Youngster turns his life around

December 01, 2011

At the age of 10, Liam Dobbie began being bullied for his size. He was heavy for his age and his diet was far from being healthily balanced and varied. He did not engage in a great deal of physical activity, and so his mum Marion was worried that things would get worse rather than better as he progressed to becoming a teenager.

Marion came to Nexus Coaching to see if we could help Liam to get on track with his weight and diet and to help him to regain his confidence and self-esteem.

Molly Cameron, founder of Nexus Coaching, says: “We knew that Liam would get taller so my initial goal was to get his food intake right. He was asked to keep food diaries for me a couple of months, during which time he learned to be a lot more responsible for what he was eating. For example, he started taking fruit to snack on at school and made sure he always had water with him to sip on.”

Liam also met Molly once a week for fitness sessions. Molly says: “Sometimes we just walked around the running track and he filled me in on what was happening in his life. Other times we did weight sessions and worked on his agility and movement patterns. His overall body coordination started to improve and he began exercising more on his own.

“The family bought a treadmill and Liam took up karate and became interested in other sports, although most of them were individual events.

“The big turning point came when Liam started going to the local pool for swim events and eventually joining in the social events there. He became confident being in his swimming trunks.

“Then Liam became interested in rugby. This is massively significant. It’s a team sport and it meant he was interacting with other athletes! And just by looking at the photos, this is a kid who has absolutely transformed, both physically and in his attitude. It's pretty amazing.” 

The other advantage of coming to nexus Coaching that Marion noticed was Liam was able to take advice and constructive criticism from Molly when he just wouldn’t take it from his mum.

Molly added: “Sometimes this is the simplest benefit that comes from bringing in a professional, that clients feel able to talk and to take advice from someone who is not so personally close to them.” 

Liam is now 13 and his mum describes him as “much more confident”. He has stated secondary school and the rugby coach describes Liam as “so much fitter and confident – and the most improved player on the team”.

Marion adds: “Liam is now training almost every day. He is still eating well and trying new foods, although still no veg! We are delighted with the progress Liam has made since the Nexus Sports Coaching work with him.”

* If this story rings a bell with you or your child, why not give Nexus Coaching a call to find out how we can help to build a more positive future.