{"id":796936,"date":"2026-10-09T11:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/796936\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T11:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T11:08:16","slug":"i-helped-my-wife-lose-fat-and-build-muscle-in-90-days-7-changes-that-made-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/796936\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I helped my wife lose fat and build muscle in 90 days\u2019 \u2013 7 changes that made the difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

When fitness coach Nando Stenning<\/a> decided to help his wife, Bojana, transform her fitness, it wasn\u2019t just about losing fat. As a new mum approaching 40, Bojana had been struggling with her energy, confidence and consistency \u2013 despite wanting to feel fitter and stronger for years.<\/p>\n

\u2018I just want to feel more confident,\u2019 she said, teary-eyed, at the start of their 90-day challenge<\/a> shared on YouTube<\/a>. \u2018I have always wanted to be a healthy and fit person but I\u2019ve never been able to stick with it, and now I want to stick to it.\u2019<\/p>\n

So, over the next three months, Nando helped her focus on the habits that would actually make a difference: from combining strength<\/a> with cardio<\/a> and increasing her NEAT movement<\/a>, to prioritising protein and adjusting her calorie intake. The result was a transformation that saw her lose 9.9kg while becoming noticeably fitter and stronger \u2013 including achieving her first-ever pull-up<\/a> and going from 0 to 13 full push-ups.<\/p>\n

The starting point \"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

On day one of the challenge, Nando had Bojana complete a fitness test. <\/p>\n

\u2018We got her to run 1km, which took her about 7 minutes 29 seconds and almost killed her. But her strength wasn’t too bad. She managed to do three reps of 10kg for a dumbbell press<\/a>, 45kg for three reps on a deadlift<\/a>, and 35kg for three reps on a squat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018She couldn’t do any full push-ups<\/a>, but she could do seven on her knees. And she attempted a pull-up, but she wasn’t quite strong enough to do one yet.\u2019 <\/p>\n

7 habits that made the difference1.She tracked her macros <\/p>\n

When it came to her diet, Nando had Bojana start by tracking her calories, aiming for \u2018around 1600 per day\u2019. But he soon realised that monitoring her macros was just as important. \u2018She wasn’t eating enough protein, which is going to be essential if she wants to build muscle. So, I ordered her some protein and some other supplements to help her along her journey,\u2019 Nando explained.<\/p>\n

2. She did 3 workouts a week combining strength and cardio, and made every session intense \"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

Bojana found that finding the time to train was one of her biggest barriers, so Nando\u2019s advice was to reduce the number of sessions \u2013 but to make every one of them as effective as possible. \u2018One of [Bojana\u2019s] biggest struggles was time because she was busy looking after our daughter. This meant she could only train three days per week when our daughter was at nursery. So, the workouts needed to contain a mix of strength and cardio in the same session and be very intense to make up for the fact that she wasn’t going to be training that many days.\u2019<\/p>\n

3. She tracked the weight she lifted \"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

One of Nando\u2019s biggest tips for motivation was for Bojana to monitor both her weight loss and strength improvements (how heavy she could lift per exercise) on a daily basis. \u2018To hold herself accountable and to increase the chance that she would see the whole 90 days through, she created herself a whiteboard where she would log her weight and what she did each day.<\/p>\n

\u2018And it was working. She was pushing herself hard in the gym, following her diet, and updating her whiteboard every day. And in the first week, she already lost 1.5kg.\u2019<\/p>\n

4. She increased her NEAT exercise\"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, is the energy you burn through everyday movement rather than structured workouts \u2013 think everything from walking and gardening to household chores. It accounts for roughly 50% of the calories you burn each day, whereas intentional exercise typically contributes to only around 10%. <\/p>\n

Increasing this was another big factor behind Bojana\u2019s success. \u2018Despite pushing herself as hard on week 2, the weight loss completely slowed down,\u2019 Nando explained. \u2018After checking her steps, we realised apart from walking to the gym or walking to the nursery, the rest of the day she wasn’t really moving. Meaning she wasn’t actually burning that many calories each day. So, I bought her a smartwatch to track her steps and set her a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sure enough, Bojana said she started to see a change after a few days: \u2018Trying to get my steps in as early as possible so that when [my daughter] is finished from nursery, I don’t have to worry about missing out on my steps. And after a few days, the weight started dropping again. Just weighed myself; I’ve gone from 74.9 to 72.8 kilos, so something seems to be working,\u2019 she shared.<\/p>\n

5. She redistributed her calories to match when she felt hungriest\"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

As Bojana explained she had started to feel hungrier as the weeks passed, Nando advised how to help reduce those hunger signals: \u2018Unfortunately, when you’re trying to lose fat, you’re going to have to reduce the amount of calories that you’re eating, and this is going to increase your hunger signals. But, you can help manage hunger by eating less processed food, increasing your protein and increasing your fibre intake. <\/p>\n

\u2018As Bojana was feeling hungrier at night, we redistributed her calories, eating less calories during the day, focusing more on vegetables and lean sources of protein to keep her full and then having a bigger meal in the evening with the rest of the calories that were left. And this would even leave her with enough calories to have a healthy dessert after dinner, too.<\/p>\n

\u2018And it was working. By day 30, she dropped loads of weight and her measurements were all coming down, too. Not only was she looking better and starting to feel more confident, her strength and fitness had gone up. So much so, she even started to manage some full push-ups. She also managed to run the 1 km without feeling like she was going to die.\u2019<\/p>\n

6. She adapted her plan when out of routine\"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

Sticking to the same routine for 90 days isn\u2019t always possible. For Nando and Bojana, some simple adjustments enabled her to stay on track. \u2018We had a holiday planned for her birthday and we were a bit worried that this might derail all her progress. But then we came up with a plan,\u2019 Nando said. \u2018During the day, we would walk as much as possible while sightseeing instead of taking taxis. We would try and eat healthy and light during the day and then in the evening we would have one big meal where we would celebrate and eat and drink wherever we wanted.<\/p>\n

\u2018During this holiday, we weren’t aiming to lose weight. We were just hoping she wouldn’t undo a lot of her progress. But when we returned, she actually lost a kilo of weight, which is great for her motivation and meant she can get straight back to work and continue making progress.\u2019<\/p>\n

7. She didn\u2019t give up as she started to struggle <\/p>\n

By those final weeks, Bojana began to struggle with fatigue and hunger. \u2018But because she was so close to the finish line, I told her to hang in there and just keep pushing,\u2019 Nando said. \u2018I even made her workouts harder and added in more steps. And she somehow managed.<\/p>\n

\u2018She dug deep and gave the last week everything that she had. And on day 90, it was time to do her final check-in to see if she had changed from that tired, unfit mum she once was to now the super fit mum.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her results \"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

Nando revealed: \u2018In total, Biana lost 9.9kg of weight and 7.9 inches off her waist in only 90 days. She also improved the tone in her upper body and her midsection. <\/p>\n

\u2018The crazy thing is, while losing all of this weight, she still managed to get fitter and stronger. She increased her three-rep dumbbell press by 2.5kg each hand, added 15kg to a three-rep deadlift, added 15kg to a three-rep squat. She managed 13 full push-ups when at the start she couldn’t do any, and she also managed to achieve her first ever pull-up. She also ran her 1km in 1 minute and 33 seconds faster than when she first started.<\/p>\n

\"90<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

\u2018Hopefully, these 90 days are just the start of her body transformation and her fitness journey.\u2019<\/p>\n

Want to train like Liz Earle<\/a>? Liz\u2019s PT, Michael Garry, has created a 4-week training plan exclusively for members of the WH COLLECTIVE. It\u2019s designed to remove one of the biggest barriers to fitness: time. You\u2019ll train for just 35 minutes three times a week \u2013 Liz\u2019s exact strategy to build muscle, boost metabolism and support long-term health. Tap the link below to unlock 14 free days of training and start Liz\u2019s plan today.<\/p>\n

GET THE PLAN<\/a><\/p>\n

\"woman\"Headshot<\/p>\n

As Women\u2019s Health UK\u2019s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.<\/p>\n

After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine\u2019s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!<\/p>\n

Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner\u2019s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in <\/a>print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as \u2018Fit At Any Age\u2019, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.<\/p>\n

She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks \u2013 all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When fitness coach Nando Stenning decided to help his wife, Bojana, transform her fitness, it wasn\u2019t just about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[148106,152337,11157,262088,381,6647,102,190731,1156,262087,223205,154306,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-796936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-collection-fitness-app","tag-collection-i-tried-it","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-e215d244-5bf3-4bff-971e-fa452efcdb0a","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-how-my-wife-lost-fat-and-built-muscle-in-90-days","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-fat-loss","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}