Riaan Botha

After realising that an unhealthy lifestyle was taking its toll on his body, Riaan Botha took action and hit the gym- going from 28% to 14% body fat. This is his story:

Before and after - Riaan Botha.

I am 28 years old and used to be very active. Rugby, cricket, gym, you name it I was game for it. When the corporate world swallowed me I had less and less time to train or do anything physical. The hard glow of my computer screen and greasy take-aways became the order of the day.

It didn’t happen overnight, but I gradually put on more weight until I stepped out of the shower one day and saw a pale, jam doughnut looking back at me in the mirror. That’s when I decided to take action.

The first thing I did was make training and healthy eating a priority in my life. Once you make something a priority, you will make time and energy to do it.

I changed my working hours from 7am to 3.30pm so I can get to the gym early and still have an evening to make food and relax.

I started out on the Super Circuit to get my muscles used to doing more than lifting a beer to my mouth and also not to embarrass myself by dropping the bench press bar square on my head. A pierced skull is not even high fashion in Europe. I stuck to the Circuit for about two months before moving on the free weights.

Around this time I was eating better, but not as healthy as I could. I asked a friend at work that regularly competes in fitness competitions to draw up a good eating plan for me.

It’s not as expensive to eat healthy as what people think. I spend less on groceries now than when I did when I was eating take-aways and microwave meals. Preparation time is also not a big factor. You get used to it…come on, how long does it take to pop 2 chicken breasts and some veggies into a steamer?? If you can’t spare five minutes to prepare something to eat, you need to seriously re-look your calendar.

For the next sixteen weeks I followed a strict gym programme. After that, I moved on to a more targeted training approach, also incorporating a 12 – 15 minute run/walk after every workout to promote fat loss.

I can’t tell you how big a difference getting back into shape has made in both my professional and personal life.

You suddenly have more drive, more confidence, more concentration and I’m smiling a whole lot more. My girlfriend is also quite happy with the extra energy I have on those romantic nights…

One of the hardest things was training alone, so I got a friend to join me. I think this is the best way of staying committed. You can’t just decide not to go to gym, because you would be letting someone else down as well.

When you are at the gym, you also benefit from spotting which makes you push out that extra rep or so without the danger of attaching your face to a weight permanently.

I also made myself acquainted with the personal trainers at gym, so I get some free advice and tips now and then.

I used to weigh 94Kg’s at 28% body fat. I am now on 98Kg’s and 14% body fat. My goal at the moment is 105Kg’s at 10 - 11% BF. Once I get there… who knows… maybe I’ll take over the world or something.

Have you been looking for a place to flaunt your new muscles other than the gym? Or your new slim and trim outline? Well, you've just found it. If you've gone from a weakling to a rippling hulk, or from a blimp to a slim-line sylph, please send your "before" and "after" photographs to amy.henderson@sa.24.com