Papamoa personal trainer Ben Pamment lost 87kg in 11 months. Photo / Supplied
A Pāpāmoa man who shed 87kg in 11 months has become a personal trainer to help others tackle their health goals.
Before 2019 Ben Pamment had never set foot in a gym. But one day during that year, when tipping the scales at 157kg, he decided “enough was enough”.
After five years of struggling, Pamment decided he wanted to “actually live my life and change while I still have every chance to do it at a younger age”.
Spiralled
In January 2019 he embarked on a health transformation and by the year’s end he’d shed nearly 90kg.
The 31-year-old said he suffered a serious knee injury playing football in 2014, and from there his health “spiralled” downwards.
He had exercised through sport but consistently ate a “terrible diet”. When he was injured and getting no exercise, the weight began to pile on.
By the time he had shot up to 157kg, he developed anxiety that prevented him from leaving the house. To get around this, he found ways to live in a cocoon at home.
“I’d built myself into this little virtual world of playing video games and talking to friends online. I wouldn’t need to leave the house, I’d have food brought to me – it was so simple to do life like that.”
Pamment said he had often joined gyms in the past with the aim of starting to exercise, but ended up cancelling his membership.
The work
To start losing weight, he cut out all processed sugar, joined a gym and stuck to a “sustainable” routine. In 11 months, Pamment went from 157kg to 70kg.
“As cliche as it sounds, eating around the outside of the supermarket [where healthier foods are] worked for me [to lose weight],” Pamment said.
He also focused on eating when he needed to eat, not when he was hungry.
When a craving stirred, he told himself: “It’s five seconds of flavour for a whole hour of exercise to burn it off.”
Pamment conquered his fear of being seen in public by posting his journey online, showing his rapid progress.
“Everyone was so supportive. Who knows if I would have stuck at it if I didn’t have the right people in my corner,” he said.
“All my family is fit as well, so I really had no excuse to be the way I was. They tried to help me, but I was at a stage where I didn’t want to be helped.”
Pamment said if people could find the right gym with the right people, it is the perfect place to succeed and “come out of your shell”.
Helping others
After transforming his own health and physique, Pamment decided to help others do the same. In February 2020, he began a personal training qualification through Cert 4 Fitness at Toi Ohomai.
Now qualified, he started his personal training business, BP Fitness, on October 13.
Payment believed he was different from other personal trainers due to his first-hand experience with weight loss – he could relate to what his clients were going through.
“It would have been nice at the start [of my health journey] to have someone around me that I could have looked up to,” Pamment said.
“I’m not trying to sell a secret blue pill. If someone wants to sit down and talk about exactly what I went through and what can help, I would never charge them a cent for that. I’m happy to help whoever, even just by speaking about it.”
No one’s judging
For those who are scared to start their fitness journey, Pamment said: “No one’s judging them”.
“The best thing to see in a gym is someone trying to better themself. The quicker I can help them become more independent and happier, then that’s the job done for me.”
Ben Pamment can be contacted at: bpfitness@outlook.co.nz, on 0275258377, or found on social media as @bpfitness_nz.
Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.