QA: Robert Larkan – 2nd in Men’s Weight Loss

Today we chat to Robert Larkan who placed 2nd in the Men’s Weight Loss Category of our New Year 2021 Sleekgeek 8-Week Transformation Challenge.

Give us a short history of your journey to health and fitness before the challenge.

I was very active through high school and university playing or training for sports activities most days of the week so I managed to maintain a respectably healthy physique without too much additional effort. When I completed my studies and entered the working world I noticed a greater difficulty to manage my weight and with limited free time, it became more difficult.

The biggest drop-off came when I began studying an MBA part-time while working full time and practically gave up on sports altogether. This coupled with poor eating habits and a bachelor lifestyle saw me pick up weight and struggle to lose it as easily as I did in my 20’s. I still managed to convince someone to marry me and have since had 2 amazing children, who willing occupy nearly all my free time. Not in my best shape and now with a lovely family I want to be around for as long as possible, I tried to correct my behaviours myself with little success and most of the issues coming down to eating.

What prompted you to join the Sleekgeek 8-Week Challenge?

My wife has been intrigued by the results members have. She has seen hem for some time and finally suggested that we join the challenge as a team. She had some baby weight she wanted to lose and being considered obese on the BMI scale I knew I had quite a few kg’s to spare.

Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.

For the first few weeks we followed the reboot eating plan trying to focus on green foods as much as possible, but we did not go into the details of calculating levels or posting pics knowing that if we stuck to 99% green we would be on the right track.

After the reboot period we were in a good rhythm eating wise, so just continued along the same path introducing a few additional items every now and then when the cravings got too much but always looking for the healthiest version.
Sticking to good proteins, veggies, fruits, very low carbs, no sugar, no alcohol, drinking only water (>2l) and black coffee (<3cups), larger meal for lunch and only a smaller snack or light meal for dinner. I can count on one hand how many “cheat” meals I had.

Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.

I used and followed the couch to 10km running plan, finally putting the treadmill I bought in lock down to good use. I would generally do 4 days of running a week instead of the prescribed 3 and then do the Amazon challenges on another day.

If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?

1. Make the “Why” a non-negotiable then it makes it harder to find excuses not to exercise or eat right
2. It’s going to be hard, if it was easy you would have done it already, so set realistic goals with checkpoints along the way to keep yourself motivated with small wins.
3. Make sure you get the support of those immediately around you, spouse/family members/training partner/team mates etc. Its a long journey and I only got where I am because of the support and effort my wife put into meal prep and time she helped us carve out for each other to exercise.

Why should people enter the challenge?

There are no shortcuts to losing weight or building a good body, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. I found the programme a never-ending source of information to help with nutrition and exercise.
I would also definitely recommend joining a team as there are people on there that have done it before who can guide, help and motivate you. It gives you a sense of responsibility and keeps you pushing yourself.

Want to be our next Success Story?

We run 3 challenges a year only – New Year, Winter and Summer.

Why can’t it be your chance to shine? Why can’t you be our next success story? Only one way to find out!

The Sleekgeek 8-Week Transformation Challenge will give you the focus, support, and tools that you need to stay on track and achieve amazing results.

The winners walk away with some incredible prizes worth R100,000!

You also get an accountability check-in system, brand new home workouts, nutrition plans, toolkits, printables, videos, email series, bonus resources, expert tips and more. – all online! You can find out more about how Sleekgeek’s 8-Week Transformation Challenge works over at www.sleekgeek.co.za/challenge