How Janice Halved Her Body Fat In 1 Year To Look And Feel Her Best
Janice, 28, Consultant, Accenture
Here’s a look back at one incredibly impressive body transformation. We initially started training over 4 years ago and during the first year, Janice managed to half her body fat numbers and then turn around and build her legs, glutes and abs and get into amazing shape! Absolutely fantastic! Let’s have a look at some of her accomplishments over time:
Janice went from 28% body fat to 14% body fat within 12 months!
Crazy numbers considering she’s never done this before. The first year of Janice’s training was all about getting lean and she did incredibly great! The jump from 28% to 14% happened in 2 rounds when first we managed to get her down from 28% to 20% in her first 12 weeks and then because Janice liked the results and wanted to get even leaner we tested her limits and got down to 14% after a few months. Apart from the physical change itself, Janice could see a massive change in her energy, understanding of her own body and food, improved perception of herself and a new passion that was built of her new habits, as well as new sense of belonging.
Let's See What Key Factors Contributed To Her Change!
Defining clear goals.
Janice’s first goal was to get lean so we set up to target fat loss in the first few months. Since she was already very light at the time we also wanted to maintain her bodyweight and only change her body composition. The first push took us about 12 weeks, followed by a few months of maintenance and then another 12 weeks of going from 20% down to 14%. Once she got lean, our focus changed to building a bit of muscle around her legs, glutes and abs in particular.
Keeping the workouts varied.
Together with body composition, Janice had a variety of training goals as well so we built her programme in a way that would allow us to target them step by step. Our training was done in phases, and our workouts were varied over these phases as well. The main concept behind her workouts was keeping them effective yet enjoyable. In our training we used a combination of resistance training and HIIT training using her own bodyweight, weights and HIIT equipment (kettlebells, TRX, jumping boxes, even Bulgarian bags..)
From food to nutrition.
This is the area that’s made the biggest difference. While the workouts were demanding on energy and recovery, Janice managed to upgrade her nutrition and eating very quickly to support her training while enjoying it at the same time! The funny thing about her change was her colleagues struggling to understand how she was getting lean while eating more than anyone else during the work hours.
Weekly measurements.
Initially we started with a handheld bioimpedance machine and we then moved onto more complex one that kept the measurements history and created visual charts of Janices progress as well. This is one of the things that helped Janice keep her motivation up. The other thing was seeing the physical change and getting leaner as the weeks gone by. Janices ultimate goal was to get 2 lines on her abs which she eventually achieved. Well done!
Focusing on legs, glutes and abs.
Once Janice got lean, our focus then moved to building her lower body and abs. The training became purely about lifting and the nutrition about fuelling her training goals and keeping her energy up.
Building a sustainable lifestyle.
All along, one of our main goals was sustainability. Janice being a consultant had her own specific requirements in terms of time and effort she wanted to commit. The strategy we used worked for her really well and she achieved some very impressive results. She now continues to maintain her fitness and shape and living a lifestyle with lots of energy.
Great transformation story with brilliant results.
Janice’s Perspective On Things
Janice – My story starts about 4 years ago when I graduated from university and started working a 9-5 office job. While I’ve never had any weight or health problems, I noticed that I was just constantly tired.
I was a little concerned, wondering if I was already getting old, which was a ridiculous thought at age 24. But looking back, I had become more health conscious if anything, since my university days. I was eating home cooked food more, going out less and sleeping more. I had no idea why I was so tired all the time. I remember weekends where I would do almost nothing, apart from eating, sleeping and watching Sunday TV at home, yet I would still start Monday feeling exhausted.
Growing up, I had always been on the ‘skinny’ side, so I never felt a huge desire or need to work out or pay much attention to physical exercise. When I was still at school, I actually got quite active – the school netball team, long distance running, even tried my hand at water polo for a little bit, but I had never really joined any gym or training programmes properly. The few times I’ve visited a gym with friends or family, I would just stick to the trustworthy treadmill, which I found immensely boring anyway. Despite being naturally very petite, I’ve always had some flab around my stomach, and like many others before me, bought copies of magazines and tried out various 28-day beach body plans, which brought no results at all. But what really pushed me over the edge and decided to start training properly, was when I saw my brother and his fiancée (now wife) a few months before their wedding. They were positively glowing! When I found out that their secret to looking so good was that they had started hitting the gym with a structured programme and better nutrition, I decided I had to do the same.
Do You Want To Transform Your Body And Enrich Your City Life?
I think within the first few sessions of training, I realised that a lot of my previous ideas about health, fitness and nutrition were either unfounded or mistaken. I grew up thinking that looking skinny equals to being healthy, and while I am a self-proclaimed foodie and a great cook, I knew hardly anything about nutrition. Also, I felt pretty shocked when I measured at 28% body fat in my first session.
I still remember during my first session, I couldn’t even perform a single standard squat. But Vlad clearly had enough experience to design my training in a way that didn’t discourage or intimidate me. Instead, I felt increasingly empowered every session to try new exercises or to push harder with heavier weights. In the short space of 3 months, through a combination of training at the gym, and better nutrition, I had dropped down to 20% body fat, and also gained many new personal bests in lifting!
A side benefit that I didn’t expect, was that the back pain I was starting to get from carrying my laptop around with me every day, had slowly disappeared. I was sleeping better, and over time, became the most energetic person in the office.
Since then, I’ve been inspired to learn more about nutrition and fitness in general, and feel much more in control of my health. Instead of always wondering and guessing about what exercises to do, what to eat, I now feel confident that I can enjoy myself while on holiday, and still know exactly how to get myself back to my best shape.
Asking Janice About Her Experience
So Janice, well done for all the progress made from day 1. Looking back to your early days in the gym, how do you feel now compared to when we started training together?
When we started training together, I felt quite intimated and honestly, a bit useless in the gym, both because I had no clue what to do with most of the equipment, and also I was physically unable to perform a lot of the exercises with good form. I never woke up feeling fresh, and I would always fall asleep after dinner on my sofa. It was such a bad cycle! Now, I feel confident walking into the gym, knowing that I have a big range of exercises I can do, and I also feel more energetic every day. I used to drink endless cups of tea every day to stay awake, but now I just enjoy a balanced diet, and much better sleep every night! In some ways, I feel like I got more youthful and I'm definitely much more active in my life now!
Just for anyone who’s reading this to understand what has your training and progress been in the past?
I used to be quite active at school, exercised 6 days a week through various school teams, but once I started university, it all disappeared! I had one introductory session with a PT when I was 16 but never followed up and I never measured any progress before or was consistent with training or exercise and eating. There was very little that I did about this before because I never looked obviously fat so I don’t think I took any action, apart from following magazine diets or workout plans. My main obstacles used to be thinking that I was ok just because I looked slim and also the lack of confidence to use anything apart from the treadmill at the gym.
What was the pivotal moment that made you think ok let’s do this?
When I saw how great my brother and his fiancée looked, and felt embarrassed that I was younger but felt and looked worse – I was frequently falling asleep on my sofa after dinner!
What’s the most important factor for you when training?
To not feel ‘stupid’ – as in, to have good intros to new exercises so I don’t feel intimated or discouraged; also, I needed workouts that I enjoyed otherwise I knew I wouldn’t follow through.
What about Sets In The City contributed to your achievements? What are your thoughts about training?
The fact that it really worked for my lifestyle – I was able to commit to 3 workouts a week, I didn’t feel like I had to stretch my schedule any more than that. The most important thing that I've learned from our training is that you can always do one more rep! This translates to other areas of my life as well – basically if you have a strong enough motivation, you will be able to push yourself through pretty much anything. I used to think I had to eat like a rabbit and train like an athlete to get in shape, but this programme showed me that I can make it work with my lifestyle and still get great results. And now I’ve definitely become much more aware about what I’m eating, and also it helped me build a sustainable fitness regime into my lifestyle.
What is the greatest value training together has brought to you?
It made me realise that it is never too late to start caring about my health, and that misconceptions about fitness and nutrition are exactly just that – misconceptions! This programme is all about making it work for your lifestyle, instead of making you a slave to some crazy regime that you won’t keep up with. I had no idea that being in a better place physically could make me feel so much better mentally! The energy, confidence and liveliness is simply irreplaceable.
What are your top 3 pieces of advice/tips for people in a similar position that you were in?
1. Don’t be intimidated just because it’s new/foreign to you, nothing is new after the first time 🙂
2. There is always a way to make it work with your lifestyle; you can always find time in your busy schedule, you just need to re-prioritise health
3. Don’t blame/guilt yourself – if you slip off your routine, focus on bouncing back, not feeling bad about eating a slice of pizza at a birthday meal
In your opinion who is Sets In The City perfect for?
Sets In The City is perfect for people who spend most of their weeks in an office, who always wake up feeling tired, want to feel better but aren’t sure they can completely cut out naughty things in their diets!
In your opinion, can anyone lose 5% body fat or 5kg bodyweight within 12 weeks while working in a busy city job?
Absolutely! I lost 8% within 12 weeks, all while having my busy city job.
Explore Other Successful Body Transformations
Kumar, 29, Amazon
When Kumar first came to our PT studio, he came with an idea of changing his lifestyle, losing some weight and gaining definition on his body. After the first few weeks, this idea became a mission and his early progress inspired a brilliant and very impressive body transformation he continues to be on.
Kumar's lost 15kg of body fat in 7 months of training in total!!