Joel Wanted To Be Around For His Family So He Lost 29kg

Hey everyone. I'm Joel and to understand where I am now, first, we need to go back to the start.

My Man Shake journey started in March 2022.

After finishing high school, I was living the KFC life and my blood type was zinger. I was eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and my health was starting to spiral out of control.

I knew I needed to do something about my weight and diet, and it was in March 2022 that I made the decision to actually do it. I vividly remember sitting on my lounge late one night around the time Shane Warne passed away when I realised that that would be me (dying at a young age) if I didn’t do something drastic about my health. Not being there for my wife (who was going through some health challenges of her own) and our three young children really frightened me.

I knew people who had lost a significant amount of weight using The Man Shake and I had tried it in the past but never stuck with it consistently. I guess I just wasn’t motivated to change.

That night I made two decisions.
Firstly, I would go and see my GP and get a clear picture of where my health was at right now. I needed to face the reality of where I was.
Secondly, I placed an order online for The Man Shake. I remember I ordered the Ultimate Weight Loss Pack which gave me four bags of Man Shake, three boxes of Man Bars, and a container of Choc Super Greens. I knew it was time.

When I started, I got on the scales and weighed 110.4kg. That was confronting. I remember seeing the scales get to 114kg at one point but on my Day 1 I was 110.4kg.

When I saw my GP, I got a full set of blood tests done and had my blood pressure checked. If the number on the scales wasn’t confronting enough the numbers on my blood pressure reading and blood tests were. I was well on my way to being diabetic and ultimately an early grave if I didn’t do something quickly.

The truth is I was embarrassed at the state of my health. For years people had been urging me to do something about my health, but I just didn’t care. I think I just thought I’d be fine. When I made the decision to change the course, I was on I intentionally didn’t tell anyone except my GP. I was afraid I would fail and wouldn’t stick to it. I wanted to do this for myself. I wanted to do it on my own. I thought if I didn’t tell anyone there wouldn’t be more embarrassment if I fell off the wagon.

The meeting with my GP helped me set a course forward. I had a lot of work to do but we would focus on smaller goals. Initially, I needed to start going for a 30min walk every day and aim to get my weight down to 100kg.



Monday 28 March 2022. Day 1. 110.4kg. I started my day with a walk. In went my AirPods (I love listening to podcasts) and off I went. My little track saw me cover just over 3km in 30mins.

My usual routine prior to starting was to drop the kids at school and hit the servo drive thru for a potato pie, sausage roll and 750ml Dare Iced Coffee before getting into work. I’d easily start my day four times a week like that.

Monday 28 March 2022 started different. After my walk I had my first Man Shake. Choc Mint with Chocolate Super Greens. That became my morning staple. Then I would have another one in the afternoon.

My plan was to have two shakes a day. Initially, I had a breakfast shake, a healthy lunch, an afternoon shake, and dinner before my body adjusted and I got into a rhythm and was seeing the weight drop. I then dropped my lunch meal and continued with two shakes, some healthy snacks, and a healthy dinner.

One of the great things about The Man Shake is that you make it work for you. It works for me to replace breakfast and lunch because I want to sit down and have dinner with my family. Some prefer breakfast and dinner shakes. We all have to find what works for each of us and our personal situation.

I also made the decision to cut out junk totally when I first started. I stopped drinking alcohol, soft drink and iced coffee. For me, they were decisions I had to make. I had enjoyed the good life eating and drinking whatever I wanted whenever I wanted for a long time and I needed to short-circuit that.

I started to increase my water intake, especially when I was eating, having my shakes and between meals to help keep me full. I also swapped from iced lattes to long blacks (with a small amount of milk to start with until I adjusted to black coffee which is how I actually prefer it now) and intentionally started eating more fruit and vegetables. Of a night, I swapped the ice cream and chocolate of a night time with Greek yogurt with frozen berries and a low calorie hot chocolate.

That’s how I like to think about things - I’m swapping what I used to have for something healthier - I’m not depriving myself, just swapping.

Then I would literally just take it day by day. I would focus on the day in front of me and say to myself “I’m going to make good choices today”. I had put the weight on over the course of 15-20 years and I knew it was going to take consistency, discipline and hard work to lose it - I’d be dreaming if I thought 30 years of weight gain would just drop off in a matter of weeks. That’s why I think it’s so important to make things sustainable from the outset and give our bodies time to adjust - then just trust the process. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Weight loss is hard work and I have experienced my fair share of ups and downs along the road.

As the days and weeks went by I began to see the changes on the scales. I would only weigh myself once a week. As I saw my weight drop it gave me more motivation to push harder in different areas - I was seeing the fruit of my hard work.



I don’t remember how long it took me to get to 100kg but I know I lost my first 15kgs in 12 weeks. By Christmas 2022 I was 82.1kg. I’d lost over 28kg and was unrecognisable to my friends and family. My 30min walk was now a run and I was covering 6kms in around 35mins. I went 273 consecutive days walking or running at least 30mins a day.

Fast forward to October 2024 and I am sitting at 81.5kg. I’m now running my 6km track regularly under 30mins and I have my own weights at home that I use 3 times a week as part of my own routines. It is no exaggeration that I am the healthiest and fittest I have ever been - physically, mentally and emotionally. I have three active kids and I love being a healthy dad who can keep up with them. Everyone around me gets the benefit of a healthier, fitter me.

I saw a different GP the other day as my regular GP was on holidays. I asked her to print my blood test results from March 2022 through to August 2024 so I could compare them (track my progress). She was astounded at the results she was seeing for the first time.

The complete overhaul of my health, diet and lifestyle has seen my HBA1C, fasting blood sugars and blood pressure readings significantly decrease and be maintained at these low levels (I get full bloods and have a GP check-in every 6 months for accountability).

My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner. But I remind myself that at least I did start and have stuck with it.

The keys to my long-term success have been routine (I have my plan) and consistency (I just do it over and over - rinse and repeat). Even now as I have reached my goal weight range those two keys haven’t changed - routine and consistency have seen me lose the weight but it is routine and consistency that will help me maintain my weight loss for the long term. I am motivated by being healthy long term and being around long term for my family. I regularly look at where I was as a reminder of where I never want to go back to.

The Man Shake has provided me with tools to help me transform my health. I found (and STILL FIND) The Man Shake so easy to use. I know it’s healthy, high in protein, tastes great and I don’t have to think about it. I still use it every day as part of my own routine.

For me personally, it’s two scoops, 600ml of iced cold water and into the freezer for an hour. 
I start all my weekdays with something from The Man Shake GO range (Mocha or Espresso) then my second shake is usually Choc Mint with Chocolate Super Greens or whatever I have in my cupboard (at the moment it’s Birthday Cake!). I genuinely enjoy most of the flavours. Saturdays and Sundays are the days I have the Limited Edition Choc Banana flavour - my all-time favourite!

It wasn’t until February 2023 that I joined The Man Shakers Community on Facebook. I had gone about five years without social media but had heard about the community group and decided I wanted to be part of it to simply encourage others on their journey. If I could do it so could they. A health/weight loss journey is not easy. It is hard, lonely and discouraging with plenty of ups and downs (I’m speaking from experience). Especially if you’re doing it on your own or have people around you who don’t support or encourage you. I wanted to use my voice and personal experience to support and encourage other men on the way to their goals. The Man Shake had given me so much and I wanted to give back.

In July 2023 I was asked by my good mate, Ryan (who was The Man Shakers Community Manager at the time) to be a Man Shake Ambassador and it has been a huge honour that I have not taken lightly - another opportunity for me to give back.

That leads me to today. It’s now been four weeks since I became the voice behind The Man Shake in The Man Shakers as the new Community Manager. But to be honest, for me not much has changed. I’m still the same Joel. An everyday, regular dad of three kids who has seen his health transformed and wants to see other men do the same and be encouraged and supported on their way to reaching their goals.

Here are some tips for success from my own personal experience:
⁃ Start today – don’t keep putting it off. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner
⁃ Find your WHY and keep it front and centre – for me it isn’t a number on the scale – it’s about being healthy and around long term for my family – that’s my lifelong goal
⁃ Clearly identify your starting point (no matter how ugly it may seem) so you can track your progress
⁃ Set small goals on the way to your big goals – maybe you want to lose 40kg. Focus on losing the first 5-10kg.
⁃ Find what will work for you with your lifestyle – just because someone else does it or it works for them doesn’t mean you have to copy it
⁃ Use your health journey to reset all of your health habits – become a learner and use the journey to learn about food and calories – and learn about yourself and your triggers
⁃ Remember it’s a process – take it day by day - aim for consistency over intensity and progress over perfection
⁃ Make it sustainable for the long term – the last thing you want is to lose the weight and pack it all back on again. 
⁃ Get moving (examples are walking, running, bike riding, weights) where and how you can – find what you enjoy and do it (I look forward to running because I listen to a wide variety of podcasts and then listen to music when I do weights)
- Life needs to be enjoyed. Enjoy the things you like in moderation. Events, holidays etc are great indicators of progress and the ability to enjoy yourself and then keep going on your journey when the event, holiday season or holiday ends
⁃ Be kind to yourself – YOU and YOUR health are worth it! You will have days where you fall over, just get back up, learn from it and keep going!