BodyBlitz Challenge Measurements Before Height: 191 cm Weight: 113 kg Chest: 108 cm Waist: 108 cm Calves: 50 cm Arms: 45 cm Thighs: 70 cm After Height: 191 cm Weight: 90 kg Chest: 94 cm Waist: 88 cm Calves: 45 cm Arms: 38 cm Thighs: 60 cm

For years, I buckled under the peer pressure of the Aussie drinking culture. Thus, I could never stick to a decent weight loss/exercise program. I’m pretty much an all-or-nothing kind a guy, and although I’d start off with awesome intentions I’d either drink or binge on food and then give up.

The turning point came when a few things occurred and made me look deeply at the person I had become. My poor mum, who has always been there for me, was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Lymphoedema, which attacks the immune system and causes body parts to swell up, resulting in massive weight gain and fatigue.

Over the summer uni break I reached an all time low in my life, putting on an unflattering amount of fat to my already mediocre body, as a result of drinking most nights and eating lots of junk food during the day. I had no motivation and slept up to 16 hours a day; I suffered a lot of anxiety and depression and generally felt terrible when I looked in the mirror. This weight gain was primarily a result of the stress of procrastinating and leaving everything to the last minute. I looked to food for comfort, to self-medicate.

I realised things had to change if I ever wanted to pick up the pieces of my stagnating life; I decided to make the massive change. I entered the 12-week challenge and was determined to finally get back in shape. The fact that I live on campus at university and am surrounded by mates who love nothing more than to peer pressure me to drink made the transformation even harder.

Since I embarked on this challenge, I have lost an astonishing 23 kg. I’m not going to say that it wasn’t hard. Performing those 5 a.m. cardio sessions and basically eliminating any social life I previously had was super hard. However, I surrounded myself with people who believed in my goals.

Probably the hardest thing was doing the 5 a.m. morning cardio sessions, as my sleeping habits was all over the place. I was proud of myself that even though I had stressful exams I managed to keep up my exercise and nutrition. I would even be up all night finishing assignments but would take an hour break at 6 a.m. to do more cardio. I would even do HIIT or weight sessions an hour before my exams. I was also satisfied that I could be disciplined and say no to negative people who in the past I would give in to.

Since taking my after-photos, I have honestly never felt better in all my life. To make things better, I got fantastic exam results on the same day I finished the challenge. My future goals involve myself pursuing fitness (I plan to get PT-accredited) and finally attain that elusive eight-pack. Although I wish to be a lawyer, I would love nothing more then start a personal training studio on the side with my best mates. I do, however, realise that I still have a lot of work to do, but I view that as a positive challenge and not a negative thing.

I plan to help my mother get back in shape and, even with her illness, I adamantly believe that this can be achieved. What I’ve learnt is that life is a marathon and that you will have your good and bad days. I guess it’s how you deal with the bad times that make you into the person you are. Unfortunately, life is full of negative people; as soon as you eliminate these people from your life, half the battle is done.

I’d just like to put out a special mention to my family (my four sisters and parents), and especially to one of my best mates and flatmate Shiv. He continually listened and put up with all my ups and downs during the 12 weeks; he encouraged me when times were tough and I felt like giving up. He has also commenced a bulking up program and I wish him the best of luck. IM