The number and quality of Bodyblitz entries has been going through the roof. A case in point is Brad Richards, this month’s winner, whose stats show he lost a phenomenal 19kg of bodyfat while retaining and even adding muscle.
Starting the challenge at the beginning of the year was one of my New Year’s resolutions, and unlike other years I decided I was going to stick with this and give it 110%. I had entered a stage in my life where I was drinking far too much, and this lead to poor choices in what I ate and what time I ate.
I rarely ate breakfast, and pizza seemed to be the order of the day.
Late last year, my son Tom came home from school with a drawing of me, fat with a can of beer in my hand. Obviously I didn’t want my son and daughter to have this vision in their head of an overweight lazy drunk father!
It hit home that I needed to change my ways and bodyblitz was the perfect kick-start I needed.
I am a Catering and Functions Manager at a large establishment, and one of our events last year was hosting a body building show. I looked at these guys and thought “that’s the look I want”. I immediately bought a copy of IRONMAN magazine and made up my mind that straight after New Years Eve, I was entering!
One of the hardest things, for me personally, is being surrounded by food all day long, and of course someone has to taste-test occasionally to make sure that the food is of good quality! That just happened to be me. This led to eating lots of those deep fried high fat goodies, and eating at all hours of the day. NOT any more
My work is also a very social place to enjoy a drink after work, and everyone knew I enjoyed a drop. This was also something that had to go. At first people were saying “why do it to yourself? and “just have a beer”. Then, seeing the results after 8 weeks, they suddenly became full of encouragement.
Mates are a different story. I came home from work two weeks into the challenge to find two of my mates sitting in my lounge, watching the cricket and drinking beer.
They said, “Help yourself fat boy”. I went to the fridge and got a bottle of water, put it in a stubby holder and joined them.
I wish I could have had a photo of their faces! I don’t think they had ever seen me knock back a beer.
The bodyblitz was my focus for the next 3 months, and I dedicated all my thoughts and available time to following my pursuit of having a lean healthy body.
My sister Kylie has competed Physique at a National level and is a personal trainer.
In the beginning she would ring me weekly and check on my progress, and ask me to send photos so she could gauge my progress. During the last 4 weeks we were almost communicating daily.
I kept a wall calendar stuck to my desk, with my own personal goals written on there to give me motivation. I would put down what weight I was aiming for — weeks in advance — and when I got to the date, weigh myself and put my actual weight next to it. It wasn’t long before I was forced to start re-adjusting the figures after my losses became greater than I expected. Don’t get me wrong; this was a pleasant burden!
After I took my first photos after 4 weeks to send to my sister, I couldn’t believe it was me. I eventually had to buy new shorts to train in, as my old ones were literally falling off. I went jogging one day and they actually fell off, so I had to take my t-shirt off and stuff them in one side to keep them up.
All my extra-large tops looked like they belonged to my big big brother.
I started to get comments and questions at the gym; people asking me what sort of training they should do. I rang my sister, saying “I feel like a fat guy in a skinny guys body”. Still, the fast results gave me the motivation to push even harder.
Being versatile in your cardio program is one piece of advice I would offer people. I started to ride my dusty bike, went for walks with the kids after school, played squash, and went swimming. I really began to enjoy walking and it wasn’t long before I started getting up when it was still dark, carrying my back pack, and walking to the supermarket to get the shopping.
I am extremely happy with my result and really need to thank my sister Kylie for her advice and motivation through the whole 12 weeks. Kylie you are a legend!
That last week of diet and training was tough, but worth it.
Also, a big thank you to my wife June and kids (Tom and Elly) for putting up with my self-obsession, and supporting me with the whole diet and training.
(My son now draws different pictures of me, thank God!)
I now have a whole new outlook on life, my diet, my health, and I am considering to train for a novice bodybuilding competition later this year.
My advice to anyone thinking about entering is to believe they can do it, think positive the whole time, and picture the end result, if I can do it anyone can! IM
Training
6-7 sessions in the gym per week, lasting roughly an hour each, and some form of cardio almost everyday.
Diet Meal 1: Oats with protein powder and berries, Multi Vitamin, Glucosamine, Flax seed oil
Meal 2: Protein powder with water
Meal 3: 200 gm Sweet potato or basmati rice, 185gm tuna in spring water, Green beans Meal 4: 7 egg whites cooked
Flax seed oil
Meal 5: 150gm sweet potato
1 cup green beans, BBQ sauce Meal 6: Protein shake with water, Green apple Meal 7: 2 cups green vegies
Tuna, fish or chicken
+Fat metabolisers, Strong black coffee, Lemon juice, 2-3lts water each day
This Months Winner is Belinda Parker
Belinda Parker shares her remarkable weight-loss story in her own words.
Read more>
Joint Winner is Jocelyn Wright
Joint monthly winner Jocelyn Wright tells how she lost over 10 kilos.
Read more>
This Months Winner was Jeremy Zadow
The everyday hassles of working hard to support his family had made Jeremy Zadow sluggish and unhealthy. But with some inspiration care of some previous BodyBlitz winners, he got his body and his mind back on track. Read more>
This Months Winner is Belinda Parker 
Joint Winner is Jocelyn Wright 
This Months Winner was Jeremy Zadow 
