Six Months In – What Happened?

Well hello there, it’s been a while! After weekly updates on my progress and exhausting subjects that may be interesting, it was becoming increasingly difficult to come up with ideas for such frequent blogs. The last thing I wanted to do was become repetitive and stale, so I opted for not speaking when there wasn’t anything particularly interesting to talk about.

That said, I’m now exactly 6 months into my journey and despite a few bumps along the way, I’m still going. I haven’t once given up, even when I’ve picked up an injury, been ill or gone through periods of low motivation. Read on to see how I kept going.

So, Where Am I Up To?

Since my last post, I reached a point where motivation was really low. I discussed this with Tom and he suggested I had a de-load week during which I would just do the two group sessions and no other sessions, with no food tracking for a week, as I’d been pushing hard up to that point. I followed this advice and it was a welcomed break, however, I then got ill which put me out for a further week and a half. The timing of this couldn’t have been worse, it really threw me and made it difficult to get back in my flow.

One thing I’ve discovered during this process, is I thrive off routine and this disruption to it was the last thing I needed after having been doing so well.

Thankfully, Tom, through all the tracking of data he does and an open and honest dialogue between us, was able to make the necessary adjustments to get me back on track. It’s times like this when it really becomes apparent that having someone in your corner to keep you accountable and help direct you, who almost understands where your head’s at better than yourself, is so important.

Every penny I spend on this service at this point is worth it as I truly believe, committed as I am, if I was doing this on my own, this would have been the straw that broke the camels back, and I would have given up!

Have you ever started something, given up along the way and then 6 months later wondered where you would have been up to if you’d just carried on?

Since this blip, I’ve got back to my best. I’m motivated, dedicated and in a great flow right now. I’m now doing 4 solo sessions per week, each ending with a gruelling, high intensity 15 minute Stairmaster. I’ve got myself a walking pad (as suggested by Tom) as I wasn’t reaching my 10k steps per day. Working from home and being sat down for most of that time, and then being on Dad duties immediately afterwards was leaving me no time to fit in a walk, so the introduction of the walking pad was a must.

Now, each day I hit a minimum of 10k steps. Usually I’ll put it in front of the TV, put a show on (or the World Cup) and walk away whilst it’s on. If you ask me, living rooms should probably have walking pads instead of sofas, as since I started this, the excess body fat is really starting to drop.

Current Routine

As mentioned, I now do 4 solo sessions each week and these are split into the following:

• Push
• Pull
• Lower
• Upper Strength

Through this, I’m really working all muscle groups and I’ve noticed a big difference in my strength.

I’m now in a cutting phase, so from 2300 cals, I’ve been gradually reduced to 1900, which along with the extra Stairmaster sessions, is allowing me to start stripping the fat.

As usual, the cals are predominantly made up of protein, my target being 170g, with carbs and fats making up the rest. It’s currently a really comfortable position as I no longer feel like I’m force feeding, but feel like I’m getting enough to sustain the high output at the gym.

Perhaps in my next post, I’ll do an updated workout plan so you can see how it’s changed since my last post on the subject, including some exercises that were completely new to me, but for now…

The Evidence

Still a long way to go, but I’m glad I kept going.

Thanks for taking time to catch up on my journey. My next blog will probably be after Christmas when I can report on how I navigated the holiday period.

Have a great Christmas and New Year!

Zach