Physique Goals

Those that have been following me for any length of time will know how hard I work, both in and out of the gym, in my seemingly never-ending quest for my best ever physique. I've experienced being overweight, flabby and out of shape...

 

 

Which led me to under eat and over exercise until I was skinny fat, still flabby and kinda shapeless....

Back in 2011 I started to focus more on weight training and less on running and so began the journey to obtain my goal physique. I couldn't even begin to tell you how that goal looks right now because , until I get there, I won't know. Do I want to be shredded? Hell no! Being super lean year round is way too hard to maintain and I enjoy my food and my life way too much. However, I would like to reach a certain level of leanness where I look good both in and out of my clothes, where it's noticeable that I workout without flexing and where I would be happy to put on a bathing suit for an impromptu day at the beach. And to be honest, I'm probably not that far off from getting to that point.

Those that have continued to follow me on facebook whilst I took my blogging hiatus will know that I started to work with an online coach in February of last year. Whilst I wasn't desperately unhappy with how I looked, I was carrying a bit more body fat than I would have liked.

I stepped on the scale and was horrified to see I was 181lb. Even though I'm not ruled by the scale and I'm tall at 5'8, this was much too heavy for my preference. It prompted me to get my body fat checked at the gym and it showed as 26.4%.

I posted about it on my facebook page and the next day received a message from a long time online friend of mine, someone I have always looked up to because of their excellent knowledge regarding all things nutrition and fitness. He told me he was looking to get certified with ISSN and needed to take on some online clients to gain experience with coaching. He offered to coach me to help me to achieve my physique goals, which would involve nutritional & training assistance, regular updates and adjustments, support and accountability.

It sounded perfect and just what I needed. I know enough in order to get lean but having someone to be accountable to would mean I'd stick to whatever I was asked to do.

I answered an in depth questionnaire about my goals and what I hoped to achieve with coaching and then tracked my intake for a week, logging everything onto a spreadsheet, including daily weight,  macros, exercise, water intake and how my mood was affected, ie. energy levels, libido, etc.

Once I'd given all this information, I received my nutritional targets and exercise requirements and this continues to be monitored and tweaked on a weekly basis.

I weigh myself daily and log this on my spreadsheet and at the end of the day, log macros and exercise, make notes about mood, energy levels, etc and then email my coach every Thursday to "check in". He will then review all of my information for the week before and make changes (or not) based on my progress over the previous week.

Though I've lost weight numerous times in the past, I can honestly say that having a coach has made such a huge difference! Having that person to oversee everything, hold me accountable and offer an objective opinion when I'm having a bit of a meltdown is totally invaluable.

I've made astounding progress whilst I've been working with him, losing 24lb of fat whilst retaining strength and muscle and keeping my curves, which is important to me.

I also hit a new 1RM on my deadlift at the end of 2015, pulling 141kg - yes, it's only 1lb heavier than my previous 1RM but I pulled that at a time when I was 24lb heavier so I'll take that as a win!