Post diet maintenance – SCOTT

1. What were your worries once the transformation had ended?

I had developed some poor eating habits in 2015, off the back of competing in a bodybuilding competition.

Buying big bags of chocolate and other “junk” type foods every time I visited a supermarket

I was also in a habit of binging and eating everything in front of me

I put a lot of pressure on myself to stop this completely and I was also worried about how it made the transformation plan look

2. What was your goal post transformation?

On the shoot day I weighed 12 st 3lb.

My goal short and long term was to maintain a weight around 13st and 13st 7lb

3. How did you go about doing this?

I got back to “normal eating” straight away.

It was basically the calories I started on at week 1. I knew this was roughly still a very small deficit even at my new weight, but it would allow more freedom at weekends and more importantly some wiggle room if and when I did have an urge to stuff my face

I made a big point of keeping my training up and also my activity levels away from the gym

Basically, carry on with my walking

4. Has it worked?

Yes

I’m currently lighter than where I want to be and happy with the balance I have found with my eating and exercise

I must stress that this took a couple of weeks to get my head around though

5. What was your motivation post shoot?

This is the first time I have actually bothered to try and maintain such a lean look.

I’m quite happy for my weight and body fat to fluctuate

My motivation was to show to others that it can be done without stressing too much about it (eventually) and also as a bit of a learning process for myself

There is also the obvious vanity reasons for keeping the abs!!

6. What have you struggled with the most?

The pressure I put myself under!

I was so focussed on not binging etc, that when they did happen I was getting myself worked up about it

Once I went back to daily weigh ins and seeing that the damage was non existent, it allowed me to relax a bit and realise that I could allow them to happen now and again and not freak out

7. What good habits have you learnt and kept up?

My basic structure has been there for years, so all the habits were already there

It’s why I stress the importance of getting those in place with clients

The main benefit, was that the 12 weeks put me in a good place mentally and physically

The motivation is to keep that going

I’ve also made an effort to carry on with my cooking, especially at weekends.

I’ve enjoyed looking for new low calorie meal options and using them on my social media channels to help others

Or just posting some snack options, which encourages me to make a better option rather than a 1kg bar of chocolate!

8. How do you manage and track your progress now that you are no longer doing the 12 weeks?

Still weighing myself daily (I had stopped for roughly 2 weeks post shoot)

I don’t have any emotional attachment to what is on the scale, so it’s just a method of keeping me in check if needed

I never tracked my calorie intake, so that is still going off my knowledge of my own body and experience.

9. How is your training and diet different now compared to when you were on the transformation programme?

Training is roughly the same and activity is still quite high, although lower than when dieting.

The only change is that it takes a back seat if work gets in the way, rather than forcing walks etc

As mentioned above, I try to keep calories lowish to allow for treats and social occasions etc

10. Any other advice for people in the same position?

Reach your goal weight in a manner and with a structure that will suit you post diet

Eat the foods you enjoy and have flexibility

You WILL need to be stricter and make more sacrifices to reach your goal though ( it is worth it and do what it takes)

Once there you have the structure in place to then make the small changes for maintenance

Keep up the exercise and activity. Many people yo-yo because they stop everything completely

Keep “normal calories” quite low to allow for more social occasions and the odd wobble

Find your goal and motivation to keep your results.

You can maintain your new weight etc on more calories than it took to get there, so don’t feel like you will be on a “diet” for the rest of your life while you are going through the process

Keep up the tracking methods you used during your diet

(scales – tape measure – pictures – calorie counting – food diary)

Firstly, it will keep you accountable

Secondly, like me, it may take the stress and guilt away from any binges when you see little or no negative impact

Don’t stress it

Weight will always fluctuate and you have worked hard to get the results you have

Enjoy yourself

Just like achieving your results, keeping them will still take a bit of hard work and effort, it’s a life long process