This dad and high flying executive got the look he always dreamed of!
When Biraj first reached out to RNT he told us he had always been focused on some form of training. They generally consisted of the regular, run-of-the-mill cookie cutter gym plans, some martial arts, cardio classes or home workout DVDs. Despite this, he’d never been able to achieve the results he wanted.
He wanted to join RNT, to break out of this cycle of jumping from program to program with nothing to show for it, and get into the shape of his life before he turned 40 in two years time.
With two young kids and a busy job that involves a ton of travelling, it was never going to be an easy feat. But with the right planning and preparation, it was certainly possible.
In typical RNT fashion, we’re going to break down step-by-step how Biraj got into the shape of his life before the big 4-0.
Starting Point
Prior to starting at RNT, here’s what he was following:
Training – The odd workout here and there, but no real structure in place.
Cardio – Wing Chun Kung Fu twice a week with an occasional bike ride.
Diet – His diet wasn’t terrible, but it was certainly far from optimal. Breakfast: cereal, Lunch: chicken and pasta or salad, Dinner: chicken and rice. In between meals he’d snack on mixed nuts, crackers and/or biscuits.
Starting Bodyweight – 78kg
Starting Umbilicus – 34 inches
“I’ve always been fairly active, having played a lot of football and doing martial arts twice a week. However, two big injuries in as many years meant that my football took a back seat, and with the pressures of family and work life (which includes frequent travelling) I fell into a rut and started to notice my weight slowly increasing and energy levels dropping. Plus a BUPA health assessment at work showed that all of my stats (weight, cholesterol etc) were creeping into (if they weren’t already) in the amber zone. This was a real kick up the backside and I said to myself that I need to do something, and fast, before I hit the big 4-0 in two years time, at which point it would become even harder to get back into shape.
The decision to sort myself out cemented when I saw an RNT post of one of their members, Shyam Kotecha’s recent transformation. I believed it wasn’t just a coincidence. To me it was meant to be that I trained with RNT to get into the best shape of my life! I got in contact and the rest is history!”
Initial Changes
To start Biraj off, here’s what we did:
Training – We started with 3 days a week of weight training, using a full body approach, alternating between two different workouts.
Day 1: Full Body
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Full Body
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Full Body
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest
The reason for this was to get Biraj accustomed to the movement patterns quickly. By limiting the exercise selection and workout variety to begin with, it allowed him to learn exercises quickly and develop strength as fast as possible.
He was also recovering from a calf tear while playing football, so we had to limit lower body work.
Diet – His starting macros were as follows:
Protein: 200g
Fats: 80g
Carbs: 70g
Biraj wanted a set meal plan to begin with to take all the thinking out of what to eat and when to eat, and allow him to focus purely on execution.
As the diet became easier to follow, Biraj would use the RNT nutrition tracker to adjust certain foods that he fancied instead.
Here’s how the diet looked to begin with:
Meal 1 – 4 Large Eggs, Any Greens
Meal 2 – 40g Whey, 30g Almond Butter
Meal 3 – 130g Chicken Breast, 40g Rice, ½ Medium Avocado, Greens
Meal 4 – 40g Whey, 30g Almond Butter
Meal 5 – 130g Chicken Breast, 40g Rice, 2 teaspoons E-V Olive Oil, Greens
Supplements – Here’s what we used to begin with:
- Whey Protein (Reflex) – as per meal plan
- Vitamin D3 (Reflex) – 2000IU with breakfast
- Creatine Monohydrate (Reflex) – 5g with any shake
- EAAs (Anabolic Designs) – 1 scoop during workouts
- Fish Oil (Aliment) – 1 tbsp with breakfast
Cardio – No traditional cardio to begin with. All we aimed for was a daily step target of 10,000 a day. As he worked a sedentary job, we needed to get him moving more in his day-to-day life.
2 Weeks In – 74.6kg
Biraj was off to a flying start in the first 10-14 days of the diet, and dropped a total of 3.4kg in this period.
With a cleaner diet and much healthier food choices, Biraj experienced more energy, mental sharpness and reduced bloating.
The only issue right now was a struggle to hit the 10,000 steps a day on a daily basis, so we sprinkled in more walks throughout his working day to help break it up a little.
He also had the first of many trips abroad for work, but making the right choices when out in restaurants, staying active and training in hotel gyms made sure progress was always being made.
No changes to training, diet, supplementation or cardio.
3 Weeks In – 74.4kg
Half a pound down this week. While not quite in line with the drop expected, strength was flying up and waist circumference was coming in, so there was some recomp effect happening.
Steps were still a little inconsistent, and the Wing Chun wasn’t always being done twice per week due to work/travel commitments.
As a result, we added in 3 fast power walks on his three days off weight training.
Changes to be implemented: Add 3×30 min LISS on off days
No changes to training, diet or supplementation
4 Weeks In – 73.5kg
Strength was continuing to climb, and everything was being nailed. A little hunger was creeping in during the day, but I always like to think of this as your body burning into its fat stores.
No changes to training, diet or supplementation
5 Weeks In – 73.6kg
Weight was sticking again despite everything being nailed, but pictures were showing Biraj getting visibly leaner each week – he was just laying down lots of new muscle tissue!
This was also the first week he began to use our RNT nutrition tracker to make tweaks on certain meals and include some more variety into the diet.
At this point we added in some 10-15 minute ab circuits twice per week on two off days.
We also started some carb cycling too. On his three days off training, we removed the rice from lunch, making his carb intake on these days 40g.
His macros were now:
Protein – 200g
Fat – 80g
Carbs – 70g or 40g (3x rest days)
Changes to be implemented: 2x ab circuits. Introduced carb cycling by dropping rest day carbs to 40g.
No changes to training, cardio or supplementation.
6 Weeks In – 72.4kg
Big drops this week after last week’s changes, and the love handles / low back were really beginning to tighten up.
No real issues this week, besides the fact he was beginning to max out in the 10-12 rep range we were working in, so we expanded it to 8-12 and introduced some reverse pyramid sets to help elicit more strength gains. You can read more about these here.
Changes to be implemented: Opened up rep range from 10-12 to 8-12.
No changes to diet, cardio or supplementation.
8 Weeks In – 71.6kg
Biraj was continuing to drop nicely. Everything was working nicely and things were beginning to take shape well.
No changes to training, diet, cardio or supplementation.
“8 weeks in and I was completely surprised at how much weight I’d already lost, but more so the increased strength over that time. I was waking up at 05:30am to train or get my steps in and was really enjoying my workouts. Looking back at my logbook the progression in terms of weights compared to when I started was really motivating. People had started to comment on how much better I was looking and my clothes at this point started feeling loose as well! The support from RNT and the RNT nutrition tracker in terms of what to do/eat whilst travelling abroad for work or when I had clients/family commitments was fantastic and I knew at this point that I’d made the right decision to train with RNT.”
9 Weeks In – 71.4kg
This was the first week Biraj didn’t eat 100% according to plan as he found himself a little caught out in some tricky situations. Nevertheless, he did the best he could in bad situations, and still managed to get half a pound off.
We decided to step things up a little this week too.
The first change was to drop fats by 10g by dropping some almond butter, and replacing a whole egg with some egg whites. The second was to increase LISS to 5 days a week at 30 minutes, and increase steps to 12,000 a day.
Lastly, we added one extra day of ab circuits, so he was now doing it 3 days per week.
His macros were now:
Protein – 200g
Fat – 70g
Carbs – 70g or 40g (3x rest days)
Changes to be implemented: Fats dropped by 10g, LISS up to 5×30 min, steps up to 12K per day, one extra ab circuit.
No changes to supplementation
10 Weeks In – 69.8kg
Up until this point, Biraj’s gym was pretty limited, and he was beginning to max out the dumbbells. So he changed gyms, and with this move, we progressed the training plan to four days a week with the following split:
Day 1: Chest/Arms/Posterior Chain
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Back/Shoulders/Quads
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Chest/Back/Shoulders
Day 6: Legs/Arms
Day 7: Rest
In this plan, we varied the rep ranges so earlier in the week the focus was more in the 6-8 rep range, and later in the week, aiming to progress in the 8-12 rep range. Varying rep ranges in this manner is an RNT speciality, as you can read more about here.
This week Biraj also had his annual BUPA health assessment from work, and the doctor was impressed with the results! (His words were ‘whatever you are doing continue because the difference from the previous year was fantastic’). Since his last test, he was down 9kg with a reduced belly circumference of nearly 10cm. In addition, all his other stats including cholesterol were way down and now all firmly in the ‘green zone’.
It was also during this time his wife, Sital, decided to jump on the RNT program!
Changes to be implemented: Training up to four days a week with a new split.
No changes to diet, cardio or supplementation.
11 Weeks In – 68.8kg
Travelling was picking up with both work and leisure, but Biraj was ticking all the right boxes and staying sensible throughout.
Despite a big drop, I decided to push on a little harder as we still had a lot of body fat to chop off.
We kept cardio and weights the same, but initially pushed steps up to 14,000 a day. At the same time, we reduced protein by 10g and fats by 15g.
His macros were now:
Protein – 190g
Fat – 55g
Carbs – 70g or 40g (3x rest days)
Changes to be implemented: Fats dropped by 15g, protein reduced by 10g, steps up to 14,000 a day.
No changes to training or supplementation
12 Weeks In – 67.7kg
Despite all the travelling, we were still making good progress and things were coming together nicely.
With a few more trips lined up still, we decided to set a 6 week goal to get the abs out, which would time well with Christmas..
No changes to training, diet, cardio or supplementation.
13 Weeks In – 67.5-68.5kg
Weight was bouncing around this week due to different foods when travelling, some bloating and perhaps a little water retention. While we weren’t off track, it was time to ramp things up this week.
We dropped protein by 15g and knocked 5g of fat off too. I kept carbs where they were at for now and opted for the bigger drop from protein simply because he was so much lighter now, and didn’t warrant 190-200g protein anymore.
His macros were now:
Protein – 175g
Fat – 50g
Carbs – 70g or 40g (3x rest days)
We pushed cardio to 40 minutes daily at this point too, and increased the daily step target to 15,000 a day.
Changes to be implemented: Fats dropped by 5g, protein reduced by 15g, steps up to 15,000 a day.
No changes to training or supplementation.
14 Weeks In – 66.9kg
Christmas parties were coming on thick and fast, to make sure we didn’t lose any ground - some more aggressive carb cycling was implemented with some zero carb days.
On the two hardest training days, we kept the same training day diet (175P, 50F, 70C). On the two easier training days, we followed the previous rest day diet (175P, 50F, 40C). On the three rest days, all starchy carbs were dropped (175P, 50F, 0C).
His macros were now:
Protein – 175g
Fat – 50g
Carbs – 70g (2 hardest days) or 40g (2 easier days) or 0g (3 rest days)
Daily LISS was bumped to 45 minutes daily, and steps were now pushed to 16,000 a day.
The idea of booking in a photoshoot took hold at this point. With 2 weeks till the Christmas holidays, the plan involved: :
- Blast for two weeks until Christmas
- Implement a diet break for 3 weeks over the holidays
- Push hard for 3-4 weeks and peak for a photoshoot
Biraj was down for the plan, so we set the wheels in motion!
Changes to be implemented: Introduced zero carb days on rest days, LISS up to 45 mins, and steps up to 16,000 a day.
No changes to training or supplementation.
15 Weeks In – 66.1kg
2 more pounds of body fat off, the shoot date was set, and we were right on track.
16 Weeks In – 65.7kg – Christmas Break
We were only about 5-6lbs away from shoot condition now, but with Christmas coming, we decided to diet break, reverse calories up, and then chip away again in the New Year.
For 3 weeks, we dropped daily LISS to 25 minutes and reduced steps right down to 10,000 a day.
We pushed food up too, with the majority of the increase coming from carbs.
His macros were now:
Protein – 150g (-25g)
Fat – 60g (+10g)
Carbs – 150g (+80-150g)
The focus during this period was to make the most of the extra rest and calories and really chase after progressive overload in the gym.
After being in a hard deficit for a while, this diet break came at the perfect time.
Changes to be implemented: LISS 25 min daily, steps down to 10,000 a day, new daily macros of 150P, 60F, 150C.
No changes to training or supplementation
“At this point I felt like I was flying and looking back at my weekly photo check-ins I could really see the difference compared to day one. I felt that I genuinely might get a six pack at the end of this. When I saw transformations online in the past – it was always a dream to look that way but I never felt that it could be me. At this stage, for the first time I thought it could actually be me, which is why I committed to the photoshoot as a target in the calendar to work towards.
The food deficit was hard up to this point and the hunger was insane so when the plan changed and we decided to push hard for 2 weeks before a diet break, it sounded like music to my ears. Also the break would be over Xmas so I would be able to enjoy the social events and time with my friends and family, which is exactly what I did – although I didn’t touch any alcohol on Xmas day! Instead, I was enjoying my training so much that I went to the gym on Xmas day morning with my wife (who was also on her RNT journey) to make some extra room for my Xmas dinner later that afternoon!”
New Year Update; 4 Weeks Out – 67kg
The additional food and rest did Biraj a load of good, and he came back from the Christmas break looking way fuller, tighter and vascular.
We now had four weeks to drop the hammer and start the #VaghelaGrind.
Instead of slowly increasing the deficit, we took advantage of the previously higher calories and less cardio, and went straight in.
We pushed cardio up to 45 minutes daily and steps up to 15,000 a day.
To help provide a boost for these cardio sessions, we added in 200mg caffeine beforehand.
At this point we also added in two HIIT sessions per week on rest days, which we hadn’t done previously. This was done for 24 minutes, using my favourite protocol of 20 seconds fast, 1 minute 40 seconds slow.
We kept protein the same at 150g, but dropped carbs to 100g and fats to 50g.
His macros were now:
Protein – 150g
Fat – 50g (-10g)
Carbs – 100g (-50g)
This was actually a higher carb intake than at the beginning, and this time we opted for slightly lower protein and more carbs to keep performance high in this final stretch.
Changes to be implemented: LISS up to 45 min daily, steps up to 15,000 a day, added in 2x 24min HIIT. New daily macros of 150P, 50F, 100C. 200mg caffeine pre cardio.
No changes to training
3 Weeks Out – 65.5kg
We got a nice initial drop in the first week as expected. At this point we just had that last bit of stubborn fat on the lower abs that we needed to grind off.
This week we increased HIIT up to 26 minutes, LISS up to 50 minutes daily and steps up to 17,000 a day.
We kept protein and carbs the same, but lowered fats down to 40g.
His macros were now:
Protein – 150g
Fat – 40g (-10g)
Carbs – 100g
Changes to be implemented: LISS up to 55 min daily, steps up to 17,000 a day, HIIT up to 2x26min. New daily macros of 150P, 40F, 100C.
No changes to training or supplementation
2 Weeks Out – 65kg
This was the first time Biraj messaged saying he’d had a really tough week. Lethargy and fatigue was kicking in, and he was beginning to feel cranky during the day. Hunger was off the charts, and with work and family commitments at an all time high, it was a real struggle to fit it all in.
But… as with all successful transformations, when the ‘why’ is big enough, and you’re focused on your goal, you’ll make it happen. That’s what Biraj did.
We only had two weeks left of hard work to go, so I continued to push him.
We increased HIIT up by 2 minutes, so it was at 28 minutes twice a week now. Steps and LISS remained the same.
On the diet front, I dropped carbs on the three non weight training days to 50g, but kept protein and fats the same.
His macros were now:
Protein – 150g
Fat – 40g
Carbs – 100g or 50g (3 non weight training days)
Biraj was concerned that at this point his training was suffering, and he couldn’t make progressions in the gym anymore. This is in fact completely normal, and that in these final few weeks it’s always better to put the weights on maintenance to ensure safety and preservation of muscle mass.
“This was by far the lowest point in my journey. I was making such good gains in the gym that when I couldn’t lift the same weights anymore it was so demotivating. I was always tired, REALLY grumpy and felt like I was snapping at the smallest things (huge apologies to my wife and kids – sorry!). Work and family commitments started to increase again. I had the support from my family and the RNT team to push me through this tough period as they all kept reminding me of the final goal and the photoshoot that I had committed to!”
Changes to be implemented: HIIT up to 2×28 min. Dropped rest day carbs to 50g.
No changes to training or supplementation
1 Week out – 64.2kg
Another great week in the books, and now the obliques were starting to show.
Another 2-3lbs off still in this final stretch would complete his look, so we tweaked his plan again and dropped carbs by 25g everyday, and increased HIIT to 30 minutes twice per week.
His weight was bouncing around throughout the week, which was coming from a lack of bowel regularity. We suggested adding in some psyllium husk twice per day, but he didn’t need to use it in the end as his system readjusted and normalised. Biraj also had a trip to Dublin with work this week for a few days, to make sure he didn’t veer off course so close to shoot day, he took his meals with him.
Final Week – 63.1kg
Metabolism was racing at this point, and we were nearly at the finish line. The last bits of stubborn fat were off, and Biraj was ready. All we did in this final week was deload his training and cardio, and bring his carbs up a little towards the end of the week to help fill him out.
To peak for the Wednesday shoot, here’s what we did. As you’ll see, no tricks or secrets, just a simple plan to bring his best on shoot day!
Game Day:
7.30am (2 hours before) – 3 whole eggs, 70g rice mixed with soy sauce
During shoot – 2-3 scoops HBCDs from Raging Full
Lights, Camera, Action!
Final Stats/Testimonial
Bodyweight: 63.5kg
Umbilicus: 27.75 inches
As we went through the final week, Biraj’s weight dropped as low as 62.6kg, but as we started filling out with the carbs, it came up a little.
These were his final comparison pictures:
Physical is the Vehicle
Biraj has harnessed the abundant energy and self confidence he gained from his RNT journey and went on to make huge changes and improvements in his life. After his Transformation Checkpoint he chose to invest heavily in improving his physique and build serious muscle and strength. And to propel him to achieve his new set of goals both Biraj and his wife Sital (who is also on her RNT journey) booked in a second photoshoot after a long period of investing.
“I would highly recommend doing a second photoshoot. The second time around you are prepared, you know what’s coming. You are stronger and you hit the milestones that much faster. The biggest change was during The Grind, I started to refer to it as the ‘The Grind-Set’ implying that if you have the right mind-set during the hard phase you can power through it and come out feeling stronger. Also, muscle building doesn’t lie, you can see and feel the strength and it’s an amazing thing.”
These physical changes gave him the drive to start a new, thriving business.
“I’m in the shape of my life at the age of 40. I have the structure, strategy and systems to push forward in any direction I like now, and I don’t limit that to only my physical ambitions. My mindset has completely changed. I’m scoping new career opportunities, taking up new hobbies, diving deeper into my self development, and thinking more and more about my bigger purpose here. Going through the journey has given me a platform to grow in a way I’ve not had before. I’m inspired, so I inspire not only my family, but also my wider circles. This excited me as I head into a decade of my life most people believe in the start of their decline.”
Here’s what Biraj has to say about his overall experience with RNT Fitness:
“It’s been a fantastic working with RNT! The training and nutrition guidance, plus the immense amount of experience RNT has with working with people across the world, has helped me to get into the best shape of my life.
I never in a million years thought I could look like this, but it just goes to show that with commitment, will and determination, and with the right coaching team who supports you all the way, anything is possible!
I can’t thank RNT enough and I look forward to the next phase of my RNT training.
