thank you letter - les mills howick

​As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I have managed to make a lot of progress during my weight loss journey over the past six months, losing a total of 25 kg.  I go to Les Mills in Howick and it’s a great gym.  I simply love it there.  I wanted to share the letter I recently wrote to the team, thanking them for all their support.

28 October 2018

To the team at Les Mills Howick,

A small gift from our garden – some plants and produce

I wanted to thank you all so much for helping me along my fitness journey.  When I (re)joined the gym in July this year, I was 93.3 kg.  Over the past four months, I have lost over 20 kg.  My goal was to be able to participate in the YMCA 10k summer series in the Auckland Domain every Thursday, which I have achieved thanks to weekly PT sessions with Alice, as well as some training with Dan while Alice was away. 

I have Type 2 diabetes, but with the support of this gym, I have been able to get my condition under control through diet and exercise.  Losing weight has made it easier to manage my blood sugars.  My GP didn’t recognise me when I saw him last Friday and was so happy with my progress.

A lot of people have asked how I managed to lose so much weight in a relatively short time frame. The truth is that there was no fad dieting or excessive exercise involved.  I’m also carrying a few injuries, which restricts what I can do.  There are a few revelations I have had that I would like to share, which might be useful to pass on to other gym members who are struggling to lose weight.

•          A lot of it is in the mind.  In order to lose weight, you have to develop the right mind set.  It took me awhile to get to this place
•          It mostly comes down to food.  As the saying goes, you can’t out train a bad diet!
•          You need to be disciplined with exercise and have self-control with food
•          You need a calorie deficit in order to lose weight (logging my food intake and exercise with My Fitness Pal has helped me achieve this)
•          Gym staff are very willing to help you, but first you have to want to be helped and you have to be prepared to help yourself
•          PT has helped me tremendously but what matters most is what you’re doing and eating outside that time.  While some trainers may be a better fit than others (personality, specialisation etc), everyone at the gym is highly qualified and I respect you all.  If people are not making progress, they can’t blame someone they see for only an hour each week! 

Everyone – the friendly reception staff, fitness instructors on the gym floor, group fitness instructors and personal trainers – have been absolutely fantastic.  In particular, I’d like to say a special thank you to Autumn (who signed me up and continues to check in with me), Laura and Laetitia (who has since moved on) for helping me so much the first time I joined and who made me want to return so I could try again, Alice and Dan for motivating me through PT, Brandon for his support on the gym floor and Maureen, who has given me so much support in her classes and with my running.  You’re all doing a wonderful job.  Please keep it up!  Thank you again.  I look forward to getting to know even more of you over time.

Kind regards,

Anita Kundu