Twelve weeks ago I never imagined that I would still be going strong today. It is normal to start out with good intentions only for life to get in the way. This blog and the community of like-minded people trying to transform their physiques has kept me going.

So, what have I managed to achieve over 12 weeks. Here are the key statistics:

• I am 5′ 6.5″ tall
• Weight: 12 st. 1.5 lbs. (169.5 lbs.) – 23.5 lbs. loss in 12 weeks
  
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 33mm (52mm down to 29mm)
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 18mm (32mm down to 14mm)
• Body fat thigh pinch reduction of 28mm (42mm down to 14mm)
• Body fat reduction of 17% (35% down to 18%)
• Fat reduction (by calculation) of 37 lbs. (67lbs down to 30lbs)

I am really pleased with my progress and that I have managed to halve my body fat. I feel like a different person. My clothes are loose again and I love the feeling of a relatively flat stomach free of swelling. I still have a lot of fat, especially around my mid-section, but this will go too given time.

Let’s take a look at what has happened over the last 12 weeks.

My weight has reduced nearly every week. On average I have lost 2lbs of weight a week. I had heard that it isn’t good to lose more than that as it can be from lean muscle and not fat. Overall I managed to lose 23.5 lbs of weight (nearly 2 stone).

My initial body fat % was quite high at 34.9% and in 12 weeks I have managed to halve that amount down to 18%. At first I thought this reduction can’t be correct but measuring my skin fat pinches they have all reduced significantly so the fat must be going.

Thankfully I was losing fat and not lean muscle mass as I was calculating my lean body mass and for the first 10 weeks I managed to increase my lean muscle mass. At the end I started to level off and even lost a tiny amount at the end. This levelling could be down to doing more aerobic exercise and not so much resistance training during the end of the phase to prepare for my mountain bike challenge. In the 12 weeks I managed to put on 14 lbs of lean mass.

This leaves the fat – the one thing that must be lost in order to become ripped and regain health. So, how much fat did I lose. Even though I lost 23.5 lbs of weight the body fat percentage calculations tell me that I had lost even more than that of fat. Overall, I have lost 37lbs of fat.

I feel a lot healthier than I was 12 weeks ago but I am not yet free from ailment. I will write more about my health over the next week but for now I will say that there a lot of things improved and the absence of swelling around my abdomen has caused me to enjoy life a lot more.

Eating raw food has been a great revelation to me. Even though I don’t eat entirely raw food I have eaten a large enough proportion to know that I feel a lot better eating it than not. It definitely has a positive effect on my physique and my mind. With autumn and winter approaching I just hope I can keep eating a lot of raw food through the colder months.

My photos tell the full story of my transformation.

Looking at my progress from the side shows the true extent of my transformation over 12 weeks. Every part of my torso has reduced in swelling. I can understand the lower abdomen reducing but even my chest has seen a reduction in swelling. My neck and face have also changed as they have become leaner. I think that my posture looks much better now.

From the front I can now see a huge difference. The photos almost look as if they are a different size but they are not. Each part of my physique lines up exactly. My face is a lot leaner, my shoulders look more defined and athletic and my lower abdomen is clearly a lot less swollen now. I still have fat rolls around my waist but they are greatly reduced (4″ waist reduction around my navel).

At the back the thick fat coating seems to be gone. I didn’t realise just how much fat I must have been carrying on my upper back but I am so much leaner in that area now. The bulge around my waist, although still annoyingly there, has reduced significantly. The part that pleases me most though is that the creases that were in my back at the beginning, and for quite a few weeks after, have now faded to the extent that it virtually vanished on the right and not far from gone on the left. Seeing those ‘folds’ for the first time in Week 1 made me sick. I will never let that happen to me again!

What is next? I am going to have a week ‘off’ before I start my next phase. Phase 2 is going to take me from 18% body fat to a single figure body fat percentage. I will still exercise and eat clean over the next week but I need a little time now to recharge the blogging battery and establish my next set of goals and methods to take me there. What has happened so far has worked. It has been succesful at helping me lose fat and I haven’t been hungry either.

I need to remind myself that it is difficult to build muscle while losing fat. The best I can expect is to maintain my lean mass and that is what my resistance training is for. It is difficult to have a good resistance workout on a raw food/low energy diet.

Knowing this lets me be content with building muscle during Phase 3. Phase 3 will begin in January 2009 and, providing I have hit 9% body fat, I will increase my food intake and resistance training in order to build some muscle.

Thanks to all of the shredders for your support over the last 12 weeks. I have been reading most of your blogs on a regular basis and it has inspired me to carry on.

I have lost a couple of pounds of weight over the last week and for the first time my body stats tell me that some of that weight loss is from lean body mass (just a tiny bit!!). There is not a lot of other change but for some strange reason my thigh is 0.5″ smaller than it was last week.

While all of the running and cycling has been good I need to get back to resistance training and abdominal training this week.

The side shot still shows the most progress.

You would think that these two photographs were a different size but they are not. After 11 weeks I really can see a big difference from the front now.

These two also look vastly different. I still have fat deposits around my waist but the rest of my back is so much leaner.

Looking at these photos with just a week left of Phase 1 makes me think that Phase 2 is going to be all about getting rid of those fatty deposits around my waist.

I am pleased to say that I have made slight progress in the last two weeks. I have lost 1.5 pounds of weight and my calculations tell me that I have lowered my body fat percentage slightly and increased my lean body weight slightly. All very positive. Having been the least progress I have made on Phase 1 I really need to ramp things up a bit to see what I can achieve in the last two weeks.

There is nothing really noteworthy to mention this time round but there is a slight reduction in my waist size again and the body fat pinch has reduced by a couple of mm on both my waist and my thigh. I guess that all of the walking around at the theme parks must have done me some good!

In the afternoon I went for a 22 mile cycle along the Ramsey, Bride, Jurby and Ballaugh route. I wanted to cycle up the mountain but there was a lot of low lying cloud and it would have been dangerous to cycle on the road with poor visability. So I had an ‘easy’ cycle today where I held back a little and probably travelled on average just 1-2 mph slower than usual. I wanted to burn fat but also save my legs for a bigger cycle during the week. The 22 miles normally takes me between 75 and 80 minutes but today it took me 88 minutes at my reduced pace. I still had DOMS in my legs from the run on Friday but the good news is that the injury on the knee didn’t appear to show itself today.

I am making progress and it will be good to see just how much more progress I can make in the last 2 weeks of phase 1.

I am pleased with my waist reduction but I still have about another 7 inches to lose around the waist. I can’t wait to see the comparison photos when I reach that goal.

I need to keep working those abdominals so that they show through when the body fat gets low enough. I am still over 20% body fat at the moment.

My back progress is looking pleasing again and those fat folds are starting to look a lot less than they were. It would be great to see the back of them by the end of Phase 1, but if not then hopefully they will be when I attempt to eradicate those fat deposits around my waist in Phase 2.

I need to start a new resistance training programme on the Bowflex this week. Details to follow.

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 12 st. 9.5 lbs. (177.5 lbs.) – 3 lbs. lighter than last week
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 5mm (23mm down to 18mm)
• Waist reduction of 1 inch from the navel area
• According to the body fat calculations a lean mass increase of 1 pound and a fat loss of 4 pounds

I think that the one thing that has made all the difference to me on this project is doing the weekly weigh-in properly. Weight is not a reliable metric. The tape and callipers are much better measure. I am over the moon when I see the body fat pinches reducing week on week. I can see, without doubt, that my fat is disappearing from some of my more fatty body parts. I have been careful with my diet and exercise not to lose muscle mass and so far so good.

I needed to go out for a long ride on the mountain bike today. I picked a nice long route that was about 1/3 off-road hilly climbs and 2/3 on-road, mostly hilly also. I covered 32 miles in a time of 3:02 hours. I would estimate that I would need to cycle for about 5.5 hours to complete the ‘End to End’ challenge in 4 weeks time and after the cycle today I don’t know if I had any more energy to go for another hour, never mind two. I will need to put in a few more long rides to see if I can help the endurance a little more over the coming weeks. As I am off on a holiday next week this may present a bit of a challenge.

My photos are showing pleasing progress at this point of the project. I ‘know’ I should be losing fat as I am eating and exercising well but it has been so long since I have actually lost fat that it is still difficult to believe that I actually am.

The view from the side is still showing the most amount of progress. I am not sure if my neck looks like it is growing longer!

I think that this week is the first time that the front view looks significantly different. My upper body is narrower and slightly more defined than Day 1.

When I wonder where some of the fat has been disappearing from when I see my big week-on-week losses I need only look at my upper back. The volume of fat sitting on my upper back has reduced dramatically.

I don’t know if raw chocolate has contributed to my progress so far but it certainly hasn’t harmed it. I have been eating raw chocolate (Cacao) on a regular basis. Cacao is meant to be really high in anti-oxidants and as we need plenty of them for good health then a little raw chocolate must help.

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 12 st. 12.5 lbs. (180.5 lbs.) – exactly the same as last week
• Body fat thigh pinch reduction of 4mm (22mm down to 18mm)
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 2mm (25mm down to 23mm)
• Body fat: 23.75% (down from 25.3% last week)
• Waist reduction of 0.5 inches from both navel and belt.
• Lean mass increase of 2.8 pounds and a fat loss of 2.8 pounds

I can believe the fat loss of 2.8 pounds as I have been consistently losing fat every week. I don’t believe that I have added 2.8 pounds of muscle though. What I think has happened is that as I have been ‘taxed’ by my runs this week I haven’t been doing 15 minutes of exercise each morning and I haven’t done a full week or resistance exercise either. This has given my muscles a chance to ‘recover’ and to take on some glycogen, which in turn requires water, and my muscles are heavier due to them being more full of energy.

After a full week of exercise I would expect a lot of this ‘additional’ lean weight to reduce as the muscles once again run out of energy and, combined with the low calorie diet, don’t get full again. I don’t want to perpetually live in a state of low energy in the muscles but as part of losing body fat it seems to be working right now. I look forward to being able to fill my muscles with energy again once I get to single digit body fat percentage.

I was right about listening to my body yesterday as I have woken up with a sore throat this morning. My body must have known it under attack and prevented me from draining its resources.

Late afternoon I went for my third run. I was pleased that I was able to run the whole mile of the old railway track in one direction, walk for a minute or so, and then run the whole way back again. So I managed to do the run in two goes rather than the seven or eight that it took me last time. I was running a bit slower today which may have contributed to the greater endurance. While I was running I remembered reading ‘Slow Burn’ by Stu Mittleman a year ago and he said that in order run long endurance he needs to run at a pace he can sustain indefinitely. I know two miles is hardly indefinitely but it is a long way for me right now.

After the run I went on the Bowflex for a resistance workout. I still don’t feel as strong as I did. I need to find out why this is but when I start a new cycle of training I think I will lower the weights and start working up from there again. I was making great progress over the first 6 weeks and the progress appears to have stopped.

Once again I am pleased with the reduction in my torso when viewed from the side. I think I am starting to look quite different now. There are lots of little subtle changes that make me smile. Looking at this photograph is going to be the once that keeps me going to the end of the project.

Although I still have big bulges at the sides my posture looks a whole lot more comfortable now. There is something more ‘balanced’ about the picture on the right.

My back looks a completely different shape also. The skin tone looks improved and the whole shape of the upper back and shoulders look leaner and more balanced.

I am not trying to kid myself. I know I still have a long way to go to get to a single digit body fat percentage. It isn’t going to happen in Phase 1 but will almost certainly happen in Phase 2.

When challenged with the two options of losing fat or building muscle I must remind myself that Phase 1 and Phase 2 are all about losing fat. I need to keep what little muscle I already have but LOSING FAT is the priority. Once I have achieved the ripped look I can then eat and train to gain additional muscle.

Health is the primary aim of this project so losing fat and eating healthily has to be a priority.

This week my key statistics are:

• I am 5′ 6.5″ tall
• Weight: 12 st. 12.5 lbs. (180.5 lbs.) – 4 lbs. loss in the last week
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 5mm (42mm down to 37mm)
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 5mm (30mm down to 25mm)
• Body fat: 25.3%

My biggest surprise was the 4 lb. weight loss in this past week. I was a bit worried that I had been losing muscle and not fat but looking at the statistics it looks like I have actually put on some lean mass in this last week. I have been taking body fat pinches each week and using a formula to calculate my body fat percentage. I have to admit that there is probably a degree of inaccuracy in this process but it has been done consistently and the results should be comparable week on week.

So, here is a review of my first 6 weeks on Phase 1. Firstly I will take a look at my weight loss. About 4 days before starting Phase 1 I weighed in at 14 stone and 1 pound. By the time I had started Phase 1, and lost ‘fluid’ weight I was 13 stone and 11 pounds (193 lbs). Today I am 12 stone and 12.5 pounds (180.5 lbs). So in 6 weeks I have lost 12.5 lbs of weight. My biggest question was how much of this was fat?

On a weekly basis I calculated my body fat percentage. I started off at 34.9% and today I am 25.3%. So in 6 weeks I have reduced my body fat percentage by 11.4%.

Taking this figure I could then work out how much of my body is lean mass and how much is muscle. I started out with a lean mass of 125.6 lbs. and today I have a lean mass of 134.8 lbs. So in 6 weeks I have added 9.2 lbs. of lean mass (hopefully mostly muscle). I have been extremely pleased that this has increased each week.

Which leaves fat. How much fat have I lost in the last 6 weeks? Weighing ourselves can’t tell us how much fat we have lost because we weigh fat, muscle, bones, organs, etc. all together.  According to my calculations I started off with 67.3 lbs. of fat. Today I have 45.6 lbs. of fat. So in the last 6 weeks I have lost 21.7 lbs. of fat. This is the key figure that I have been interested in. I am delighted to have lost so much fat in such a short space of time. 

Right now I am feeling pretty good about myself. My resistance training is keeping, and increasing, my lean mass and my regular exercise combined with my predominantly raw food diet has helped my body to use fat for energy.

On the downside I am a little frustrated with my waist. Although it has reduced a little it is still only 1.5 inches less than it was 6 weeks ago. I knew that the fat around my waist will probably be the last to go and as I am still a far way off from that point then it is hanging around a bit longer. I can detect my legs being a lot leaner than they were and also my upper torso. The fat around my mid section is reducing and it feels different, and looser, than previous but the tape tells a different story.

Here are my progress photos.

In my side shot my torso is now so much thinner and less swollen than it was 6 weeks ago. I am really pleased with the side view as it shows that I have started to transform my physique. My belly now doesn’t overhang the shorts anywhere near what it did.

From the front there is also a clear reduction in the waist area. There is still a bulge at the sides, but the bulge appears to be reducing from the bottom upwards.

At the back the whole of my back area appears narrower than it was 6 weeks earlier. The creases, which I have come to hate, are now starting to fade. They are still there but are showing signs of diminishing.

Tonight I am going to go for a run. I haven’t run for a while and have never managed to get enough fitness to enjoy it in the past. I have been inspired to give it another go by joining a challenge set by Lilla. I have ordered a Nike+ sports kit for the iPod Nano and will use it to log my runs once it arrives. I don’t imagine that I will get that far tonight but I have to make a start. 

Only last year by entering the ‘end to end’ mountain bike challenge did I realise that I never cycled fast enough. Cycling by myself I was always content with the speed I was going and used to ride at below my capacity, therefore never getting any faster. Today I am a lot faster a cyclist because I know I have to push myself harder, but I also know that I can cope with a faster pace. I am going to see if I can apply the same principle to my running. I have never managed anything faster than a jog so tonight I am going to run fast. I may not get far but I think I am better running fast and walking (interval style) than just jogging along for ever (not that I can do that either).

The last thing to do this evening after the kids are in bed is to plan my next 6 weeks of resistance workouts. I will post more when I have finalised the plan.

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 13 st. 2.5 lbs. (184.5 lbs.) - 1.5 lbs. loss in the last week
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 4mm (46mm down to 42mm)

My body fat is reducing week on week and I have some exciting progress to chart next week in my 6 week review. My body fat pinches are reducing and although my photographs don’t show it well I am losing fat.

After having a fruit smoothie I topped up a couple of water bottles and set off on my road bike. I had a go at riding part way round the Isle of Man TT course. I went from Ballaugh to Ramsey and then up the mountain climb. The climb was slow and hot. There was another rider out on a mountain bike so I followed him up. He looked like he had done it before so I used his pace as a guide. My bike was probably a bit faster with lower rolling resistance but he was clearly fitter than I was.

There was a big climb involved in the ride. I had gone from sea level in Ramsey to 400 metres above sea level at Brandywell. Hardly the Tour de France but challenging all the same. The day was lovely and there was very little wind. At Brandywell I turned right and headed back to Kirk Michael and then on to Ballaugh. The loop was 25 miles in length and it took me 1:51 hours. My plan is to cycle the full 37.75 miles around the course by the end of the Summer.

I spent the afternoon in the garden seeing to my vegetable patch. Our brassicas are at risk from caterpillars at the moment so we had to install a bigger net than the one we had been using up to now.

Looking at my side I can again see that my torso is starting to look less swollen and leaner than it was at the start of the project. My waist is so much larger than I want it to be but each week it is getting smaller and I am sure the changes will be permanent.

The overhang at the front of my shorts is getting smaller which is good news. I think I could do with a bit more muscle in those arms though.

Those bulges around my waist are starting to show signs of reduction and the skin folds are starting to appear lighter, and therefore less deep. I want to see those folds disappear by the end of phase 1 in 7 weeks time.

Having a ripped muscular physique seems so far away but by persevering I am sure that by the end of Phase 2 my body will be both healthy and ripped.

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 13 st. 4 lbs. (186 lbs.) - 1 lb. loss in the last week
• Small reduction in waist measurements
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 6mm (52mm down to 46mm)
• Increase in chest measurement from 43″ to 44″ – increase of 1″

My first observation of this week is that I only lost 1 lb. of weight. At first I was a little disappointed but when I took a look at my body fat composition it appears that I have put on 1.5 lbs. of lean mass in the last week so, in theory, I have lost 2.5 lbs. of fat and gained 1.5 lbs. of muscle giving a net weight loss of 1.5 lbs. I think that my muscle gain may have been mainly in the chest and back giving me a slightly larger chest measurement today.

The big thing I wanted to do today is take a look at my photographic progress and see what changes I can observe during these first 4 weeks. I thought it would take about 4 weeks to see any significant change so today I expect to see some. Here are my photos.

The past few weeks I have been a little disappointed with my front and back shot comparisons as the changes seemed subtle. I had never done a side shot comparison. So today for the first time I am taking a look at my body from side.

There is a big reduction in the swelling in my torso. The depth of my torso seems reduced and the overhang at the front of my shorts doesn’t appear as pronounced. The depth of my upper body from chest to back appears to be narrower, when in fact the measurement has increased. This must be due to the increase of muscle in this area with the reduction of body fat.

Looking at the front shot I can see that the overhang at the sides of my waist appear different. There appears to be a defined area at the sides. The bulge on my left hand side (right in the picture) also appears to have reduced in size overall, although it looks worse as it is now protruding.

Looking at the back the bulge on the right hand side of my waist appears to have reduced in size. The bulge on my left hand side has reduced at the bottom leaving an odd shaped protrusion higher up. My waist now has an asymmetrical look. It may just be wishful thinking but the crease on the right hand side of my back appears to be slightly lighter than on the day 1 photo. I would love those creases, and the bulges, to be gone by the end of phase 1 (8 weeks to go).

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 13 st. 5 lbs. (187 lbs.) – 1.5 lbs loss in last week
• Waist at belt: 39.5″ - 0.5″ loss in the last week
• Most other body statistics similar

While most of my body measurements remain static, especially around the torso, strange things have been happening with my thighs. Body fat pinches have been the same for my chest and waist but I have seen the measurements in my thigh decrease from 42mm on Day 1 to 22mm on Day 22. With that reduction in fat around the thigh comes an increase in circumference of 1/2 an inch. So the muscles in my thighs are definitely growing with all of this exercise.

After the measurements I spent 15 minutes on the Concept 2 rower and covered 3200 metres. A quick shower and then I was out for a ride on my motorcycle with my mate Brian. It seemed like a nice day and the air was so clear it was easy to see across the Irish Sea.

So, in the afternoon the whole family want for a walk up Snaefell – the highest hill/mountain on the Isle of Man. It is a fairly sleep climb and I was amazed that near the top, where my wife was out of breath, my 3 year old daughter was chatting away. I was extremely impressed with both of my kids efforts to climb the hill. It took 30 minutes to get to the top. It was a nice day and from the top we could see Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales.

I had some work to prepare for a ‘super learning day’ at school this week so was running late. I had it finished just before 9:00 pm so I went to do my resistance training on the Bowflex a little late. I decided to do only one set per exercise to make the workout a short one. To be honest, I feel a lot better with a one set workout. It lets me give maximum effort on the one set. I have found that for the last couple of weeks I never got many reps out of my second sets as I have fully fatigued my muscles on one set.  I think I will return to one set training with the occational two set if I think it can help me fatigue my muscles more.

I am starting to feel a lot fitter but the photos show little change at present.

Although I still have a high amount of fat on my torso it is noticeable that the overhang over my shorts is smaller than on Day 1 and the overall swollen look of my abdomen in reduced.

On my back the bulge is still present around my waist (as I feel it may be for a while) but there is a small but noticeable difference at the bottom of the left hand bulge. It tapers in which may contribute to the reduction in my waist size.

I am really looking forward to seeing those creases in my back disappear. Looking at these pictures weekly will remind me why I need to continue daily.

This week my key statistics are:

• Weight: 13 st. 6.5 lbs (188.5 lbs.) - 2 lb loss in the last week
• Waist at navel: 41″ - 1″ loss in the last week 
• Waist at belt: 39.5″ - 0.5″ loss in the last week
• Chest: 43.25″ - 0.25″ gain in the last week

I am pleased to lose another 2lb of weight. Initial indications are that body fat is being lost and that there is possibly some gain in lean body mass. The growth in my chest measurement would indicate some muscular growth in my back and chest muscles. My thigh has gained 0.25 of an inch over the last week also. If I can sustain a 2 lb. weight loss every week during phase 1 then I will be happy.

That 1″ loss around my waist is a welcome sign to me. I can’t believe that I let my waist grow so large. I didn’t actually think it was so big until I started this project and measured it.

After the measurements I went for my 15 minutes exercise. I rowed on the Concept 2 rowing machine and covered 3200m. Although I wasn’t pushing hard I can tell there is a big improvement in my fitness and stamina over the last two weeks.

During the afternoon I went for a 9.9 mile cycle to Sulby Bridge and then back along the Jurby Road to the Cronk. This took me 35 minutes at a steady pace. I have a ride out with school coming up on the 17th July and we will be riding about 25 miles so I need to ensure I have at least acclimatised myself to riding the bike a few times before the event.

I am a little bit disappointed that I still have an enormous amount of fat to lose. I am pleased with the ‘statistical’ progress so far but need to reassure myself that regaining health and becoming ‘ripped’ is a continual process and I have to simply carry on what I am doing day in and day out. I am eating clean and training hard.

I have now found a healthy eating strategy that I feel I can maintain indefinitely. If that is the case then these improvements should be expected every fortnight.

I still have the bulge at my waist but the overhang is now ‘subtly’ less than it was. I look forward to the day the overhand disappears.

It is difficult to find any improvement in the back at this early stage. Once again that bulge around my waist is a real nuisance and I am really looking forward to seeing it gone. I think that fat around the abdomen can be the last fat to go so I may see it hanging around for a short while yet.