Matthew: Hi, this is Matthew from the DVCC and I am here with Sophie Clarke. I’m just going to ask you a few questions, hopefully to get an insight into how you’ve got such great results.
So if you could please introduce yourself, how old are you and how long have you been at the DVCC?
Sophie: Hi, I’m Sophie, I’m 23 years old and I’ve been with the DVCC since January.
Matthew: Fantastic. What difficulties did you have prior to the DVCC, because I’m sure there are literally thousands of people who find themselves in the same position as you are?
Sophie: I think one of my biggest ones was my own motivation; not knowing what to do at the gym was hard to make myself carry on going, I just used to go and then kind of dawdle a bit.
And then actually the other one was knowing what to do at the gym, I would do the same things over and over again, which then I would just get bored of doing.
Matthew: So you would get to the gym and you would have the routine but then get bored of it.
Sophie: Yes.
Matthew: So Sophie, if you can just tell me what results you have got since you’ve been at the DVCC?
Sophie: Since joining the DVCC I have *lost 12 lbs of body fat.
Matthew: That’s fantastic, good from you, well done. How does that make you feel?
Sophie: It makes me feel great; especially recently, I think more people have been noticing that I’ve *lost weight and they have been asking how I’ve done it.
Obviously, being quite strict with myself, but coming here has really helped and so I just feel a lot better within myself for it.
Matthew: So what were your struggles with weight loss before the DVCC?
Sophie: My diet – I just used to eat whatever I wanted, when I wanted – and then as well having the motivation to go to the gym and keep going at it for a decent workout.
Matthew: So when you were losing weight previously - like you said, you tried other diets and exercise as well – did you make any progress in your weight loss, and did you feel it was through exercise or nutrition, or a combination of the two?
Sophie: In all honesty I think I was going to the gym but because I didn’t have that motivation, I never really shifted much weight.
I felt better within myself for going to the gym and just doing a bit of exercise, but I never really took into consideration the food I was eating. So I was exercising but not eating right, so it just wasn’t really working.
Matthew: So you said that your diet was an issue previously, when you tried to lose weight. Had you tried or done any diets and such before?
Sophie: Not really, I suppose I’ve tried cutting out carbs completely and cutting out different food; but I just found myself craving that food even more because I’d cut it out, and it didn’t work because I would just binge on the food that I tried to cut out, so it was just pointless.
Matthew: So how have you found the metabolic damage solution different?
Sophie: I found it really difficult to start with, because again it’s cutting out those foods that normally, especially with my job, the quickest things to get are the foods that aren’t really that healthy for you; and it did take me a while to get into the routine.
But I do think that - because my dad obviously did it with me - we both stuck at the diet together, we would cook together.
And even my TA at work has got on the diet with me, so now we make lunches at work for each other; we take it in turns to make lunch for each other and it sticks to what she knows that I can eat – so that’s worked really well.
Matthew: Brilliant, that’s good – good from you guys. So what does your lifestyle look like now, compared to before the DVCC?
Sophie: I get up and I actually have breakfast, which was a massive thing for me because I never used to eat breakfast.
I also make sure that I have lunch now as well; so by sharing our lunches – because I know that I have to prep somebody else’s lunch – then I eat. And to make sure that they have their healthy lunch as well.
And just coming to the gym; doing it, I’ll come 4 times a week; it just gives me so much more energy. I could easily go home and have a nap, but when I go to the gym it gives me that energy to carry on going.
Matthew: Fantastic. So do you have any specific tips, with regard to nutrition or exercise, that you feel you could share with anyone who’s listening who is trying to lose weight?
Sophie: I think it was trying to find things that really work well for you. I got a cookbook, it obviously didn’t stick completely to what the diet was here, but I found substitutes for things that I was missing.
So I quite often eat buckwheat and I make buckwheat pancakes, which are wheat free and gluten free, and then I just have them with a salad and mushrooms in them, which is really tasty and it fills me up.
So I have found substitutes for the things that I can’t have, but finding a healthy substitute for it.
Matthew: Good, so making better food choices overall – that’s perfect – good from you.
So do you have any final words you want to say about the DVCC or your experience?
Sophie: I just think that it’s been a great start for me, actually getting back into exercise and wanting to lose the weight and carrying on motivation.
And that’s partly obviously to me for doing it, but for you guys here as well by keeping the sessions all different that keep me interested and I want to come.
Matthew: Glad you’re enjoying it; thank you very much Sophie. I hope you guys found this interview helpful; please comment below with any questions and we will get back to you. This is Matthew from the DVCC Northampton, thank you.
