Robert Lost 40kgs To Honour A Promise To His Wife

G’day Shakers. I’m Rob and my story is of loss, a loss greater than weight alone. A loss that empowers me to keep putting one foot in front of the other…

My weight loss journey started sometime before using The Man Shake in November 2021. I tried to do it on my own with little success. When I finally had the courage to hop on the scales, I weighed in at 122.7kg. I probably was closer to 130kg when I started trying to lose weight months before.
The wake-up call was watching my Dad take his morning coffee with his handful of daily tablets. I was already on blood pressure and cholesterol tablets, along with a couple of others, on the road to becoming pre-diabetic. So, I finally went in search of The Man Shake at my local chemist after seeing it advertised, as it was time to make a change for me and my family.

"Together we were on this journey"

After a week or so and starting to see results, I headed over to the Man Shake website to put in an order for myself and, unknowingly for her, my wife Vicki. To say she wasn’t very impressed was an understatement, however, she gave it a go.
Together we were on this journey, supporting and encouraging each other, and making life-altering changes. We were enjoying the new life we were creating, trying out making new healthier meals, making protein balls and bars out of the Man and Lady Shake products. Walking together around our local parks and ultimately seeing our results on the scales.

At the beginning of 2023, we were both doing amazingly with our weight loss. I had officially lost 40kg while Vicki had lost 31kg. I couldn’t be prouder of her for sticking with it alongside me. She was my biggest supporter, and I was hers. Under advice from my GP, I was no longer on any medications. My doctor told me that I had made myself “un-doctorable”. I hadn’t been this weight since I was a young teenager and I continued to maintain my weight around the 85kg mark.

My wife began experiencing weakness in her right arm and in March 2023 our world was turned upside down… we got the devastating news.
Vicki was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. I had already lost my Dad a year earlier to heart failure, and now I was to face losing my beautiful wife to this horrid disease.
My focus now had to shift putting her first. In June she had a medical emergency which resulted in her being hospitalised for 3 months. At this time, I was in survival mode, late night drive-thru, hospital cafe food, and the occasional shake. But this was fine, Vicki was my priority…

We all worked incredibly hard to get her home. She was no longer able to do the things we all take for granted and became totally reliant on 24/7 care from me and our in-home carers, but her only concern was that I would keep up what we had started. I had begun doing Parkruns before our world went to s**t and she wanted me to get the time to start doing them again.

In late September 2023, my Vicki passed away.
Every day since has been incredibly and emotionally hard but as a promise to her, and to myself, I’m continuing my journey.

"Inspire, encourage and support"

I’ve been an active member of The Man Shakers Facebook group where I share parts of my story with the incredible men who make up this wonderful community. I thank them wholeheartedly and The Man Shake team for all their ongoing support. They continue to inspire, encourage and support me in my journey, and in turn, with my shared experiences, I do the same.
Walking has been one of the most instrumental things I have done to improve my fitness and my mental health. Towards the end, my wife could no longer walk, so I had absolutely no excuse. I’ve made walking an everyday event and I have finally got a couple of Parkruns done too.

Today on writing this I’m 92kg down from 96kg at the beginning of the year. I continue using the Man Shake products every day. I have 2 shakes, breakfast and lunch, with a couple of snacks usually one being a Man Bar. For dinner, I have a healthy portioned meal like grilled chicken accompanied by a salad. I still have a treat meal once a week, our traditional family Friday night pizza and movie, although it's just my son and I now. 
I’m on the road to getting back to my goal weight of 85kg while continuing my Man Shake journey.

Sometimes life can be s**t and seem to be out of our control. But we all have a choice of what to do in those moments. I choose to keep my promise, keep putting one foot in front of the other, moving forward to a better healthier version of myself.