The Aftermath

Things change. It’s just a constant of life. I know mine definitely did.

1. Photo shoot requests

The obvious one. I’ve received messages over Facebook and Instagram asking me to feature their products. I haven’t accepted any of them. Yet.

On another note, I’ve already scheduled two more photo shoots with my man Amar in the coming months.

2. Metabolic fluctuation

With the two-week crash diet/shred, it took a toll on my body. While I was still pulling a respectable 160 kg deadlift during the cut, the aftermath was very different. Post photo shoot, my metabolism slowed down to compensate for the drastically reduced carbohydrate intake. That resulted in muscle loss, a craving for sugary things and an increased need to sleep that lasted for the entire month of May.

All my one-rep max lifts dropped by about 20% in less than two weeks. Note to future self: never do a crash diet again, take it easy.

3. Cramps

The diuretic to help shed water weight definitely worked its magic. It comes at a cost, where I experienced cramps from bending to flex my abs that lasted for a little less than day after the photo shoot. The lack of water in my body definitely caused it. I know it because I suffered the same problem attempting the Three Peaks Challenge (summiting the highest peaks in Scotland, England, and Wales in 24 hours).

Note to self: get to lower body fat percentage (~8% for future reference instead of 10-11% in this case) and do a longer water fast prior to future photo shoots.

4. People constantly asking you for fitness advice

For anybody who has undergone a physical transformation of any kind, it kind of shakes up the perspective that people have of you. All of a sudden, your world is changed for the better, and life itself gains this kind of momentum where everything just seems to be better.

People will keep asking you stuff though, just get used to it.

5. A greater sense of confidence

At the point of writing this, I’ve regressed back to a 4-pack as I continue with my powerlifting training. The great part of this experience has taught me that my body can also fluctuate and change as my training does. In a sense, I learnt that my old strength (bench: 100 kg; squat: 120 kg; deadlift: 170 kg)can be regained with time, training, and lots of eating. The converse goes for the six-pack, where I know that I can shred those fats to regain that six-pack with cardio and effort whenever I want to.

There is no greater sense of confidence than knowing that I can take in whichever direction that I want to, whenever I want to.

6. Me writing this post

There you have it. While the methodology used was definitely working, I for one would much rather take the slower, steadier route in cutting fat. In that way, I would not have lost so much muscle mass and have had my training suffer for two weeks after the shoot. Next time, I’ll be doing a two-month cut (maybe 3 months) and seeing where that goes. Will probably write about it too.

Thank you for following me on this short journey. Take care and stay healthy, I’ll see you around.