BodyBlitz Challenge Measurements Before Height – 180 cm Weight – 104 kg Chest – 107.5 cm Waist – 110 cm Calves – 41 cm Arms – 34 cm Thighs – 59 cm After Height – 180 cm Weight – 88 kg Chest – 107 cm Waist – 81.5 cm Calves – 38 cm Arms – 42 cm Thighs – 56 cm

For years it’s been an ambition of mine to do a 12-week diet. From my early 20s I have attempted to complete the 12 weeks, but I have always failed because of excuses such as socialising, birthdays, etc. Before I knew it, I was in my mid-20s; then all of a sudden I was 30 and still hadn’t been able to complete the 12 weeks. The best I had ever done was six weeks in my late 20s and the rest has been, “I’ll do later, I’ll do it later”. I found I was sliding further backwards instead of going forwards. And as we all know, the older you get the harder it is to keep the weight off and stay motivated.

I, along with my friends, have always had an interest in gym and the benefits it provides to stay fit and build muscle. I found it was hard to train at local gyms through work commitments and losing gym partners. The older I got, the less I went to the gym. So I thought the only solution would be to buy my own [home] gym and this helped me immensely to complete the diet.
A friend told me about a program you can purchase from a powerlifting champion over the net. So I thought “What the hey?” and I bought one as well. It takes your body measurements and your one-rep maxes of bench, squat, military press and deadlifts. It still took me a long time before I actually completed the program, but it gave me the motivation to finally complete the 12 weeks.

With the gym in place, I found it was a lot easier to focus. I can train when I want, and also take as long as I want, so I can really concentrate in getting the best out of my workouts. Also another big issue I had to face was the socialising. I pretty much avoided my friends, golf etc. in the first month so I could at least get some results and avoid the criticism for being on a diet before I saw my friends again. I found that if my friends could see some results, I could avoid less criticism. Turns out I was right, and they were very supportive.

As I am a tradesman, I start early and finish early, so my workouts were always in the afternoons during the week. I concentrated only on weight training and mixing up the intensities with high and low volume training. I tried to work out four days a week, so the extra days were rest days and pretty much concentrated on my diet, which has always been the issue. My temptations are after-work beers with the boys, plus snacking, so I changed that as my first priority — get home and get a workout complete! I found if I did my workout, it was a lot easier for me to eat the right food, as you just feel better about yourself when you exercise.

After 12 weeks of training and dieting, I have achieved amazing results, far better than what I imagined! I now am too thin for my ‘skinny clothes’, so I have to shop for more. I’ve never felt better, and have had such great support from my family and friends, especially my partner Tanya, who always helped me in preparing my food and planning ahead.

So that’s what I keep doing: always plan for the next day, or the next two days with food so I never get stuck with the excuse to buy take-away IM