It is January 2013. I look good and feel even better. I am wearing skinny jeans and a tight top tucked in. Don’t get me wrong- there is still room for improvement but I am in agreement with myself. I am happy. This wasn’t the case in January 2012…

Back then I was exhausted. Getting up in the morning was a struggle. Getting dressed was a nightmare as all my clothes were simply too small. I had no energy to perform well at work, to socialise, to live a life of a young woman.

I didn’t like myself whatsoever.

I felt I had to reach out and get some professional help because I had been trying to help myself for years without any results or with only short term results.

We started the programme. At first I was scared. A gym was never one of those places where I felt comfortable.

Andy proved to understand where I was coming from – he adjusted the workouts to my fitness level and to the condition I was in on each particular day so that I wouldn’t get discouraged but, on the hand, so that I would be pushed enough to make a progress.

Soon I began to really enjoy the interval training, the leg drops, the bicep curls, the press ups etc. and the sweating that came with it but above all the sense of achievement one feels after completing a work out.

He was a true guide.

Andy is everything one can expect from a top class personal trainer

knowledgeable, supportive, creative, motivating, demanding, with a great sense of humour, focused entirely on his client during a session.

But he is also so much more. Here is why. This programme is not only about the exercises.

It is also about changing your eating habits. It is about getting you to a healthy place and making sure you stay there. My relationship with food was ill ever since I was 16.

I suffer from an eating disorder (compulsive eating) but only recently started admitting it (at the age of 30). Maybe because I didn’t have the knowledge, the understanding of the problem? Maybe because I chose to live in denial?

Andy turned out to be ready to listen but he never felt sorry for me. He always told me that I am strong and I can deal with my problems if I only make a conscious decision to do so.

And I did. Encouraged by him I started seeking therapy.

I turned 30 with a BMI in a normal range – it used to be on the verge of obesity.

With no episodes of binging for quite a few months now and a belief that I am an attractive woman who can stand up for herself, be successful and be happy with who she is.

Dear Andy! A thank you will never be enough.