A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

So this post is just to highlight that even as a Personal Trainer I want people to know that the Fitness Journey is just the same for me as it is for everyone else.

When I took the first picture I hadn’t been training as often as I wanted and I hadn’t lifted a weight for about 3/4 weeks before, I also hadn’t really been paying attention to what I was eating. I wouldn’t say I was eating any old crap but I certainly wasn’t making sure I was eating healthy. We all know what food is good for us and what is just total shit! The problem is the rubbish food is usually a lot easier to make or just easier/quicker to have. I took this photo because I wanted to start holding myself accountable, I knew if I had this photo then I would have a baseline to look back at and remind myself of what I looked like when I was feeling unhappy with my level of fitness. Now I know some people will say that’s not that bad and to be honest yeah I could have looked worse but to me I just knew if I continued the bad habits of not training and not paying attention to what I was fuelling my body with then at some point I was going to feel even worse about it all.

Now the second picture was after I started focusing more on a heavy lifting workout plan I made for myself, I kept a note of every Set, Rep and Rest time along with weights I was using and I stuck to my plan. The eating side of things wasn’t getting probably as much attention as I should have given it, however I tried to justify my eating by telling myself ‘well Im working it off in the gym’ which a part of is true however for quicker results if I had attacked my diet the same way I did my training I would have seen faster results. I was basically ‘dirty bulking’ which is the term used for just lifting heavy in the gym and eating anything for the extra calories to build muscle. Now don’t get me wrong Im no strongman eating 5000 calories a day or anything but I was just eating a bit more because I felt I needed to energy to lift more in the gym.

The third picture was taken once I realised I had to look at my diet more and change up my training plan a bit. I started to track my calories a lot more and changed my sets, reps and weights again to help more towards burning fat and maintain some muscle.

The forth picture was taken after I had been sticking to my plan to cut down body fat (as it was the summer hence a slight burnt/tan) I knew having the other pictures previous to look back at that I was achieving some results and I had gotten myself to a size where I knew if I was to now keep to my healthy eating and calorie tracking and add my heavy lifting workout plan into my routine that I would start what’s called a ‘clean bulk’ and I would start to build muscle on my body the healthy way.

The fifth picture was taken about 6 months after. Now I am also like everyone else and believe me life also gets in the way of my training and I wasn’t as consistent as I would liked to have been but we are all the same and sometimes other things need to take priority now and again. I have those days where going to the gym for a workout is the last thing I want to do, sitting on the couch after a long stressful day Is all I want to do but trust me those days when you feel like that are the days you just need to push through and tell yourself to just get to the gym and get your workout done. Those days will be more numerus than the days you are all happy and full of energy skipping your way to the gym (these days are very few and far between)

Discipline yourself to stick to your workout plan and eating plan. Motivation is one thing but it comes and goes. Discipline is you holding yourself accountable. Discipline will make sure you get shit done.

The sixth picture is me currently, I still feel like I have a long way to go and still want to shift some body fat. But the fact I have taken all these pictures allows me to see how far I have come. It also allows me to see that even if I ‘fall off the wagon’ and don’t train as consistently as I should I know I can pick myself back up and hit the gym hard and follow my workout plan and healthy eating plan to get back into shape, I have physical evidence with these pictures that I can change my body through hard work and discipline.

I want anyone who feels like I did in my first picture to TAKE THAT PICTURE, give yourself a baseline and tell yourself ‘I am not happy with my current self and I WILL put in the work to change’

It can be done, just don’t try and achieve it overnight and then fall off the wagon because you seen someone on the telly lose 12 stone in a day!

We are all living our lives and working and seeing our friends and family and have nights out we go to and have events we go to etc. Just be disciplined and be consistent.

Just take your first picture and start putting in the work.

Fitness is a journey that will change your life forever.