Time to Go Again

garowen1988

Hi all,

I'm new here at MFP and have been browsing the threads just looking for information and motivation really. Apart from the last 18 months (had a child) I've always stayed fit and in decent shape...although never really happy with it. The past 18 months I've kind of stopped everything in my life to concentrate on work and obviously having a new born has been my main commitment. So I've put on a bit of weight and my fitness is lagging.

So...after speaking to a guy in my office who's lost 3 stone in the last 5 months he told me that the key to his success was counting calories and logging everything he eats. So this is why I'm here.

My previous training has involved weight training 5x a week and cardio 3x a week (HIIT). I have also completed Shaun T's Insanity around 3 years ago. That was when I was at my peak. In terms of diet, previously I just used to eat a whole lot of protein and try and keep carbs low-medium. This was as technical as it got. It worked to some extent but I never lost the body fat I wanted to. At my peak I probably got down to around 13%BF. I want to get lower than this whilst building some lean muscle...the old seemingly impossible mission stripping fat whilst gaining muscle.

I plan to do this in 2 stages. I will firstly concentrate more on stripping fat and then start to build lean muscle afterwards...although the exercise programme I will be doing (as you'll see below) will ensure I build lean muscle and tone up during my 'fat stripping phase'.

Diet
This week I have started eating healthily and logging what I'm eating on here. I have already found that I am being alot stricter and have more willpower. It must be because I'm logging it and I can see everything I'm eating or drinking. I am trying to achieve my calorie goals but I'm not too concerned if I don't quite meet them. I am mainly concentrating on keeping Protein high, Carbs low and Fats medium and see how it goes.

Exercise
With previously being wowed by Shaun T's Insanity (have never done such an intense and body killing workout), I have decided to stick with BeachBody and go with Shaun T's Focus T25 programme. Everything I've read about it is positive and for 25 minutes a day fits perfectly into my busy working life and parental life.

My Aim
Reduce bodyfat down to near single figures over time and build lean muscle (not a great deal as I already have a bit of lean muscle...hope muscle memory will play a part here!)

Thanks everyone in advance for your support, advice and motivation. I will be making a topic in the Exercise forum logging my Focus T25 Programme and general feelings and results.

Thanks,

Gar

p.s. I don't particularly like judging results by body weight...I prefer measurements and just how I feel in my clothes and what my eyes see in the mirror, so this is what my results will be based on.