From flab to fab
TRAINING AND DIET: 2 HOURS OF GYM DAILY
Friday night gym session replaces beers with buddies.
Gideon Riddy, 30, loves his new body. He is a father and husband who recently changed his lifestyle and went from bordering on obese to being a slim, well-defined jock.
Battling to keep his weight at a healthy level, he sought help from his boss, Jody Harrington, who later became his trainer, and together they worked to achieve Riddy’s new improved self.
What brought about the change in lifestyle and your decision to lose weight?
Where do I start? I’ll backtrack to 2012, I’ve always played football at an amateur level, both indoor and outdoor formats.
I’d like to think I was above average and over the years I established myself in my area as a good player. But by 2012, at 26 years old, I had let myself go weight-wise. I was 105kg and seriously unfit. This caused me to get serious injuries as I was trying to push my body beyond its capabilities.
My wake-up call came when I was benched for a cup final. This upset me so I began to rethink my current condition and eating choices. Before pre-season for the upcoming season, I went through an intense training regime and adopted an eating plan to make myself competitive for the next season. I was running 5km a day and eating well. By pre-season I had dropped to 82kg and was extremely fit.
Fast forward to 2015, I had just moved to Johannesburg for work. The lifestyle change and the fact that my wife was pregnant, and I got to eat whatever she wanted to, was my excuse. Before I knew it, it was 2016 and I was back at 105kg and borderline obese for my age and height.
I hated shopping for clothes because I could never get my size in the brands I liked. I was unfit and unhappy. My ability on a football field had seriously declined because I was overweight again.
The two main reasons I decided to get fit and healthy again were that my daughter was a few months old and it made me think about my long-term health and how I needed to take care of myself to be there for her in the years to come. The other reason was that my boss and training partner, Jody Harrington, used to pass snide comments about my weight all the time, having seen pictures of a much slimmer me a few years ago. His constant teasing was exactly what I needed to make me join him at the gym and begin this journey again.
What were the challenges you faced in the beginning and how did you overcome them?
I started in June 2016 at 105kg and the difficult thing for me was getting up in the morning. I would get up at 4am to drive 45 minutes every morning to the gym close to my office.
I would get there at 5.30am and train till 7.20am, shower and then get to work at 8am. This was extremely difficult considering it was winter and the workouts were
I have gone from 105kg, 40% body fat and a size 38/40 pants right down to 87kg, 12% body fat and size 32/34 pants size.
taxing on my body.
The other difficult thing for me was the actual training programme. I had lost weight before, all through cardio and eating no carbs and sugar. This time I was concentrating more on weight training and a better balanced diet.
Having never done much weight training before I found it extremely difficult getting my form right and it was taking a toll on my body.
Luckily, my training partner was always there to assist with tips. Over time, your body adjusts. Keeping to the diet was also hard. Luckily my wife was very supportive and ate the same food as me to keep me motivated.
The other issue that always plagues me is injuries from soccer. I have been training for the past four months with a fractured fibula bone and torn ligaments. As my body adjusts, certain muscle groups take strain and my old injuries tend to flare up. You just need to push through the pain.
How important is it to have support from friends and family when changing your lifestyle? It can be the make or break issue for most people. I’ve found that my journey became contagious to those around me. My close family and friends saw results that motivated them. My wife was extremely supportive and made sure I stuck to my eating plan and always gave me the time I needed for extra training on the weekends. My training partner was also always there to push me and his own transformation made me push even harder to achieve results.
Changing your lifestyle is not only about diet and training, it also affects your family time, your social life and your life choices. Not everyone accepts that you won’t get drunk on a Friday night any more because you’d rather be in the gym. You eventually learn what to prioritise in your life. Luckily, I have had people around me who would prefer the Friday night gym session over a few beers.
What is your current weight and how far are you from your goal? Currently, I am at 87kg. I am still have about 12% body fat. I think it’s important not to just watch the scale when training. Muscle weighs more than fat and for a long time I wasn’t happy with my results as I was not losing weight fast enough. When I took into consideration that I was losing a lot of fat and gaining muscle, I was happier. My goal weight for the end of this year is 90kg and around 1012% of body fat. I think I pretty much achieved it a few months ago so I am trying to get down to 8% of body fat while maintaining my current weight.
How has your life changed now compared to the times when you were overweight?
This has been massive for me, I have gone from 105kg, 40% body fat and a size 38/40 pants right down to 87kg, 12% body fat and size 32/34 pants now. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe. I find clothes my size in the brands I like. I missed that. The confidence I have now is a huge difference. I am more focused at work, I get a lot more done. I keep up with my super-energetic two-year-old daughter. I’m eager to get back to football once the rehabilitation of my fractured bone is done and I am sure I will be in the best condition of my life when I play again. . My wife was not too concerned about my previous weight, but she is very happy with my new body, and a happy wife is a happy life. So this journey has been the best decision for me. It was not easy, but it was definitely worth it. I get asked all the time about training and diet tips. Some people want quick fixes. There is no shortcut; you have to put in the hours and hard work.