Jacob Lost 50kg And Is Now Enlisting Into The Army 

Hello, my name is Jacob and I started my Man Shake journey in November, 2023 in New Zealand.

I always knew I was a big guy, but I never thought I had much of a problem. I wasn’t the only one in my family either. My Dad, Ross, was a big boy too. He thought that there was no way for him to lose weight and that surgery would be his only option. He tried to find any alternative to avoid being operated on. His weight was bringing him both physical and mental health problems.

He was watching an old Warriors NRL game on YouTube and an ad came on and it was The Man Shake. Dad did some research on it and ended up watching every single Man Shake video on YouTube multiple times. He couldn't stop watching it!

Seeing the amazing progress and all the great reviews (plus knowing it was created by a former league player) Dad wanted to give it a go. He got amazing results in the very first week. This really spiked up his mental health and it was great to see him hopeful again. 


Two weeks later I jumped on the Man Shake with him and together we began a shared weight loss journey. 
I stood on the scale for the first time in over a year. I knew it was going to be scary but I had to record my start weight. I wanted to change the way I both looked and felt. I was shocked to see 126.6kg on the scales.

My first Man Shake was the Choc Honeycomb Crunch, and I was genuinely surprised by how good a weight loss supplement could taste. Oh, and it worked! In one week, I lost 2.6kgs and in six months I had lost 20kgs. All without even stepping into a gym. Once the results were coming stacking up I went back to League training with the hopes of getting back into shape.

Just recently I made a trip to the West Coast to play. And, I can proudly say, I played two games in one day! The only time I wasn't playing was the first couple minutes before the first game and the last couple minutes of the second game. I felt so good being able to keep up with the other boys and have my go. During the second game, I was able to get one of the few tries we made that day and ended up getting Man of the Match which felt incredible. Before my weight loss, this is something I simply wouldn’t have been able to do.

I am feeling so much better about myself since starting The Man Shake journey and am looking forward to seeing what else awaits. Seeing all the support people give each other on The Man Shakers Facebook group is so inspirational and its unmatched support lets the guys know they have people on their side. I used to have a huge sweet tooth when I started this journey and didn't know how I was going to cope. Now I don't know how I used to eat that naughty stuff so often. I don't struggle with not having sweet foods anymore.

2 years into TMS journey and I have lost nearly 50kgs. I cannot believe the transformation. I went from starting to go to 4XL to XS, which I totally forgot was even a size haha. I have completed 2 half marathons within 4 months and it's amazing to see the progress. I was alot faster and able to run for so much longer and it felt incredible.

I am going to the gym multiple times a week, doing intense workouts and am actually enjoying improving my fitness. In the past 7 months I have been extremely strict on my physical health. I count my calories, making sure I am doing a decent amount of exercise everyday, staying away from anything that can negatively impact my progress. 

Since going strict, I don’t even have the taste for alcohol like I used to. I passed a milestone and to celebrate I had a low carb beer with my dad, and it just didn’t taste the same.  

In the past 7 months I have also been training and applying for the NZ Army and last month I got the email saying that I have been accepted in my dream trade. I was so ecstatic as this is what I have been working on all year.  

Seeing the 2 year before and after photos is shocking as it looks like 2 different people. One thing I can notice is how much happier I am in the after photo. I am enjoying life so much more than I used to and trying new things and I can’t sit down for more than 5 minutes at a time, I always feel like I should be doing something. Starting to go on hikes with my friends and it feels incredible.  

My current favourite flavour is choc banana, just can’t get enough of it. A couple things really stand out on my change just this year is a couple weeks ago I went for a hike with a friend I have known all my life and his uncle joined us, who has met me multiple times and last time was a year ago. When I saw him a couple weeks ago, as he was shaking my hand he was asking if we had met before because he couldn’t recognize me.

The other time was as I was doing a fitness training program with other people trying to get into the military. We were all doing burpees, and a guy from across the court ran over to exercise next to me so he could pace off me.

I was completely shocked as I remember trying to find people that could help me push forward, but I never thought I would have been the other guy. Felt so good knowing I was a lot fitter than I used to be and even being able to help someone else out. I do believe that if I can do this anyone can.