I am in preparation for a Fitness Model Show in the middle of November and thus I am towards the end of an eight week cutting phase. Since I did my first show back in 2014, I have purposefully gained and lost weight during this period. To go on stage you need to remove pretty much all of your body fat and therefore lose weight. In the off-season (over the winter) to ensure maximal muscle gains you overeat, therefore gaining weight and repeat this cycle as you improve your body year on year.
This week I crossed the 50 kg in total weight lost over the last 5/6 years. Before that my weight was always stable within a 2-4 Kg weight range. I have learnt so much as a result of this process about losing weight, motivation, body image and much more. It has been better than any course I could have taken.
The sport of physique competitions is very niche and many people comment about this process, What is the point? Is it healthy to gain/lose weight? Like many things in life there is no point to it, Why does one person want to climb a mountain? Why do you take your dog to the local dog show? Amateur physique competitions are a mix of these two goals. You elect to climb the mountain within your own mind of getting yourself to move when tired, resist eating when hungry and to motivate yourself when you are flat. The actual show is a glorified dog show, you know the criteria they are looking for… have you matched up to it vs your competitors?
It isn’t the healthiest of pursuits to gain / lose weight year after year but then most sports are not healthy. Martial arts you contest with people hitting you in the face, marathons force you to do long long training runs… but then again the opposite to a sport, sitting all the time is just as unhealthy. So to me it is a mute point. However, I am not planning on purposely gaining a large amount of fat again as want to focus on other avenues.
Photo – My Changing Weight Over The Years & 50 Kg (110 lbs – ~8 Stone) Weight Loss. (>>>)
One of the great things about losing 50kg is the many different methods I used to lose weight. It is only the last month before a show where there is a pressure not to mess up your fat loss. In other periods I was able to try all sorts of things. Some of the stuff I did you have no doubt read in other previous blogs of mine but the ways I have lost weight have included –
– Eating Chocolate, Crisps and Junk Food Only
– Following A Vegan Diet
– Using A Low Carb Keto Plan
– Eating Only Mc Donald’s Burgrers/Chips
– Using Calorie Controlled Plans
– Eating Only Sugar
– Doing 1 million Steps in a month
– Using Intermittent Fasting methods
– Doing a 5 Day Water Fast (0 Calories)
– Eating Organic, whole foods.
– Training Twice A Day In The Gym
– Working With My Own Personal Trainer / Coach
The many ways I have challenged my body and different methodologies I used to lose weight really did expand my horizons and skills for working with people.
There were also many challenges in gaining weight. Without having my own trainer / coach, there is no way I would ever have been able to do many of things I did. This is the simple reality of how far you will go on your own vs how far you will go working with someone.
Losing 50 Kg has been a great experience, the key to all of this is control. Last month I spoke about my client who had lost 100 Kg over the last ten years. During our time working together 90% of our focus was on how to ensure this is the last time she lost the weight and how not regain it again.
This represents for most people the real underlying issue, if you add up how much total weight lost over the years many a struggling person has lost way way more than their goal requires. In this case, it is about the bigger picture of how you put the four key skill areas of body transformation together, these are –
– Ability To Lose Fat
– Ability To Return To Break Even After A Fat Loss Period.
– Ability To Re-Motivate Yourself From Break Even Back Into Fat Loss
– Ability To Go From Out Of Control Eating To Break Even Eating.
When you have all of these sorted you will achieve the illusive long term transformation.
Photo – If only Physique shows were as easy to win as dog shows, here is a photo of when my Rottweiller was alive and we used to win all the local shows 🙂
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