I love Mark’s story…. And so I will share it so far…..
Chapter one
I generally do not pester people to join Sleekgeek because it is a choice and we do not preach or judge.
In fact I still nag him because he STILL has an awful “fat picture” on his twitter profile (right). It kills me! Chances are he will remove it before you can click on it …
But for some reason whenever I passed Mark’s desk at one of our Avusa Cape Town offices I would remind him about the next Challenge. Mark is head of digital at New Holland Publishing.
His standard line was “I just don’t have enough time to get in shape”.
My standard answer was “eating is 70% at least, bodies are built in the kitchen”. Do you have the time to eat better?
He would shrug, grimace and hope I go away.
Breakthrough! His sister got him to reluctantly enter the “12-Week Comeback Kid Challenge”
which kicked off in February 2
012.
It turned out to be fittingly named in Mark’s case. He put in a huge effort and won the Men’s weight loss category dropping 14.5kgs but an insane loss of his tummy .
In fact 6 weeks into that challenge I bumped into him steaming along the Promenade with a big smile on his face. Out in sunshine, being active. I was so happy…
That is him and his beautiful wife at my 36th Birthday party, July 13 2012.
Chapter two
Did Mark leave the community? NO!
Did he join the next 8-Week Winter Warrior Challenge? YES!
Did he improve his results!? YES.
Over 20 weeks he has done pretty good 
…. and when you get an email like this it makes your life worth living ….
And here he is at the Weigh out of the Winter Warrior Challenge talking about the journey talking about how he feels younger …..
A mentor and example
Mark has evolved to a Mentor who helps others in the community now…. That is what our AMAZING COMMUNITY is about… in the same way my initial story inspired some we are breeding others who inspire and so we will ignite the fire further.
In fact I am proud that most of our previous champions such as JP van Der Spuy, Cherylann Smith and Amien Phillips have stuck with the goals and community and remained inspirations to others… i will tell some of their stories in due course..
Prequel …Rewind to old Mark!
In the early days round March 2012 here is the “older” Mark “in progress” after a little result on one of our first Sleekgeek walks.. Pictured with Marc Zandhuis another awesome sleekgeeker and owner of www.Capetownmagazine.com …
That is all for now people!I look forward to Mark’s next chapters.
I hope you can see the amazing things that are happening here.
You can
Whatever you do … #eatcleanTrainDirty
Elan.
Elan is the founder of Sleekgeek which is a social community to help support you in achieving your healthy lifestyle goals. Leaving a career as a corporate executive which included being General Manager of News24 and Group Head of Digital at Avusa which own brands like Sunday Times, Exclusive Books and Inet Bridge he decided to pursue his purpose to empower others. After losing 17kgs and finding a healthy lifestyle for the first time he decided to give up the boardroom to help people full-time to discover theirs. Elan is sponsored by Reebok and is a Wellness Warehouse Ambassador. Follow him @elanlohmann on Twitter.
