If Timothy Fairweather, 30, a group property manager in Joburg, had one serious hobby when he was younger, it was eating. “I loved food,” he says. “But things escalated and I started to associate eating with happiness and became an emotional eater.” At just 13, he was packing on weight at an alarming pace, eventually tipping the scales at 112kg. That sudden weight gain sunk his confidence, creating a vicious cycle wherein he’d eat to cope with his insecurities. Here’s how he turned things around without resorting to extreme diets.
What Motivated Him To Lose the Weight?
Fairweather’s life isn’t marked by just one transformation, but a series of crucial changes. In his teens, he remembers climbing a flight of stairs with his brothers and feeling like he’d “run a marathon”. “I was completely out of breath,” he says. He reflected on the pain and struck on a realisation: that horrible feeling far outweighed the pleasure he derived from his feasts. It flicked a switch in his head, and he knew he was time for a change.
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How Did He Transform His Health Without an Extreme Diet?
Fairweather started tackling basic garden workouts with a close friend. There, in a nondescript backyard, he discovered a passion for training—especially pushing every workout to the limit. “I enjoyed the mental suffering or mental endurance it gave me,” he says. Historically, he’d been labelled as the “weak” and “fat” kid; and now he was out to prove everyone wrong. This was transformation A: in just seven months he dropped from a hefty 112 to just 80kg. But it was the mental shift that mattered more than changing digits.
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Later, following in the treads of his mountain biking brothers, he started cycling in the wild. He had a good fitness foundation, so he made massive strides in the saddle. “I got fit relatively fast because of the competitive nature between me and my siblings,” he adds. He’d stick with the sport throughout his adult life, even pedaling as a semi-professional rider as part of a sponsored team.
How Did He Deal With Setbacks?
In the lead up to 2019, Fairweather had switched tracks to throw himself full swing into his career. He was still working out, but a few old habits caused him to pick up fat leading him to revert a triple-digit weigh-in. Undeterred, he set himself a new goal: “I wanted to develop my upper body so I started bodybuilding,” he says.
With the subsequent pressure of taking part in a bodybuilding show, he approached his muscle itinerary and diet with renewed vigor. By the time he stepped on stage, he weighed just 74kg. It was proof of his philosophy in action; that “just start!” mindset that meant he could conquer any goal.
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The Results: 36kg Lost and More Motivated Than Ever
There’s the obvious benefits: self-confidence, physical ability and a deeper understanding of his health. Ultimately, this journey—which is still ongoing—has taught him one simple lesson: “Take action every, it can be any action, towards being healthier,” he says. We live in an age where we’re overloaded with information, but engineering your own transformation doesn’t require a granular understanding of every macro, muscle fibre, trendy diet and gym movement. “If you start to push yourself to take daily action, that action helps you build momentum,” says Fairweather. “You will naturally get better at it, and build a passion for it.”
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