How Jonny got fit and found love

With a Nuffield Health gym at his work, he made his first small victory by walking through its door for the first time. "It was scary," Jonny says, "at first I felt very self-conscious, but I knew something had to change."

It wasn't long before Jonny began to feel comfortable. Attending classes and working out regularly he soon got to know the staff well. "The staff were really friendly and would give me hints and tips," he says, "it became more of a social scene, rather than a chore."

Jonny took up running with the encouragement and support of his personal trainer. Using his tailored training programme, Jonny entered his first 10k run, completing it in 54 minutes.

The sense of achievement was so great that he entered another and with more training completed the run in 48 minutes. Then, Jonny says, 10k runs became “too easy”, and he has since completed two half marathons.

Despite suffering a knee injury Jonny is maintaining his training for future runs, having received expert advice from his trainer on exercises to strengthen and support his joint while it recovers.

In the process of building up his fitness Jonny has dropped from over 15 stone to 12.5 stone and his confidence has grown in return. Last year he plucked up the courage to put himself out into the dating world and is now happily in a relationship.

"Exercise helps the mind," Jonny says, "It's helped my confidence as well as my fitness and I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing."

Last updated Tuesday 7 January 2020

First published on Tuesday 26 May 2015