I’m sure you have heard it all before. You know the story: fat bloke gets in shape. Well it just so happens to be true on this occasion. About four months ago I turned 40 and I realised how out of shape I had become. After discussing this with my wife over a large breakfast and a cappuccino at one of the local coffee shops near home, we managed to justify our current level of health and fitness. Our lives had been really hectic over the past years — we had lived in South Africa for some years before moving to the UK and we had then spent twelve months in Ireland before relocating to Australia three years ago.

Since moving to Sydney we have also moved home due to work commitments from the south coast to the Blue Mountains, where we now reside and have absolutely no plans of ever moving again. On top of this, we have three teenage children, and I am the executive chef at a very large club in Sydney’s west.

Although all this made perfect sense, it was still no excuse for letting myself become so out of shape.

Anyway, a few days passed and I decided to buy myself a couple of magazines to read over a coffee, to see if I could motivate myself. One of the magazines was Australian Iron Man Magazine. While flicking through the pages, I came across the BodyBlitz Challenge. This was just what I was looking for — I had so many reasons to enter. The first was obviously to get back into shape, but then the added bonus of a chance of winning a holiday, sports clothes and footwear spurred me on further.

Just the thought of a seven-day holiday with my wife was definitely attractive. Since being married we had only ever spent four days away together on holiday.

So, after finishing my coffee I returned home and asked my wife to take a few digital pictures. What a shock this turned out to be; I couldn’t believe how miserable and overweight I looked! Nevertheless, I was not about to let this stand in my way. I jumped onto the internet, downloaded the required forms, followed the instructions and commenced my BodyBlitz Challenge.

That was it; my journey had begun. I decided to attack this challenge in three stages. For the first four weeks I focused on getting my diet right and tried to do light cardio most days. For the second four weeks I continued eating healthily and stepped up my cardio to twice a day for five days a week. As I hit the final four weeks I dropped my evening cardio and replaced it with weights to try and tone up a little. This worked really well for me as three blocks of four weeks sounds so much easier than 12 weeks.

It was now time to submit my post entry forms at the end of the BodyBlitz Challenge. However, it is not the end of the healthy lifestyle. I was really happy with my results, having lost over ten kilos of weight and nearly four inches around my waist. I couldn’t be happier. I was so pleased I feel healthier and look so much fitter.

The BodyBlitz Challenge had such a big impact on my family’s life. Now my wife and teenage kids are now paying much more attention to what they eat — that alone is just fantastic!

One last thing: I kept a record of everything I ate, and I weighed myself on a very regular basis. I also took pictures every three weeks. This may sound a little excessive, but for me it worked well. I could see physical changes and the weight loss on a regular basis, so this just made me even more motivated to succeed and reach my final goals.

Will my results be enough for me to win the BodyBlitz Challenge? That I can’t answer — that’s for the judges. However, I have seen a lot of monthly winners and they have all made great transformations. For me, completing this challenge, with the results that I have made, already makes me a winner.

I have really enjoyed the BodyBlitz Challenge and I am going to continue to follow the simple plan that I have been doing for the last twelve weeks — eat healthily and exercise regularly.