Jon Lipsey, the editor-in-chief of Men's Fitness, never considered himself to be that out of shape, but by time he hit 37 he realized that he had let the stresses and responsibilities of life distract him from taking care of his own health. Now, with a child on the way, he knew that he needed to change now or he would never get around to it.
That's when he enrolled in a 56-day program, vowing to get into shape ahead of the birth of his first child later this year. He ditched alcohol, downsized his meals and gradually built up to four gym sessions a week. Eventually, he was able to lose 10kg in fat, get the six-pack he was looking for, as well as "T-shirt filling biceps" - and all without the need of any expensive personal trainer.
An excerpt of his Men's Fitness cover story has now been released, in which Jon describes how he started off and how he got to where he is today. He wrote:
"Two months ago, I didn't have a six-pack. I didn't have T-shirt filling biceps and I didn't have broad shoulders. I did, however, have a belly. I had love handles too... I was stressed, I had low energy levels and, according to any metric you care to choose, I was overweight.
"That's not something I ever thought I'd write. In my mind, weight issues were always someone else's problem."
Jon believed that if his weight gain continued at the same rate, he would be far too out of shape to kick a ball around with his child when as they grow up. With only his own determination and a couple of weights, he set out on his journey.
To start with, he used a nutrition plan that was full of high-quality protein and veg without cutting out any major food groups, then it was his plan to gradually "ramp up the intensity of the training and the strictness of the diet". Eventually, that meant giving up alcohol. According to Jon, just two pints of lager contains around 400 calories, so he knew they had to go.
At the end of the first two weeks, he was already seeing changes, remarking that he looked less bloated and fit into a new belt hole. The second fortnight of the plan meant changing his training from "initial upper-body and lower-body split to one that focuses on antagonistic supersets, where you do two exercises back to back that target opposing muscle groups, such as your biceps and triceps".
He did come across some roadblocks along the way. During the fourth week, his blood sugar and hunger became a problem. Then, he suffered a setback after falling ill, but decided to get a couple of days rest rather than risk feeling worse. However, once he pushed through this stage to the final leg, Jon found that his body adapted and became less reliant on carbs, giving him far more energy than he was used to.
Jon had a photo shoot arranged for the final day of his program, pressuring himself to get into shape for the story's images. In the end, he was surprised to find that he smashed his targets, writing:
"I feel ten years younger. I'm energized. I'm calm. I'm happy.
"I've achieved more than I thought possible in the last eight weeks and I feel like if I can do this, I can do anything. I did what I thought was impossible and, if I can do it, I assure you that you can too.
"My only regret? That I didn't do it ages ago."
I suppose if Jon can get this much done in just a few months, we can all cut down on a few of the beers from time to time.
H/T: Men's Health
