Most of the men who have been confronted with weight gain have experienced this. That moment when you realize your health is deteriorating and you realize you need to do something.

Josh Ingraham didn’t see that moment come and yet in just a year he found himself drawn into a new life. His family grew, with his wife they welcomed a little girl. He accepted a new post of Executive Chef. With the hours spent at work and family life, he had to give up sports.

“For over a year, I didn’t take time for myself. I don’t think I’ve trained once, ”says Ingraham. “From there, everything got out of hand. I couldn’t sleep and was so busy that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was eating. I was going easy. “

He could feel the pounds piling up. Then. He received an email inviting him to participate in a 90-day fitness challenge. Workouts and nutritional advice were included, with a great top prize up for grabs. Being a former sportsman, Ingraham thought he could easily win, so he took his “before” photo, the one on the left below. With his 100 kg, he had a lot more work ahead than he originally thought.

I didn’t realize what I had become until I took this photo, ”says Ingraham. “I was devastated. He wasn’t the guy I thought I was. “

It was complicated to make time for exercise with his busy schedule, but that excuse was put aside and he started setting his alarm clock for 5 a.m. every day. Ingraham knew that if he slept he just wouldn’t have a workout and that one gap could easily ruin his challenge.

For 90 days, he worked hard, following the program religiously. He focused on strength training paired with 6 km runs five times a week. After three months, Ingraham did not win the challenge. He was both shocked and frustrated when he saw the guy who won, disappointed with his own results. So he signed up for another 90-day challenge, this time determined to improve his workouts.

Now Ingraham’s “daddy body” is a thing of the past – and he believes anyone can sculpt abs if they devote themselves to the following lifestyle changes:

1. COMMIT TO RESPECTING A TRAINING SCHEDULE

After researching weight loss, Ingraham discovered that he was making a lot of mistakes. I exhausted myself by doing too many training sessions, I was not giving myself a break, ”he explains. For the next 90 days, I rested on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It helped me. The rest day even made me more surly the next day, I looked forward to my workouts. “

In addition to his days off, he traded in his long runs for high intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions. Every morning, Ingraham would start with exercises in his garage, ranging from dumbbells to strength training exercises like dips and pullups. Instead of performing a number of reps and sets, he worked each exercise until he could only do three to five reps in one movement. “I don’t count until it starts to hurt,” he explains.

He would then go to the stadium, set up two cones about ten meters apart, and do 10 to 20 minutes of HIIT about three times a week in addition to working with his dumbbells.

“I was doing back and forth sprinting between the cones, 30 seconds of walking, 30 seconds of stopping; all this for 10 minutes, ”says Ingraham. “I used to mix the exercises, like jumping instead of sprinting, but it never lasts longer than 20 minutes. “

As a father of two with a demanding job, he understood the importance of a fixed schedule. “For me, the only time I could train is early in the morning. I was losing an hour of sleep, but that’s how it is. I had to finish at 8am every day. This is where my daughter wakes up. I can’t tell him to go back to bed until I finish my training. “

2.LIMIT YOUR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

As he settled into a new exercise routine, his diet changed, so Ingraham began to pay more attention to what was on his plate. “I found that I was not eating healthy enough. I eliminated processed foods and carbohydrates. I stopped dairy products, he says.

He also gave up alcohol: “I have always liked alcohol. There was a time in my life when I even started to be interested in wine, and I thought about becoming a sommelier, “he said,” but I realized it was something I wanted to know. had to remove if I wanted to see the results I was hoping for ”.

Even though it’s difficult, “these are unnecessary calories. You can sacrifice a party or two, if you want to see physical changes appear, you have to be 100% committed, ”he explains.

After that, the small diet changes continued to take place. I realized that I could cut back and be full, ”he says.

3.COOKING AT HOME

Even if you are a chef, Ingraham believes that preparing your own meals allows you to be more aware of what you eat. In addition, it eliminates much of the temptation that is found on restaurant menus.

Scientific studies back it up: Researchers in the UK analyzed data from a survey of over 11,000 men and women and found that people who ate more than five home-cooked meals a week were 28% less likely to be overweight and 24% less likely to have excess body fat than people who ate less than three home-cooked meals per week.

Ingraham knew he was on the right track when he started seeing his abs and feeling fitter than ever.

It has been over 200 days since Ingraham started exercising again. Now he weighs 87 kg and he has no plans to quit anytime soon. “I actually feel like I can still improve my physique, so I don’t want to let go now,” he says.