Jonathan Getty, 25, was always a good motivator of others but due to the stresses of his sales role, he found it tough to practice what he preached. Yet, he wanted to be pushed and under the guidance of personal trainer Ian Doherty who won the EAS Body-for-LIFE Men’s Champion Award in 2005, he embarked on the programme himself.

Having Ian in his corner proved to be the incentive Jonathan needed to get going, as he was aware of what Ian had achieved in the past. What appealed most in the Body-for-LIFE plan were the structure and the final goal. He had previously dabbled in different areas of fitness but did not know what he wanted to achieve or have anything to aim for. His main exercise was playing football, which was at a good level until injuries put an end to this.

During the 12-week Challenge Jonny went from 13st 1lbs to 11st 6lbs and dropped his body fat from 24% to 5.5%.

Jonathan began reading Bill Phillips’ Body-for-LIFE book and used the success journal to set achievable goals to keep him on course. However, he had not done anything like this before and his diet before the Challenge consisted of quick easy food that descended into snacking on junk food with a few drinks at the weekends. He had his doubts, including how he would fit in time for training, which threatened to stop him even before starting.

“Before I started I thought ‘this isn’t going to work’ – although as soon as I started I began to feel differently. I saw results after about four weeks which spurred me onto sticking with the programme.”

He was enjoying the cardio and weights sessions at the Fitness First gym he attended and also doing some hill running. To aid his training he took various supplements to improve his chances of getting the body he wanted for life. “Following the diet showed me how important nutrition is and it heightened my knowledge. I have inspired my girlfriend to get on the programme and I am also advising others now in the gym alongside Ian by showing them what I have learnt.”

Jonathan has embraced the principles of Body-for-LIFE both in training and lifestyle leading to a desire to show his results in competitions. “I’m a prime example of what you can do by making changes, says Jonathan. I’m now gearing up for natural body building competitions in Ireland later this year.”

“My energy has increased and I am more driven in my professional life,” says Jonny. “I feel I can achieve anything and my philosophy to my clients is – don’t just dream it, live it!”