to love or hate it and we miss our old home at times.
I love my new life here now and a big part of that is my workouts with Jess. For me she is the perfect trainer and I would call her my mental coach as we address so much more than just exercise and nutrition. When we were close enough to be honest and not hold back in committing to the process, I got amazing results, both physically and esthetically. Nutrition and exercise have always been a part of my journey, both in good and bad ways, but Jess has made me realise I can combine a social, fun and balanced lifestyle with a pretty hardcore fitness regime. She is patient when I struggle, but also honest and direct when I need it. I consider her my partner in ‘crime’ as we keep improving my esthetics and working towards the physique I have admired as a gay man since my teens, but have yet to accomplish. I am getting pretty close though!
Moving to Alice Springs was a new start for me in many ways and I consider Jess to be an integral part to the success of that new phase in my life, so thank you Jess! When I realised you knew what you were talking about and I stopped trying to understand everything, but trusted the process, my results have been amazing and unexpected; I could not have done it without you! Onwards and upwards from here…