Our 4-Week Physique Challenge – From the Inside Out (read my story)

Firstly, a huge thank you to my amazing team members for taking part in the 4-week physique challenge! Whether you trained daily, dipped in and out, or cheered from the sidelines, the camaraderie was fantastic. And to you, our amazing clients and followers, your support and encouragement made all the difference.

Not every member of the team could fully commit, and that’s completely okay. Like some of our members or those inquiring about personal training, even though the desire to commit is there, sometimes the timing isn’t right, and we understand that.

Life can be pretty demanding; busy jobs, family, and the general juggle can make tracking food, lifting weights, and increasing step counts feel like a full-time job! That doesn’t mean that a seed hasn’t been planted; it simply means that when the time is right, you will join us.

For those who took the plunge—wow. The effort, the consistency, and the support for one another—phenomenal. Every person had their own reason for stepping up. Mine? To drop body fat and improve my back definition.

After already losing weight for my big 50 back in March, this challenge was more about tightening up my training and nutritional habits. I had to be really intentional with nutritional tweaks and show up for my training sessions with more discipline than ever. That meant increasing my NEAT - non-exercise activity thermogenesis, also known as taking more daily steps. If that meant getting on the treadmill at 10 pm, I laced up and got it done. But, boy, was this hard! On a non-gym day, when doing admin, I might have only done 3,000 steps by 5 pm, so I had to go for a 6 km walk to hit my target. I also rode my bike to work and back, which I loved. All this extra activity really did help.

The Results?

4 lbs down
10.5 cm lost overall
3.36% reduction in body fat

I was chuffed with the results. However, what really surprised me was that my waist only went down by 0.5 cm. As someone in the throes of perimenopause (the joy!), it’s clear that we women tend to hold more fat around our midsection, so it’s not just a myth!

This has sparked my interest in researching belly fat reduction, particularly through macronutrient ratios. My next step? Slightly reducing carbs—not cutting them out entirely, just a smart tweak to see if that helps with further fat loss around that area.

Why This Challenge Was So Important to Me

Aside from personal goals, I wanted to step into the shoes of our members who have been smashing our gym-run challenges. If you follow us on social media, you’ll have seen Finn, Judith, Susan, Laura, and Gillian’s brilliant results back in October and March, and they are all still motivated and continue to achieve fantastic results.

They’ve inspired me, along with others in the gym, and I wanted to experience what they did: the structure, the accountability, the effort it takes, and the pride that comes with showing up for yourself.

All the team and our challenge members got access to:

An exclusive training app to track progress
A custom strength training plan with videos, Reps, and sets to follow (individually created - because everyone has different goals)
Nutrition targets (calories + macros), synced with MyFitnessPal
Daily habit tracking
A points-based system for healthy habits—because we all love a little healthy competition!

And yes, I found the challenge hard at times, but that’s what made it worth it.

Some days I didn’t feel like tracking, or training, or even walking. But knowing my team was doing it too pulled me through.

Any chance we had to train Shannon and me were on it, and that’s the beauty of group challenges. We’re in it together, supporting one another to focus and train hard.

What’s Next?

We're already planning the next team challenge — Shannon is trying to persuade me to add SHRED to our training App. This is a popular six-week program designed for fast results… I’m halfway convinced, so the next time you see me, give me a nudge!

We’ll be launching our next 4-week online challenge soon, and it’s open to everyone, including non-members.

It’s a chance to experience structured training, develop consistency, and create genuine change with a supportive, motivating team behind you. If you are ready to feel empowered and feel strong, then. Keep your eyes peeled for more info—or message us to join the waitlist. You’ve got to be in it to win it. £100 could be yours!

Training

Initially, I started with 3 days – but realised that having legs all on one day was a big mistake, so I switched to a 4-day program.

Comment "program" if you would like to see what I did.

My greatest fitness improvement was in the assisted pull-up, reducing the assistance needed from 33kg to 21kg (one day I’ll achieve it).

Nutrition

MyFitnessPal is linked to the training app, and having used it on and off for well over 18 years, it still demands time and commitment. However, once you get the hang of it and save your favourite meals, it becomes much easier.

The Key is to make EASY choices - you don’t need to be a chef

Breakfast – I’m not going to lie; I’m NOT a breakfast person, but during this challenge, since I was training early in the morning and reducing calories from 1800 (maintenance) to 1500-1600 per day, I needed to find something quick and easy – so Huel it was (400 calories for the lot). I only had half in the morning, and it really did help.

Lunch – basics: smoked salmon, eggs, bagels, chicken, and protein yoghurt.

Dinner - I receive Gousto every week to save the hassle of shopping! This way, I know the meals are calorie-counted, and I aim for meals under 600 calories that are high in protein. I bulk up meals with salad and veggies - as you can see from the pictures, I don’t eliminate carbs (when you're training, you need energy to fuel your muscles!)

Initially, I realised my fibre intake was low, so I made a conscious effort to increase it by adding more lentils, flax seeds, and chia seeds.

Was I perfect? Absolutely not! I enjoy a glass of wine, and G creates the most delicious meals (He is a trained chef), so I must be careful not to overindulge! It’s rather easy to exceed my calorie allowance!

I’ve added a selection of meals I consumed over the course of the challenge. What do you think? Would you eat these?