Introduction

Between a year and 18 months ago a few things coincided with each other that I suppose were a catalyst for some big changes in how I operate day to day and view the world. From memory the first thing was thinking about savings and long term financial growth (super fun) and reading a couple of books on passive income and property investment. Around the same time I was frequently diving into Instagram reel rabbit holes and kept seeing reels to the effect of “My top 5 books for self improvement”. I saved a few of these for later, and naturally the algorithm being built for me ended up supplying me loads of these. This led me to listening a couple of productivity books which made a small impact on my work productivity. Not long after this I was thinking more about how I was about to become a father and some serious nesting occurred around the house and I was mentally trying to plan for how I was likely have less time than I did before. Once my daughter was born I think this is when things flipped for me. Mine and my partner’s usual lazy weekends were gone. Sleeping more than 7 hours became a thing of the past and all of a sudden, around being a dad and doing additional things around the house to ease the burden on my partner, I did have actually time on my hands still. I took around 5/6 weeks off of work to ease into fatherhood but near the end of this I was missing work and my routine.

It’s worth mentioning at this point some of my background in health/fitness. I’ve been lifting weights on and off from around 2016 following a strength training routine called 531. The first 6 month sprint I went from being able to bench 70kg for 1 rep, to 8 reps - not bad progress I thought. I was on and off again with this and didn’t make many strength gains for a long time. About 6 months into 2021 I decided to really push with the programme and see what I could do. I managed to make my way up to 100kg bench for 1, and then within several months 125kg for one. However… looking back I was not fueling my body correctly to the point I gained a lot of unnecessary weight and peaked at 96kg. I wont lie, I felt big and powerful, but I really wasn’t “fit” or in good shape. Running back then was a joke, spin bike sessions were brutal, and I was getting out of breath running up and down the stairs. I think it was around mid to the end of 2021 I decided it was time to drop a bit of the weight I had gained. I rapidly dropped a few kg and then a few more slowly came off over the subsequent months.

So back to the story. I headed back to work and at this point my weight was around 86kg. I’d been somewhat following the We Hack Health community for a while and my impression (a wrong one) was that I was doing everything right other than my nutrition. I’d eat reasonably well throughout the week but as soon as the weekend would arrive I’d just undo any deficit of calories I had built up by over indulging or ordering a massive takeaway. I thought about it for a few weeks and eventually reached out to Ben. This started a journey of improvement that has seen some significant changes in my life:

  • Dropped from 86kg to 65kg
  • I wake up early almost everyday
  • I seize the day and get things done, rather than think about said things and put them off indefinitely
  • I’m more productive at work and follow a good time management system, no more procrastination
  • No brain fog
  • I’m more confident in myself and my abilities
  • My mindset is more positive and I’m more grateful for what I have
  • I have basically unlimited energy

… and probably many more things that I’ve forgotten.

Just to say, if you go “wait a minute, where are the comparison photos?” while the original plan for me was to lean up, working with Ben to reach where I am today has unlocked far more in myself than I expected, and the outcome is far more important (in my opinion) than a before and after. I want this post to be more about how I got to where I am and the improvements in other areas of my life than fixating on a point in time picture. Ben covered this on twitter too.

In the spirit of keeping this aligned to the 4 pillars of the We Hack Health group, I’ll break down my journey into the following sections:

  • Lifestyle
  • Mindset
  • Nutrition
  • Body

This rather large post is a brain dump of things that worked for me and some tips and tricks. Not really a guide.

Note: for nutrition & some workout stuff, most of what I’m writing about is from the perspective of me being in a calorie deficit for fat loss. I’ll probably need to do another post like this in a few months from the perspective of being in a calorie surplus.

Lifestyle

One thing that helped massively in my journey was having a lifting routine already in place. When lunch time came around I knew that it was time to pause work and head to the garage and lift some heavy stuff. If you’re starting from zero dragging yourself to the gym might be something that takes a bit of effort at first (you don’t see immediate results and it often doesn’t feel great the first days after lifting…) but once this is baked into your day it matters less about it something you have to drag yourself to, you just do it because that’s what time it is. Sure there’s days you feel like you don’t want to go, but these are the days that are the most important to go. You’ll be stronger for it leaving the gym knowing that you thought about sacking if off and not doing it.

Outside the lifting I’ve always made a conscious effort to ensure that as much of tomorrow’s prep for food is done. This gives me zero excuses to not eat what’s in the house and I don’t have an excuse to go out and get some filthy petrol station sandwich or sausage roll.

Before bed I:

  • Weigh out my protein powder into designated containers, with one having my 5g of creatine for he day
  • I prep my lunch time salad for the next day, which i’ll eat with some chicken or tuna steak
  • I leave out the frying pan, a plate and knife and fork so breakfast making is slightly faster
  • Kettle is filled for when I get up for my morning coffee

There’s other things I ensure are done before I go to bed too which may otherwise slow me down in the morning such as emptying the dishwasher and getting a load of washing ready to I can kick it off in the morning. A lot of this is reflected in a quote from “The Organised Mum Method”:

“Help your future self”

If there’s ever a task in front of me, whether dirty baby bottles, mess from cooking dinner or some other housework I’ll generally try to acknowledge that doing this now is going to mean I don’t have to bother my future self with the task later.

The newest and most important part of my routine has to be my wake up time. Since becoming a father sleep wasn’t something I was getting as much of anyway but now I actually choose to get less. I’ve found that I can typically function on 6 to 6 and a half hours of sleep, which actually means I can sleep at around 10/10:30 and get up at 6:30. This unlocks loads of additional hours across the week where I can read, code or learn something new. Also, it’s the only way I can squeeze in some gaming time for myself for an hour or so at the weekends before it’s daddy time.

It’s worth mentioning audiobooks again. Audiobooks (and podcasts) have been an excellent way for me to do two things at once, or a way to turn boring task into something more enjoyable. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for many years and they’ve seen me through many dull car journeys, flights across the atlantic and decorating. These days I don’t travel much for work which means I don’t do as much listening but I do try to squeeze them in when I can. I’ve found that I can listen to an audiobook while I’m doing house work, mowing the lawn or walking around the shops. If you can couple audiobooks with going out on a walk you’ll find that you can get a lot of listening done in a short space of time whilst also getting some fresh air and steps in.

Mindset

The goal of this journey, in my view, is getting to a point where you can look back and not understand why the old you doesn’t act like the new you. I don’t know when the switch finally flipped for me, I mean maybe it was a gradual thing. But I do know that I’m not the same person I was 6 months ago. I’m more confident, more positive, energetic and more driven. I’m not saying I’m perfect, I still have my bad days and I still have some bad habits. But I’m not the same person I was. I suspect that being consistent with nutrition, workouts, steps (well I try my best with steps) has transferred into my job and hobbies. More energy available to get things done, more focus to get the most out of each day.

A big identity change for me was when I was at my internal company conference and I stuck with calorie targets, got my steps in (and then some) and didn’t drink. I felt like I could say “no” to eating rubbish and/or in excess and having one too many drinks, without having the need to justify myself. I felt more like I was now a person that prioritised health and fitness rather than someone that would have an entire week off just because I was away from my routine. Now, this isn’t to say I’ve not had days where I’ve eaten like a horse, or had a couple drinks. It’s more that knowing that I can manage situations where the temptation to eat badly or drink is high, but being able to navigate through it.

I’d have to credit a big influence on my mindset shift to a small handful of motivational & inspirational songs that are sprinkled through my gym playlist. Some folks will think this is corny or weird but I really do think they changed my perspective on a lot of things and made me feel more positive and energetic about work, life and fitness.

Fvck Normal - BIGMOO, Jason Capital

Remember Why You Started - Fearless Motivation

Heart of the Cirty (Who Dat) - Mf’n Music

Titans - BIGMOO, Bedros Keuilian

Good - Jocko Willink

Discipline Equals Freedom - Jocko Willink

There Must Be Disipline - Jocko Willink

Legacy - BIGMOO

I don’t think these are for everyone, but try them out and see if they work for you. I’ve found that listening to these songs when I’m feeling a bit down or unmotivated can really help me get back on track.

Finally, I’d like to mention the 555 Club. Each weekday, for 15 minutes, I try to grab a session with Shaun for breath work, meditation and showing gratitude. The first few times doing this it did feel a bit weird, but over time this has become a means for me to disconnect from my busy schedule and reset. I’ve had some very stressful personal life stuff happen over the last few months and having this in my schedule really helped, especially late at night when I couldn’t sleep (literally scrambling around on Spotify at 00:30 trying to find a passable replacement for Shaun’s calming voice). Definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t tried breath work or meditation before to give it a go for a couple of weeks and see if you notice the difference. Bonus points for journalling and writing what you’re grateful for.

Nutrition

So as I mentioned earlier a big part of me reaching out to Ben was my eating. I really wanted that accountability for my nutrition. Once I had someone other than myself scrutinising my food diary I found that I was not going overboard on the weekends, and when meals out or takeaways were involved I was able to keep my calories in check.

It took a few weeks to get into the swing of things and really get aligned to the ask, but once I was there it helped massively. While the goal was to eat specific calories per day (e.g. 2100 for non-training day, 2300 for a training day) deviating is OK as long as the overall calorie goal was met, and ideally keeping up somewhat aligned to my macro goals.

I have to say I think I’m quite lucky that I can generally eat the same breakfast and lunch over and over again. Dinners are different each night, but often have the same dinners each week. If you’re able to cope with this it can really help with meal planning and copying stuff from previous day in your food tracker (see myfitnesspal stuff a little later).

Here’s a typical day for me (from breakfast to lunch) (note that I’m in a calorie surplus so which is why I’m eating these cocopops):

Breakfast

  • Protein Shake: 30g protein shake, 300ml water, 5g creatine (ice cube in the shaker because this stuff is nicer when chilled)
  • Meal:
    • 2 sprays from a spray bottle of rapeseed oil in fry pan
    • 1 large egg, 3 large egg whites only, fried
    • 2 slices of seeded bread, toasted
    • 30g of ketchup
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 537
    • Protein: 49g
    • Carbs: 46g
    • Fats: 14g

Pre-workout

  • 100g CocoPops
  • 250ml semi-skimmed milk
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 512
    • Protein: 15g
    • Carbs: 96g
    • Fats: 6g
  • Note: this is a lot of cocopops and I’m still working out if my body really wants/needs this much pre-workout!

Post workout

  • Protein Shake: 30g protein shake, 300ml water (ice cube in the shaker because this stuff is nice when chilled)
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 112
    • Protein: 22.5g
    • Carbs: 1.4g
    • Fats: 1.4g

Lunch

  • Big plate of:
    • Spinach
    • Rocket
    • ~6 olives
    • cherry tomatoes
    • Spring onion
    • Celery
    • Cucumber
    • 25g of Sriracha / 15g of mustard
    • 300g of chicken breast (or 200g of tuna steak)
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 471
    • Protein: 78g
    • Carbs: 21g
    • Fats: 9g

As said I’ve got a few dinners on rotation, here are the top favs:

Salmon, Couscous & Veg

  • Salon Fillet
  • Couscous
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1/2 courgette
  • 1/2 a red pepper
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • 4-6 sprays of rapeseed oil
  • 35g of sriracha
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 553
    • Protein: 36g
    • Carbs: 62g
    • Fats: 18g

Cod Stir Fry

  • Stir fry mix
  • 65g baby corn
  • 140g cod fillet
  • Noodles
  • Stir fry sauce
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 461
    • Protein: 34g
    • Carbs: 56g
    • Fats: 13g

Turkey Stir Fry

  • Stir fry mix
  • 65g baby corn
  • 200g turkey fillets
  • Noodles
  • Stir fry sauce
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 651
    • Protein: 68g
    • Carbs: 73g
    • Fats: 11g

Turkey Tacos

  • 6 taco shells (sorry soft shell taco lovers but crunchy taco shells are the best)
  • Taco flavour mix
  • 250g turkey mince
  • Beef stock cube (this is the key to turning turkey into beef!)
  • 1/4 lettuce
  • Half a pot of salsa
  • 30g low fat cheese
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 895
    • Protein: 69g
    • Carbs: 74g
    • Fats: 34g

Turkey Burgers

  • Brioche Bun
  • 2 sliced pickles
  • 3 slices of dirty plastic cheese
  • 15g mustard
  • 15g ketchup
  • 250g beef mince (5% fat - turkey mince is better)
  • Beef stock cube (this is the key to turning turkey into beef!)
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1/2 courgette
  • 1/2 a red pepper
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • 3-4 sprays of rapeseed oil
  • Calories & macros
    • Calories: 743
    • Protein: 73g
    • Carbs: 63g
    • Fats: 22g

Here’s a pick of this one, mainly to show you can have something that’s scrumptious and work it into your calorie goals:

triple stack burgers

Macros

My learnings on macros at a super high level:

  • Protein for muscle maintenance growth. Also for fullness
  • Carbs for energy
  • Fats for hormones - you don’t need massive amounts! Also, and this was eye opening, the lower your fats, the more calories you have to play with. 1g of fat is 9 calories. By swapping 4 large eggs for 1 large egg and 3 large egg egg whites I went from 260 calories (24g of protein) to 121 calories (17g of protein). So while the protein took a small hit I unlocked around 140 calories I could eat.
  • Fibre for your digestive system

Here are my macro targets on 2400 calories for reference:

  • 200g of protein
  • 265g of carbs
  • 60g of fat

A quote from Ben, which is a quote from his friend Helmi:

“Calories define your weight, macros define your composition.”

At least that’s what I think it was anyway. Either way, if you’re in a calorie surplus and looking to gain muscle, go easy on the fats.

Oh pro tip while we’re talking protein. If you have empty protein tubs knocking about and young children consider using the tubs as used nappy bins (or diaper garbage cans if you’re using US english).

Eating What You Enjoy

Quick note, if you’re jumping into a new nutrition regime try and hack what you already enjoy eating. It can save you from eating plates of food that you do not enjoy and end up bailing on the whole idea. The flip side is it’s worth looking around for new food ideas to see if there is something else you can swap a meal out for either for variety or as something with more attractive macros.

Also, do not ban yourself from certain foods. This will just make you crave them more and you’re more likely to end up off the wagon gorging yourself silly. If you want a bit of cake, have it. If you want a cheeky bag of twiglets, have some. Moderation is key but if you do go crazy remember that all is not lost, pick yourself up the next day and move on with your journey.

Calorie Counting

Some points on myfitnesspal.

I am certainly in the camp of if you want to lose weight or just track what’s going into your body you really should be using something like myfitnespal. Folks try to guestimate their calories and hope to lose weight but I really think punching in everything (and I mean everything) that goes into your mouth into a tracker will be eye opening for anyone that has never done this before. Some things that were eye openers for me:

  • Weighing butter and oil
  • Weighing table sauces and condiments
  • Logging milk accurately

Everything adds up, one biscuit here, a sugar in your tea there, and you’ll end up way over what you’d expect. I’ve found that the more I logged the more I was able to eyeball things and get a good idea of what I was eating (although I would still track my calories). Tracking calories is a cornerstone to keeping myself accountable, to make sure I’m not eating in excess, and have a handle of what i’m putting in my body.

I’ve heard of people moaning about how it’s hard to track takeaways or restaurant meals where you can’t get the calories for things. The best guidance I’ve heard (from @HackingDave on the WeHackHealth podcast) was to overestimate and make sure you’re adding things like oil and butter to the ingredient list when they are undoubtedly in the food. Sticking with protein centric meals is a good start for eating out and going easy on those dirty fries to limit the fats and massive amounts of carbs. That said, if you’re able to plan ahead, banking a couple hundred calories a day to spend later on in the week is also a way to navigate this challenge.

One last thing, which is now a bit of a pet peeve of mine, when I hear “oh, counting calories takes too much time” sorry no it doesn’t:

myfitnesspal time usage

So I probably spent ~ 10 mins over a day logging stuff. I’ll admit that I save a lot of time from copying meals from the previous day or week but that’s exactly where folks should be ending up after a couple weeks from starting.

Body

I’ve been weighing myself daily for a long time, so this being something in the tracking I do for Ben wasn’t a new habit I needed to form. However, looking at the weekly average and comparing to the previous week was. Since, weight fluctuates daily due to a number of factors (water retention, food, exercise, etc) capturing the weight purely for the weekly average is a much better indicator of progress, and also a better way to frame your journey so you don’t freakout and give up because the scales said you gained a couple lbs from one day of eating a bit more.

Tracking body measurements was something new for me, and I’m glad I did it. I’ve been doing it for 6 months now and it’s been a great way to track progress and see the cm of my weight just drop. I’ve been taking measurements of my:

  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Chest
  • Waist
  • Abdomen
  • Hips
  • Biceps
  • Quads
  • Calfs

Watching the totals of all these measurements per week come down when compared to the previous week is a very useful indicator of slimming up (if that’s your goal). This is particularly important to do weekly as you may encounter weeks where the weight stays the same but the measurements go down. This probably means you may have lost some fat but gained muscle, which is a good thing.

In addition to the weight and measurements I try and take pictures of my front, sides and back monthly to see visual progress. I’d say this has been the most beneficial thing to look back on. Especially when you’re having a bad week and you don’t think you’re making progress. You can crack open your Week 1 picture and compare it to your latest photos and likely see a difference.

I guess if I’m talking body perhaps I should talk about some workout stuff.

As mentioned, I’d already had a few years of experience of lifting although this was focused around 4 big compound movements (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press) and a few accessory movements. Ben switched up my routine quite a lot at the beginning and we did a full body pull/push split, twice a week. It was refreshing to have some new movements into my routine (although I did miss my old routine which I’m sort of doing again now). I got stronger in a lot of new movements and discovered that my glutes and hamstrings had a lot more to give than previously thought.

Some key things I’ve learned/how I approach the gym:

  • If you’re doing planks or dead hangs or a similar type of exercise and struggling to increase times this is what I try to do mentally:
    • I set a high bar for the minimum amount of time I’m going to do this for that I know I can always do. Anything less is unacceptable
    • When I get past this point and it starts to get hard I watch the clock and tell myself I’m going to do 5 more seconds, then repeat this
    • I remember that the voice in my head telling me to stop, is literally just that, a voice in my head. I’m the one in control of my body and I can do this (you are not your thoughts - thanks Shaun @ 555 Club)
    • If you are heading for a goal and you’re almost there, when it’s 15 seconds away you can tell yourself that you can do anything for 15 seconds, most of the hard work is done and you can finish this
  • I approach the treadmill in a very similar way. I almost never set the speed to something lower than what I’ve done before. I usually run quite hard for 5-10 minutes before working out to get the heart pumping. If I know that I can run at 16kph for 10 minutes, that almost certainly means I can do 16.1kph next time. If you can convince yourself this, then you’ll be increasing these speeds every time you go to the gym to your limit (please run responsibly folks).
  • The biggest thing I’ve found with lifting weights and pushing myself is to try and remember the following when the sets are getting hard “you’re only in the gym for an hour, make it count” - there’s no point in going to the gym and doing the bare minimum. You’re there to get better, so do it.
  • Ben sets a tempo to most exercises in my routine. And while I generally had performed reps reasonably slowly, I’ve found that you can go slower, way slower. You can create a considerable burn with lighter weights and slower reps. For me, the leg extensions are the savage ones that really give s nice burn. Resistance bands are great for this in any movement, certainly tricep extensions.
  • Consider recording your lifts (side on) and check your form. If you have a trusted friend or group of friends that can provide helpful guidance (We Hack Health Discord maybe?) perhaps share with them for tips.
  • Big fan of finisher exercises, especially for arms. Check out some low weight high rep movements to really burn out your muscles before you quit your session.

Conclusion

There’s a few ways I want to wrap this up. I’ll start with what most people who want to drop a load of weight or see big changes in their lives don’t want to hear. Significant change is hard work. Dropping to 65/66kg took 6 months of ticking all (or most) of the boxes each week. If you want to make a change, you need to be prepared to put in the work (whether that’s in fitness/health, learning a new skill or something else entirely). In the wise words of Jocko:

“Discipline equals freedom”

There were days where I’d overeat, and have to pick myself up the following day and get back to the programme.

There were days when I’d be tired and not want to go to the gym, but I’d go anyway.

There were work or social events that threw spanners (wrenches) into my training and nutrition, but I’d still get back on track the next day or plan ahead to ensure I get workouts in or bank calories if required.

There were weeks where I was in hospital with my daughter but still hit the gym late at night and ensured my nutrition was on point.

There were days I was ill and couldn’t train, but I’d still try and at least eat well.

The point is, when life threw curve balls at me, I got back on track the next day or made the best out of a bad situation. Old me would have given up after a lot of the above, particularly around food fails. But now I know what can be achieved with discipline and hard work, I won’t going to go back to those days.

Handful of good quotes from the songs on my playlist:

“When you feel like quitting, remember why you started.”

“You can keep hitting the snooze button. Time will still tick. You’ll just be 10 years older, hitting the snooze button.”

There’s one quote in particular that resonated with me but I can’t for the life of me find the song it’s from. It’s something along the lines of:

“You’ve tried failure. What would it be like to try success?”

To wrap this post up I’d like to say that I’ve gained inspiration from multiple books, people and peers. A huge shout out to the BC Fam, We Hack Health group, and my partner Toni for all the support and encouragement. I’m looking forward to the next 6 months and seeing what I can achieve.

Finally, don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to be inspired by something or someone. Take that inspiration and do something with it. Remember, we don’t live forever, make every day count.

References and Further Reading

@HackingDave wrote a really good article which explains much of the above into much much more detail, check it out here.

Checkout the Hacking Your Health podcast (hosted by Ben & Dave), and the We Hack Health YouTube channel, AND the We Hack Health Discord

If you’re considering getting a coach, get in touch with Ben and book a discovery call. He’s a great guy and will help you achieve your goals. Checkout his website here

Some of the books I’ve read and listened to:

  • Atomic Habits
  • Deep Work
  • Eat That Frog
  • The Organised Mum Method (yeah I know, but it’s good)

Here’s a playlist of the motivational songs I listen to in the gym:

Here’s my whole gym playlist: