Last time I posted, I had just received my plan and all my measurements ready to embark on the initial 8 week plan. Here I am in the closing days before my end of plan review and I thought I would update on how it has gone and what is next!
I got into the plan very quickly, even though I am not a huge fan of supplements, I managed the Pea Protein shake no problem at all. To be honest, it was pretty much what I was eating food wise anyway, just more carbs really. The big difference in this plan and my plan beforehand was of course, huge quantities of chocolate were not included.
I spent one week sticking to the plan before training kicked off. I had 2 sessions per week and the initial sessions were mainly technique, I came away disappointed thinking I needed to be killed in the gym to reach my goals, but later on understand why the techniques are so important (and make for better workouts through the remaining sessions).
Through the whole 8 weeks I have pretty much nailed the diet plan, living like a monk with no booze or chocolate. The toughest with alcohol has been attending 3 away games teetotal which has been a bit rubbish but worth it.
The training has easily been the best part, I have loved every minute of it (apart from during perhaps). The trainers at the gym I am in have been great and the sessions have got progressively more gruelling as we go along. I am particularly not fond of the leg press which is brutal but think I have made progress on all exercises.
My legs have always been pretty strong and certainly this has been handy but coming out of the 8 weeks, I feel they are stronger than ever before and really see improvements there.
I am flying ahead now though, so on the 4 week checkpoint, I was not seeing the scale weight moving much so we had a review and a discussion. Thankfully, my results showed body fat was pretty much reduced in every area of the calliper test and key for me was waist, neck was also coming down.
The training really ramped up in the final 4 weeks and I have started to see the scale weight come down alongside this, which is great for me. I have never dragged myself to a session at all in this 8 weeks which is a credit to the trainers there.
Before I started or had even met with the gym, I set myself 4 levels of goals with 3 different targets per level… Scale weight, waist measurement (across belly button) and neck. After my end of 8 weeks review, I had hit two of the three goals I set myself but of course I have achieved much more than my simple 3 measurements.
I have lost half an inch on the neck, 3.5 inches on the waist, reduced fat at every calliper point (some by large amounts) and overall have lost 6.8% body fat and gained 3.8kg of muscle. The scale weight I am not so worried about but I have just about lost a stone in scale weight which is good but not fundamental, I am all about reducing the body fat %! I am really happy with what have achieved in a short time, but I am not there yet (and I want to sustain it).
The cost of my 8 week plan is inclusive of the diet as well as the training, and even though I would extend if I could just pay for PT sessions with the trainer, I did find myself wondering whether or not it is good value to extend given I have the plan already. I had a consultation with a local Personal Trainer which would be walkable for me and discussed a new plan after I finish at this place, which would enable me to have 3 sessions per week rather than the two. I have now had a full consultation and have started my training with the new Personal Trainer who takes a wide range of stats each session to monitor progress very closely. So it is onto the next challenge I go, and I cannot wait to get started, hopefully going to South America in the shape I want to be in and make it sustainable with transformed diet habits.
