Working crazy hours, eating on the go and big nights out led to Thomas Philbin-Malucelli losing sight of his two biggest values, health and fitness. That was all before he took on the IsaBody Challenge®. Now as the newly crowned Australian 2019 IsaBody Challenge Grand Prize winner, Thomas is more excited than ever to share his story to show people how easy it is to achieve their dream body, ‘get sexy’ and get paid while doing it.
As a restaurant manager, was your unhealthy lifestyle something you fell into or was it a longer-running problem?
I’ve always been quite an active guy but taking on that job was big for me. My health became a lower priority and I fell into so many unhealthy habits. I didn’t have the energy to work out, I stopped eating well, I was drinking lots of wine and going out with friends after work. In those three years, my health went down dramatically and I ended up feeling like a zombie!
Before your Grand Prize winning Challenge, you had to previous failed attempts. What went wrong?
It all came down to my mindset. I just wasn’t ready to make a change. Even though I signed up I still prioritised going out with mates and coming home late at night which left me with no energy to go to the gym. You could say that being in the wrong environment didn’t help either.
Now you’re in your seventh consecutive Challenge, how do you stay on track?
I’m someone who goes all in or all out, so when I made the decision I knew that if I followed the system and surrounded myself with positive people, I’d be unstoppable! Celebrating just how much I’ve achieved, setting myself short-term goals every month and believing in Start, Complete, Repeat is the best way for me to stay on track.
You went from ‘zombie’ to starting your own local boot camp community. How did that come about?
I was tired of people who would bail on a Saturday morning because they had gone out the night before and were too tired to go on an adventure or a hike. My girlfriend and I started a boot camp where we would meet every Saturday – same time, same place – and go for a swim afterwards. Initially, we only had a couple of people, then we created a Facebook group and now we get anywhere between 8-18 people. It’s so empowering and rewarding.
Speaking of community, what impact did the IsaBody Challenge community have on your journey?
Absolutely huge! When I posted my raw ‘before’ photo I was overwhelmed with the support I received. As soon as I saw those comments my mindset completely changed. I wasn’t doing it for myself anymore, I was doing it for all those people who supported me in the group and for my amazing girlfriend Brittany who saw the potential in me before I knew myself. Our community is by far our most powerful resource.
What words of wisdom would you pass on to people who are about to start an IsaBody Challenge journey?
Picture your ideal life, what you want to achieve and write it down, believe it and manifest it! Consistency is key, it will give you anything you truly desire, no matter the outcome. At first, it will be hard, but once you get past the first stage it becomes a lot easier and everyone will be so proud of what you’ve achieved!
