Tales of a Kombat weight loss journey…
Background; So, about me: Intellectual, and a bit neurotic, ha ha. I’ve visited Thailand four times before, and I just love it there. Thailand = Freedom. For me anyway.
I am intensely private and therefore certain details about me are not going to be disclosed on a public website. But I was so grateful to Christian and the Team that I wanted to provide a testimonial, as I feel it has been well earned.
My Background
So excluded from this testimonial are my real name and full picture! Why? I suppose I don’t want friends or family seeing the pictures and seeing how brutally my aesthetics and spirit had declined. I don’t want to have to be reminded in future by someone who has by happenstance come across the site. Call me crazy – but it is what it is!
But trust me it is me in the second picture – same shoes, same sweaty grey singlet, and same height. Over the time, I got a super tan, a necklace, and clearly lost a lot of fat.
Kombat would have had to go to a lot of effort to find someone with such a similar body shape for there to be two different people here. Besides – right click on the before and after pictures, select ‘properties’, then the ‘details tab’– in the ‘origin’ section refer to ‘date taken’ data. The dates are exactly 58 days apart – if you still have doubts about if it is the same person in the before and after shot, then, you’ve got issues!!!
I’ve been thin before, I’ve been fat(ter) before. I’ve been super fit before and even run a half marathon.
I know how to play the weight loss game, and I know the headspace and circumstances I need to be in to achieve what I want.
Unfortunately, I really like food (like most of us), so obtaining balance with nutrition is always a challenge for me. My “fall from grace” was due to a number of circumstantial factors which led to a lot of comfort eating; …which seemed like a good idea at the time (actually, logically, I knew it was bad, but chose to ignore logic), regretted immediately and severely during my first two weeks of training.
This programme was commenced with about 5 months of very little gym time; so you could say I was ‘shit out of shape’.
Planning
Sitting in my mundane office job hour after hour for 6 months earlier this year (while getting a paler shade of pale with the passing of each day), allowed me to meticulously research an economically viable, specific environment where I could get down to my best “fighting weight” i.e. get my body back. After visiting probably every available website for weight loss facilities in Thailand/Asia in general, Kombat made it into the final contenders.
Christian Daghio and I exchanged SO many emails before I elected to reside in Kombat Camp for two months. Credit to him for his extreme patience at my firing squad of questions!! As promised, a quote was provided and agreed upon, then deposit paid via PayPal, and final balance paid via internet (PayPal) upon first day at the camp. Super easy and hassle free in terms of finances.
Being more of a lover and not a fighter (and prone to using corny phrases :-), my aim was NOT to become a pro fighter like most of the other people at Kombat. I was here to burn calories and eat right!! However this place caters to both the Muay Thai professional fighters, MMA professional fighters, and also to the weight loss amateurs. Not once did I not feel welcome, pretty much everyone I met was super nice, and I made so many lovely friends that I will keep in contact with on Facebook. The ratio of women to men is definitely in favour of the men, but this was never an issue.
58 Days…1st October 2012 to 27th November 2012
The first 14 days were the hardest.
But once you start to see results, and you get smaller and you can move more freely and easily, then improvements in happiness levels and enthusiasm increase in direct proportion to each gram of fat lost!!
So after about day 15or so, shit got real. I added in extra sprints, extra skipping, tyre flipping, and weights.
Huge shout out to the Muay Thai trainers Poo and Yoot for their time and patience with me !!! They knew just the right level to push me!
This is Barbara. She will be your Fitness Guru. She will yell at you, motivate you, make every workout count, make you sweat, track your results, and be there to listen to you.
Her endless enthusiasm and patience will astonish you, as it did me. She will ensure you get the most out of your time at the camp, in terms of results. Sometimes the brutal reality will not be nice, and sometimes, as with Mickey (see below), you will have a love/ hate relationship, in terms of training.
But Barbara is a true winner and will understand your journey, as she has been through it herself. She is a brutal fitness guru, but I also count her as a wonderful friend!
This is Mickey. You will be in a love/hate relationship with him. His glassy-eyed vacant indifferent stare is in dire contrast to the eager anticipation of a decreased number each Monday. ..
Flipped this Bridgestone tyre 50 times in one session by the end of the 8 weeks. It weighs > 35kg or more. Good for the glutes!
Little Italy!! Christian and Barbara are Italian. So are some of the employees, and quite a few of the people that train at Kombat.
If you like to learn a lot, like me, you might be lucky enough to pick up some Italian vocabulary like I did. Having been to Italy before, it was pleasant to hear the language. Just something I thought I’d mention, as sometimes it is the small things that count!
This is me, hanging out with some of the lads staying at the camp. I am indeed smiling in this photo!
Fun Facts
- I vomited 3 times in the first week (days 2, 3, and 4). Once from being pushed at Muay Thai, once in functional training and once from power walking for one hour in the heat. Nausea will not be your friend; but once your body acclimatises, you’ll be fine.
- I sweat SO much – my estimate is at least 3 litres per day. Based on 50 days of training (Sundays are rest days), that is 150 litres during my entire time at camp. Ewwww.
Supplements Taken
- Magnesium
- Caffeine
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin C
- Fish Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Coconut Oil (supplied by Kombat)
Conclusion
I still have 8kg to lose – focus points are my upper arms and thighs (as you can see from my photos), but I am off to a great start thanks to Kombat. In the timeframe that I had, I am SUPER pleased with the progress I have made. Mission accomplished, fat removed. Still a bit to go, but the worst is over.
I plan to return to Kombat in 2013, all going according to plan (sometimes life throws curveballs, and nothing is ever 100% guaranteed).
I totally recommend Kombat! Don’t expect 5 star in everything (it’s a Muay Thai gym, not a Four Seasons luxury resort) but do expect 5 star in service and results. If you’re having second thoughts because you are female and you think Muay Thai gyms are for guys only, or you think you’re too big, or you think you won’t be welcome, or you think you can’t – don’t. I found it a great place to lose fat.
Tips
- Take your own music. Kombat does not play music through the gym, as it distracts from training (they take their Muay Thai very seriously – as they should). Barbara was kind enough to let me play music from my laptop during the functional training. Failing that; training with an mp3 player will also work.
- Water (as in for drinking) and washing your clothes are going to cost you more than you anticipate, be prepared for this.
- If you can afford it, go with the air-conditioned option for accommodation. It’s VERY hot, and you will be thankful for air conditioning after a tough workout.
- I had romantic notions about renting a bike and getting additional exercise by riding to the beach and walking along the sand. This was good in theory but in practice a) riding a bike through the traffic and heat to get to the beach is no fun b) the beach (well Jomtien anyway) is covered in umbrella’s and deck chairs, so space for walking is limited, and c) you will be too exhausted from existing training at Kombat for such an endeavour!
- Learn the Thai phrase “Lit Noi”. It means “Little bit” and applies pretty much everything when you are eating for fat loss.
- Go to the chemist and get immodium and laxatives – be prepared. You can never predict what your digestive system will do when it is adjusting to eating a nutritionally balanced diet again.
- There were times when my body told me to rest, so on at least three occasions, there were times when I missed either a weight loss functional training or a Muay Thai class. Listen to your body.
- Print some motivational fitness pictures, put them on the back of your door (I did) – every little thing to help!
- This is no walk in the park, it’s hot, it’s both emotionally and physically intense, BUT it’s totally worth it. I know that it sounds cliché, but once you visit and see for yourself, you will understand.
- Massages!
- Christian, Nat, and Barbara are all champion people. They will listen to any complaint, need or request you have and they are there with you every step of the way.
