Evening all! My name’s Sion, I’m a 23 year old male and I was fortunate enough to have been chosen to participate in the Bio-Synergy 12 Week Challenge.

Personally, weight has never been a major concern of mine. I have been lucky enough to find gaining and losing weight pretty easy and for the past couple of years I’ve managed to bat around the 12 and a half stone mark regardless of how much I eat or how much I exercise. What I’ve always struggled with, however, is toning my body. I find this to be the biggest challenge of all and I was thrilled to see that Bio-Synergy were offering to give me some much needed help to reach this goal after many years of failed attempts.

The start to my 12 Week Challenge has been a bit of a rocky one to say the least. I began my training programme before receiving any of my supplements, in order to get my head around the routine that I’d be facing week in, week out, and I began making some efforts to cut out the bad carbs, bad fats, and drink more water. First small steps for man.

The exercise plan is intense, but I was pleasantly surprised after my first few weeks to find that I wasn’t keeling over in bed as I thought I would, but in fact, I wasn’t aching too much at all! First couple of sessions being an exception. That was a bit of a shock to the system (but I survived!!). The routine is great, you can really feel it working all of your muscles and it’s very well spread out. I quickly learnt which of my muscles I had forgotten about as I started to feel that satisfying burn you get after a good work out. Things were looking promising!

The biggest challenge I found was to get my head around the food shop, as it was so different to what I used to eat, i.e. rubbish. I found myself taking more interest in the contents of food, reading all the packages and stretching out a 20 minutes food shop into an hour. But once I was used to the certain meals I could have, when I would have them, what meals I could take with me to work, it all became a lot simpler to forward plan. Now, I find I’m experimenting with new foods and discovering some lovely tasty meals that are so much better for me than the old fatty rubbish I used to have. And I’m really enjoying my morning fruit smoothies to kick start my day.

Hitting the festive period has been another rocky patch, although I have managed to keep up my training programme, Christmas dinner was too tempting and I did misbehave a little. A beer or two may have crept in there somewhere too… But the way I see it, as long as I work even harder in during my exercise regime and make a big effort to get the nutrition plan back on track, I will forgive myself.

There’s still a long way to go yet, and now with Christmas out the way, I can’t wait to really see what the combination of expert help, supplements and hard work can really do! Bring on 2013!!

After eating and drinking to much over the Christmas period, it was back to training ready for the competition season to start again – I had chance to rest some niggling injuries and start 2013 as I mean to go on!

In March I will be competing at The Irish Open, which is the officially the largest fighting tournament in Europe! Last year I missed it due to injury, so this year – I’m ready! I will be competing in points sparring and musical forms. I’ll be keeping you all up-to date and blogging about training and uploading more videos, as I have a fancy new camera now.

Good luck to all those in the 12 week challenge, remember…

‘Eat Clean, Get Lean!’

Hey guys,

My names Robert, I’m 24 years old and from Leeds, West Yorkshire. I was one of the fortunate few who was accepted onto Bio-Synergy’s 12 Week Challenge several weeks ago. Last Monday I started the challenge, and I’m currently one week in. Let me tell you a little bit about my journey so far.

At the ripe old age of 24 my carb-rich diet and insatiable sweet tooth has caused me to gain a fair amount of excess weight. I’ve been floating round 17.5 stone for some time now. I’m about 6ft 1″ and have quite a large frame so I’ve (kind of) been able to carry it off, but I knew that I needed to shift a good 10kg of fat, mainly from around my waist. Friends and family will usually be polite and not talk about your weight, or they may even have got used to you carrying a bit extra, but you know yourself if you need to trim down, and I knew that I needed to.

Like lots of people out there, I’d found it really hard to stick to diets and attend the gym on a consistent basis. I’d start a new diet but really struggle to have the discipline to stick to it. My main problem with eating was that I didn’t know when to stop, particularly when it came to sweet stuff! Losing weight isn’t rocket science, if you eat healthily and workout consistently, you’ll shed those extra pounds. However, for most of us it isn’t that straightforward. I knew that the Bio-Synergy 12 Week Challenge would be just what I needed to get into shape for the rest of my life.

Just tonight I was in the supermarket and realised how difficult it is to eat healthily. Everywhere you look you are being tempted by foods loaded with sugars and bad fats. As Ann (the nutritionist) said to me, it is usually excess carbohydrates that cause people to gain weight. That’s why in week one of my challenge I’ve made a conscious effort to cut my carbs right down. Now I only get my carbohydrates from vegetables and some fruit. The only time I have the more traditional carbohydrates is when I put two tablespoons of oats in my breakfast shake.

The Bio-Synergy supplements are excellent. I highly recommend the Whey Better Protein if you want super-high quality protein with zero sugars and fats. It tastes great and mixes perfectly, and really helps me move towards my weight loss goals. Plus, you don’t need much of it since it’s 87% whey isolate, which is the best type of protein for muscle gains.

Ann the nutritionist has really helped me so far. She analysed my food intake before I started the challenge, and showed me what I needed to change and explained in detail why that change was necessary. Rather than set me a strict diet, she has so far let me make my own from the advice that she gave to me. Cengiz the strength and conditioning coach has set me some pretty tough workouts, but I’m really enjoying them. I train five days a week and have Thursday and Sunday off. Three of the days involve cardio, machines and free weights and the other two days involve some pretty intense bodyweight exercise circuits, such as pressups and burpees.

The first week has been really good, and I feel really motivated to eat well and exercise in order to shift these extra kilos! The amazing news is, I’ve already lost 2kg and I’m down to around 108.5kg. What a result! It just shows you how expert advice, excellent supplements, healthy eating and exercising can really help you to get in shape! The Bio-Synergy Creatine is helping me to get through the tough workouts, and the Thermogen has been raising my energy levels (as well as helping to burn fat). It’s the first time in my life that I’ve gone a week without anything sweet! On Ann’s advice, I’ve cut out tea and coffee and am drinking plenty of water.

It also keeps me on track to think that you guys are reading this blog and are hopefully inspired to start your own weight loss journey or apply for the 12 Week Challenge yourself.

I’ll be back next week with another update on my progress. Thanks again to Bio-Synergy for this excellent opportunity. Hopefully I’ll be down to around 100kg in 11 weeks’ time!

It’s here! The next 12 Week Challenge is ready to kick off and we’re looking for everyone who’s been inspired by the Olympics to  achieve their goals and Make It Happen to participate in this incredible opportunity.

The 12 Week Challenge is an intensive program featuring discount supplements from Bio-Synergy along with expert fitness and nutritional advice to make your dreams come true. The lucky selected winners will receive extensive coaching and science-tested nutrition to help them eat right, workout properly, and live better over a 12 week period starting October 1st.

Participants will start off by receiving a whopping £200 worth of supplements and nutrition packages based on one of three lifestyle categories for only £99, and will then be entitled to an amazing 30% discount for every further top-up.

Applicants should copy and paste the information below, fill it out, and send it to john@bio-synergy.co.uk along with a recent picture of yourself with the subject line ‘First name Last name – 12 Week Challenge’ by September 30th to be considered.

Name:
Birthday:
Height:
Weight:
Describe your current state of fitness:
Why do you want to join the 12 Week Challenge?:
What are your fitness goals?:
What forms of exercise do you focus on?:
Do you currently use supplements? If so, which products do you use?:

Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to experience the transformation of your life! Participants in our first 12 Week Challenge lost an average of 2 stone and started themselves on the path to fitness and happiness. Make the year of the greatest London Olympics the year you Make It Happen with Bio-Synergy!

So the 12 weeks are up and I feel so much better, I’ve changed shape, lost weight got more energy and improved my diet and exercise. Significantly I have completed my first ever super sprint triathlon and between myself and my brother raised over £1000 for cancer Research UK.

Hi there everyone – please excuse the ridiculously late (by just over a week) post to mark the end of our 12 week journey..   The last few weeks have been pretty life-changing and unexpected in not-so-pleasant ways, so I’ve been a little distracted trying to plot new courses and figure out new futures!

In regards to the end of the challenge – I have learnt so much throughout the 12 weeks (especially diet-wise) and have really managed to transform not only my body, but also my mind into a motivated and positive state!

Altogether with the help from John at Bio-Synergy & Ann from Famously Fit I have managed to really tone and cut my body through hard work, healthy and clean eating & the correct supplements to support all this!

So!  The important bit..  Results!  I have managed to lose a further 12.4 inches around my body, lost 2.3kg in weight and have come down a dress size or so too!  Not too shabby for 3 months worth of work.  I’ve checked my HR monitor and I can also report that this was achieved through only 85 hours and 47 minutes..  (Maybe a little more as I did a few workouts without it too).  Bottom line is that it’s all achievable – if I can do it, anyone can!

I have carried on with my exercise and healthy eating and plan to keep it going forever.  Why not!?!?  It’s not that hard really – I think most of the time it’s a mental hurdle – we’re blasted by “healthy” junk food from every direction throughout each waking day – the TV, advertising on the tube, buses, supermarkets – it never ends, but in actual fact everything we need to live healthy is right there in front of us, it’s just usually not as exciting looking or popular as other choices out there.  Once you start on the path though and stick to it, your body starts to react to the change – when I ate a piece of birthday cake for my son’s 3rd birthday last week I got what I can only describe as a “food hangover” – I felt awful and I can only guess it’s because the only sugar that really makes it into my diet nowadays is through fruit… Icing sugar and cake just weren’t welcome anymore in this temple..

I look forward to the future (much as the last few days events have changed it forever) and will definitely keep up with the exercise and diet!  What an amazing experience!  Thank you to everyone involved and my fellow challengers for being amazing and working through it all!

Hi Everyone. Firstly, apologies for not uploading a post for the last few weeks, I’ve been really busy with work and haven’t had much to update on anyway….

I can’t believe the challenge is now over. The last 12 weeks have flown by. I think the most amazing thing for me has been the realisation that when I put my mind to something, I can do it no matter how daunting it appears at first. When Ann first provided me with my diet and exercise plan, it was so different to everything I’d done before that it seemed really challenging. I stuck with it though and realised that it was all really straight forward once I got into the swing of things and got my head around my new lifestyle. A big challenge for me was getting into running. I now run at least 2-3 times a week and actually really enjoy it. I never thought I’d say that!!

My exercise plan is so varied that I’m doing something different almost every day so it doesn’t feel like tedious hours of repetative exercise. I’ve lost an amazing 17lbs doing the challenge and 18 inches overall. I’m now fitting into clothes I haven’t been able to wear in years which feels fantastic!

Although the 12 week challenge is now over, I’m going to continue with my diet and exercise plan as I really enjoy my new healthier lifestyle and don’t find that I’m missing out anything – I still have treats in moderation and enjoy them even more as I feel that I’ve earned them!

I would like to thank John Stocks at Bio Synergy and Ann Mather at Famously Fit for their expert advice and guidance which has helped me to achieve such amazing results and permanently transform my approach to my diet and exercise routines. I hope everyone else has enjoyed the 12 week challenge as much as I have and has got just as much from it!

My final week has completed for the 12 week challenge.  There were many lessons learned and I found that the more I went on with the challenge, the more I needed to learn how to take care of my body better under the strain of intensive exercise.  I no longer have stomach pains as I used to before the challenge and I have lost a stone in weight, even though I felt athletic already.  The most important thing is that my relationship with food has drastically changed and I no longer have a crutch with starchy foods and bad carbs, which has been even more interesting.  I only hope to continue on this path in future and thank Ann Mather and John Stocks at Bio Synergy for all of their help, support and enthusiasm throughout my 12 weeks.

It’s the Friday before my triathlon and I’m thinking I’ve probably not trained enough but I know I’ll finish. I also know I’ll get my Personal Best (PB) as it’s my first triathlon so by Sunday afternoon I’ll be able to refer to myself as a triathlete with a PB..

In the process of getting ready for the Triathlon on the 12 week challenge I’ve lost a stone in weight, 2 inches around my waist and started running – a sport I haven’t liked for a long time, This has been enabled by the advice and shakes and supplements provide by Ann at Famously Fit and the Bio Synergy team.  I have had far more energy than before which I firmly believe is down to the Thermogen, NO2 and Creatine supplements, the whey better protein shake and the Pure Energy drink. I also think Ann’s advice on the right foods to eat, when to eat them and the right portion size has helped massively. I only seem to have energy dips when I’ve strayed off the eating plan, which I have to say is rare now as I don’t crave sugary rubbish, bread, pasta and rice anymore. I replace these with quality proteins and good carbs and sugars,

So it’s been suggested that I don’t train for the next couple of days to enable me to be race fit, that will be hard as I enjoy my training (never thought I’d say that) and I have time to train but I will follow the advice.

I’ll post again to describe my Triathlon experience early next week. If anyone wants to donate to Cancer Research UK through sponsorship you can do so here at www.justgiving.com/john-o-flynn

Just one week to go! By the end of my challenge, I have now embraced my body and embraced my training in a different way. I have started to enjoy the learning process, but also figure out ways of eating good food. I have also relaxed a bit where I am having a little cheat here and there, but maintaining my healthy eating patterns. Something of which I never used to do before. Before, I would be strict as heck about my diet and then completely fall off the wagon for weeks on end. This time, with encouragement from Ann and John, I managed to have a couple of beers during the week and a couple of cheats, but manage to jump back on the wagon easily because I didn’t feel bad and didn’t feel I needed to just say, “oh well” this time around. Throughout the 12 weeks, it was easy to lose weight at the start, at the middle I fell off the wagon for 4-5 days (again because I was being too strict at the beginning) and then continued to lose inches, but no weight. This week, I finally lost weight again. So my body was definitely changing in different ways. In total so far, I have lost 21.5 inches (54.6 cm) everywhere and 6.4 kg (14 pounds). I have managed to increase my training, which I have not been able to do before and still recover better. I have also stopped buying beer or sweets for home and only go out for them. I have been eating fresh green salads every day and taking my supplements, but I have especially have found a new relationship with food, where it is no longer an emotional crutch, but more of something to enjoy and be aware of to be healthier and fitter for my sport. I am extremely grateful to John and Ann Mather for the experience.