YouTuber Tom Boyden, who along with his collaborator Jujimufu takes on myriad outlandish challenges for their fitness channel—like taking on professional arm wrestlers and rugby players, often getting their butts kicked in the process—has been on a weight loss journey this year.
After reaching a personal crossroads at the beginning of the pandemic and realizing he wasn’t happy with the way his body looked or felt, Tom set himself a deadline, booking a physique photoshoot at the end of November. He ended up dropping 40 pounds over the summer and documented his experience on the channel, and in a new video, Tom reveals the results of his transformation as he prepares for the shoot.
Tom recalls how, in addition to pushing himself hard in his own training, a key component in achieving the changes he wanted was to get his nutrition on track, which meant ditching the “dirty bulk” approach to eating that he’d previously taken. “My diet was abysmal,” he says. “I got up to 200 pounds, I was eating to just continue to get stronger, but that’s not the way to do it.”
Tom’s longtime collaborator Jujimufu (a.k.a. Jon Call) believes he’s become well-suited to the lifestyle changes that accompany such a transformation. “Tom’s really good at being hungry and not complaining about it,” he says. “He’s really good at getting all the meals in on time, he’s really good at getting through a workout on a deficit.”
The five-month transformation ran into some obstacles, including a serious Crohn’s disease flare-up which led to Tom being hospitalized. He lost 10 pounds in 4 day, and was then put on medication which causes the body to retain water, which formed an additional challenge for him to overcome in the weeks leading up to the day of the photoshoot.