Psychotherapist puts own skills into practice, loses 22 kilos

A London-based psychotherapist sourced motivation from within his own discipline to fuel a hugely impressive fat loss transformation

Dimitri Raftopoulos burned a whopping 22 kilograms in a little over four months, but the psychotherapist knew from the very beginning that he had to crack unhealthy habits in order to change his health and physique.

"As a psychotherapist I am used to seeing people transform and help to change their lives."

Despite working in the field of psychology for his entire career, Dimitri had let his own fortunes fall by the wayside. "Weight loss and the psychology of losing weight is a field I had only briefly delved into. This was until I reached the point of being 25 kilos overweight and classified as obese.

"The reality was I was knocking on heart attacks's door."

The Londoner got caught up in a vicious cycle which merely aggravated his issues. "I felt an inner panic because it seemed like an insurmountable task to turn my life around. "I would put myself down and then feel upset so I ate more. I was trapped in a vicious cycle. It's an easy cycle to get into but so hard to break; I was trapped." To smash his way out of the situation, Dimitri sought the help of a personal trainer. He realised that he calling upon professional coaching was wise, in the same way that he has helped many others. "I had to break the cycle. That's when it dawned on me I needed to work someone who knew exactly how my body needed to be trained, what fuel it needed and how to coach me personally to achieving my goals. I knew I had to hand over the reins and trust someone else." Dimitri enlisted a personal trainer who offered easily digestible advice that was easy to incorporate into daily life.

"I sought a PT in Ryan Farber from Eximius Fitness. Ryan consistently advised me that 'you can’t beat the system' and '80% of what we need to work on is nutrition'.

"When I finally started to follow his daily meal plans and supplement advice, the weight began to fall off."

And fall off it did. Dimitri's weight loss progress skyrocketed under Farber's guidance.

"I lost 21 kilos in three and a half months.

"Generally speaking, I ate three good, low-carb meals per day and supplemented my nutrition post-workout with whey protein. I also used Bio-Synergy's Whey Better in the morning to make an amazingly nutritious smoothie with almond milk and frozen berries."

Try this super smoothie for the best start to your day:

• One scoop whey protein
• 200ml almond milk
• 50g frozen berries
• Cup of spinach
• Half an avocado

Despite now feeling far happier with what he sees in the mirror, Dimitri's improved fitness levels are arguably the crowning achievement. The psychotherapist echoes this sentiment.

"Yes, it feels amazing to have lost the weight and hear people say, 'wow Dimitri you have done so well'. Even better, however, is that my fitness levels have greatly increased.

"I ran the British Army’s Personal Fitness Assessment (PFA) 1.5 mile timed run in 10 minutes; 30 seconds quicker than the allowed time limit! I now regularly run two or three times a week and my energy levels have gone through the roof."

To fuel further fat loss, follow the Premier League cardio plan. This style of training helps get the top footballers in the country back to full fitness during pre-season. Having succeeded on a journey that many will undoubtedly be taking, Dimitri's advice is a worthy listen.

"Nothing is impossible and being resistant to change is natural.

"Get the right people around you to help, commit to the programme both physically and mentally - and you will see the results."

If you - or someone you know - has made an impressive transformation with a story to tell, you could be featured on JOE's Transformation Tuesday! Just send your nominations to Alex.Roberts@JOE.co.uk