Question. Can you get leaner without starving yourself? Can you build muscle and drink beer? Can you drop body fat and still look a carbohydrate directly in the eye? Can you be in a more confident place with how you look and feel whilst still enjoying your life and seeing your mates?

The answer is yes of course you can. The below before and after images are not going to break the internet, nor will they make the front page of Men’s Health, but it does prove a point that with a combination of training hard, being focussed on what it is you want…and importantly why you want it, you can achieve such things without any drastic changes to your lifestyle.

With my above client we simply implemented what I call ‘Fat Loss Strategies for the normal bloke’

That is a little tongue in cheek, and there was a lot of sweat and hard work but if you’re willing to train hard 2 to 3 times per week, be more aware of what you’re eating, cut the crap where you can and move more you can actually look pretty good.

Below my client trained with me 2 to 3 times per week, added in a run or two now and again, upped protein levels because they were a little low, focussed a little more on rest, recovery and sleep and achieved pretty good results in a 6 weeks period.

What is important here is that there was little to no calorie deficit, calories were not tracked and carbohydrates were consumed. You don’t need to completely transform how you look, a drastic transformation requires drastic changes in lifestyle, nutrition and training and its bloody hard.

If you’re however willing to make a few lifestyle changes that’ll actually benefit your overall health you can.

We kept the process simple. In order for fat loss to occur, which was the primary goal either energy in (food/drink) we consume or energy out (exercise) had to be manipulated. During this particular process output was going to be the main focus.

Increasing TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) so for example moving more throughout the day, lifting weights 2 to 3 times per week and adding some steady state cardio in which worked well for this particular person lead to some fantastic changes.

I have worked in the City long enough now to know that client entertaining, socialising with friends, travelling for extended periods of time with work is something that cannot be escaped. And it is not my style to tell someone they can’t enjoy a wine or beer with their partner or friends, I certainly do. It’s not realistic. But that does not mean to say that great things cannot be achieved.

Think about what it is you want and why you want it. Delve deep into that. And lastly don’t be afraid!! You don’t need to be a size 4 or have wash board abs to improve your confidence and how you feel about yourself. Make a number of small adjustments to your lifestyle and if done consistently you’ll see results.