6% Down. Frame up. 90 Days of Discipline.

A 90-Day rebuild. That's what I wanted. Starting November 1st, 2025.

Why? I wasn't visibly overweight, I wasn't lacking muscle, I wasn't noticably in 'bad shape'.

But I was coming off a long summer holiday - 4 weeks in Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Italy - where I was eating all the local foods. This was reason 1 for the rebuild.

Daily cakes, pastries, sweets, pizza, pasta, Mum's home cooking.

On top of this, my protein levels were lower than normal. And I wasn't training. I had let things slip.

I'm the kind of person who likes to see data - I like to see how much protein I eat each day - and if I don't track it, my subconsious brain tells me to eat what I want and not care.

If it's not tracked it doesn't count, right?

Basically I was a loose cannon wandering around Europe eating the nicest looking things.

And, I had also found a little pick'n'mix sweet shop near where I live. I've always loved sweets. This shop was too easy to go into, fill up a bag and enjoy them, most nights.

All of this added some fat around my waist which I didn't like. I felt bad, as a trainer, a health professional, who had gained some fat. No one could really notice (or maybe they did), but if I carried on with the sweets and no nutrition plan, they would for sure.

When I got back I also broke my finger along with a ruptured tendon, which took away my favourite pass-time, golf.

I could easily spend 10 hours a week practising, playing or being at the golf club. I had a huge hole to fill, and I needed a focus for my brain to latch onto. At golf, I go into a bubble where hours fly by and I'm in a zone where it's all I focus on.

If I sit down for too long I get bored, irritable, restless and anxious. That was reason number 2 for the rebuild.

The gym I use is awesome too. It's quiet, no one bothers anyone, the equipment is first class and I enjoy being there.

So on November 1st I began. I did measurements - body fat %, circumferences and weight. I don't really care about the weight, it's more the body fat % I was interested in. With that, circumferences will also change (waist, thigh, arms, chest/back).

I wrote a workout plan for 4 days per week - each workout was 45-50 minutes - and I set up a nutrition plan to follow.

The workouts focused on strength training (weights, kettlebells), the bike for cardio intervals and boxing. One session was pure strength training - low reps, heavy weight.

Two other sessions were higher reps, still heavy, and pushing to failure every set. Even though I was in a calorie defecit, I knew strength training would maintain muscle mass (because I kept protein HIGH) and give great aesthetics when my body fat decreased.

The 4th day of training was cardio intervals - work hard for a short burst, recover, repeat. I did bike intervals for 10 minutes and hit the bag for 30 minutes (2 minutes rounds x 10). On the weekend I would also do a 45 minute fasted walk.

My broken finger was healing and I adapted training when needed. I can honestly say for those seven weeks up until Christmas I didn't miss one workout, one single rep of an exercise, and I didn't back off on any of the intervals.

I was on a mission. I had a few 'life' things going on. The gym was one place where it was just me and my plan. No noise or thinking. It was one thing I could control.

The nutrition plan was high protein (180g), low-ish carbs (180g) and normal fats (70g). Fats are needed to stabilise hormones - you need them. I timed carbs for the mornings to give me energy for work and training. Evening meals were carb-less, normally some jamaican jerk chicken or steak or fish, with some veg or salads and coleslaw.

I did eat burgers, pizzas, maybe once a week or every other week. As I was generally low carb, and training hard, I'd sometimes feel empty, so a higher carb meal fixed that. I also made a real effort to have 3 litres of water per day. This helped flush toxins accumulated from training, aid recovery and sleep.

It's important to note that when you're in a calorie defecit and training hard, you will feel hungry most evenings. When you're hungry your body is burning calories (fat in the long run). This is why it's so important to keep protein high - to save your muscle mass and to ignite fat burning instead of muscle.

I could see my waist and ab muscles getting tighter after about 3 weeks. This motivated me even more to stick to my plan until Christmas. The nutrition plan did not include any sweets or chocolate, and after a week or so, I didn't feel like eating any. This levelled out my insulin sensitivity - my body began to really notice when I gave it carbs and use them for energy.

When we have too much carbs and sugar in our system, our insulin is spiked alot of the time and we crash - energy comes and goes much quicker. My energy was more stable now.

By Christmas I had gone from 18% body fat - my highest ever - to 15.8% and my waist from 88cm to 84cm. My muscle mass had increased slightly (due to the heavy weights & high protein) so my body looked in much better shape. I felt great, clothes fitted differently and I was feeling strong.

18% is the upper limit for 'fitness' range. Bordering on average. I can't allow myself to be 'average' body composition, as a trainer. 15.8% is mid-range fitness. Still not acceptable for me.

If you're reading this thinking, "I need a structured 90-Day Rebuild", Contact Me

Over Christmas I ate all the normal foods, a few sweets, chocolates and desserts but nothing major. One thing I did do was keep protein high - I was in the UK and stocked up on protein shakes and yoghurts.

When January came around, I set up a new training and nutrition plan. I wanted to add a bit more muscles mass - only 2-3kg - and get my body fat down more. The training sessions stayed at 4 x per week but the intervals got bombed out. I added a hypertrophy day in it's place to grow the muscles. My weights were increasing every week or two - I had planned this perfectly!

I added more carbs also, evening meals now had rice, potatoes (healthy chips) and pasta sometimes. Protein and fat stayed the same. Now I was around maintenance calories each day, or just below. I wasn't really hungry at any points - peckish yes - but instead of reaching for sweets I'd have some protein yoghurt with berries and honey.

Thoughout January, up until mid-February I felt really good - stronger each week, I could see more muscle definition and my core muscles all visible. I didn't do any measurements until Feb 20th, when I just happened to see the tape and calipers and wondered.

I expected similar body fat and waist measurements and maybe increased muscle.

I was very surprised.

My body fat had come down another 3.8%, now 12%, and my waist was now 79cm. That equaled 6% lower body fat overall and 9cm from my waist. My thigh measurements went up 1cm and upper body increased also. FYI my weight on November 1st was 76kg, I'm now 74kg.

My body composition changed dramaticlly. People won't see a drastic difference - unless I take my top off - which I don't really go around doing :)

12% body is in the athlete range now, lean, defined and strong. Perfect.

Again, I haven't missed a session, I haven't binged on any high sugar/high calorie foods. I still have pizza, burgers, pasta, ravioli, bread, granolas every week, but they fit into my nutrtion plan. I also have always put 1/2 a spoon of sugar in my coffee - still do.

I've learned, even more so than before, how important protein is to maintain/grow muscle, how important water is and how important sleep is.

Heavy training increases the load on our CNS (central nervous system) so recovering properly is huge. Otherwise, hunger, hormones, will-power and discipline all slip.

I'm happy with myself for the plans I've written, how I stayed committed and disciplined, and how I feel now. It was perfect planning & perfect execution, even if I say so myself. I give myself a big pat on the back.

It's also a lesson for consistency and being committed for everyone else. If you have the right plan, you can't fail if you're disciplined.

In the words of AK, "Don't quit, just don't F**CKING quit!"

Ready? Most people won't do 90 Days. They'll negotiate, they'll wait, they'll "start Monday". That's not gonna work. And that's why I don't train everyone who asks.

If you want 6% less body fat, your frame built, structure locked in, discipline that stays,

Apply for my 90-Day Rebuild.

I don't take everyone.

But if I do take you, we go all in.

Thanks for reading.

Iain