Real Weight Loss: Jon Khanoyan

Jon before and after his weight loss. Photo provided to bostonmagazine.com

Jon Khanoyan was a fit, active kid growing up—until fifth grade. After that, his sedentary lifestyle and poor diet caused the pounds to slowly creep on until he made a change at age 19. Today, Khanoyan is a certified personal trainer and the manager of KoKo FitClub in Hudson. Below, the true story behind how he shed the weight and got healthy.

Name: Jon Khanoyan
Age: 23
Location: Clinton
Weight loss: 50 pounds
How he did it: Khanoyan cleaned up his diet, abandoned his sedentary lifestyle, and began doing the workout DVD “Insanity” with his brother, Tim (who is also a personal trainer and the founder of Dare U Fitness in Charlestown). After a 50-pound weight loss, Khanoyan gained 30-pounds—of muscle. His current weight is only 20 pounds less than starting, but he says he’s gone from 33 to 13 percent body fat. The proof is in the pictures (above).

When did you realize you needed to lose weight?

The year after [high school] graduation, I looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘This is not me.’ I realized it’s not who I wanted to be, and I knew I could do better. I saw an infomercial for “Insanity,” and then I was like, ‘I definitely need to do this.’

You started working out with your brother—was he already a trainer at that point?

Neither of us had any real fitness background. We never were really committed to a program or had a good grip on what we were doing. We both got into fitness when we started the DVDs, and ever since, we’ve both been really passionate about it and we both are now certified. That literally put us in the right direction.

You went from a sedentary lifestyle to regularly doing Insanity. How did you push through it?

I went from a sedentary lifestyle, so I literally thought I was going to die in the first couple weeks because my cardiovascular health was so bad. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. I’m really glad I had my brother there to do it with me. And it was just the fact that the results were there. I just kept pushing, and I knew it was going to be better in the end, and I was seeing improvements relatively quickly.

How did you change your diet?

Before, every day when I got home from school, I’d have a bowl of ice cream. It was a normal snack to have midday—and that’s horrible. Cookies whenever I wanted, I just ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. When I changed my nutrition, I broke up [the main meals] into smaller meals. Right now, it’s broken up into five or six small meals a day—basically large snacks. Constantly just eating healthy carbs and proteins.

What’s your daily fitness regimen like now?

I like variety, so I’m constantly mixing it up. I never do the same routine twice. I think that’s the best way to get results. If you get stuck in one same routine, you’re not going to see results because your body’s going to adapt to it.

How has your background shaped you as a personal trainer?

Not only was I overweight, but I also had to go through the phase of being scrawny and trying to bulk up, so I can see it from both ends. I have hands-on experience. If you have a personal trainer who’s never lost weight, they don’t know what that’s like. They never knew what it was like to not be able to run a mile, or do things that for most people seem commonplace. I know how awesome it feels to change and better yourself and not feel winded after the smallest things. The main thing is being happy.

*This interview has been edited and condensed.