Where I am now

I joined the gym in November 2007 with the main goal of losing body fat and becoming a leaner healthier person. For years before this I “knew” that I had to get more physically active and eat better, but merely thinking about things are not enough to make it happen. What really made me jump to action immediately was when I saw in a photo just how horrible I looked in a wetsuit! You can read all about it here, and click on the picture to see the full-size version…

If you look at the “before and after” picture on the right, and the measurements below, you will see that I have become quite lean and (at least I think so) a little easier on the eye. I would certainly go as far as to say that I have successfully completed the goals I set for myself in November 2007. I can now wear smaller jeans, I feel more confident, I look better in clothes, and most important of all, I am a much happier person!

	November 2007	July 2008
Weight	81.2	68.4
Body Fat %	24.1	11.2

How did I get here, and was it easy? I would answer the last part of the question first: No, don’t kid yourself, doing nothing at all and carrying on with your normal lifestyle before joining the gym is obviously easier. Is it fun to get up early every morning and go to gym? I won’t lie to you - HELL NO it’s not fun by a long shot! Who would not want to sleep-in on a very cold-rainy winter morning?

But when I look at myself now, the question I really ask is “was it worth it?” Can you guess what my answer would be?

As to how I got here I can say with confidence that ANYBODY can do what I did, there is no magic to it. Simply follow a calorie restricted “eating plan”, stick to it, go to the gym 5 days a week and alternate between strength training and cardio training. It’s really that simple!

So now that I am lean, healthy and happy, is that it? What’s next? Next up is getting some decent muscle on my frame, right now some would argue that I look like just another skinny guy, and this is true as a matter of fact! If you have been following my personal blog, located at http://hannesfoulds.blogspot.com/, you will know that I am fighting an almost losing battle to get that muscle!

I think one of the reasons I am losing this battle is due to my own fear. To gain weight (muscle) you have to overfeed and create a calorie surplus, this is very well known, but if you gain weight you are going to gain both fat and muscle, and this is unavoidable regardless of what clever nutritional supplement companies will have you believe. I am very afraid of becoming a fat person again since it took so much sweat and tears to get to where I am now!

Sometimes I do manage convince myself that I will have to accept that I will get a little fatter, for one meal or so and eat a lot, but then that fear creeps up again, and the next time I am at the gym I just do a little bit more cardio, just a little bit more vigorous to try and compensate.

Naturally if I want to see some noteworthy muscle size increases I will need to do almost the opposite of what I’ve been doing until now, and I will have to overcome this fear I have. I now invite you to become part of my journey by regularly visiting this blog and participating by posting your comments and hints. I will be making a new post almost daily to keep you informed of how the new things I am trying are working out!

Hope to see you soon!
Hannes Foulds