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Two simple words can
describe what is required in order to achieve these results: dedication
and commitment. All it takes is being aware of what your regimen
consists of, what to eat, and when to workout, and everything else falls
into place.
I was somewhat of an
active child. From the age of 6, I played hockey 3-4 times/week, and did
this up until I was 15 years old. When my biggest growth spurt hit, I
seemed to lose interest in all physical activity.
To make matters
worse, I had recently started a job in a retail sports store, in which I
was working 30-40 hours/week on top of keeping up with school. This led
me to become even more lazy in terms of physical activity, and I found
myself eating fast food 2-3 times/day making the absolute worst choices
when it came to food (McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken,
Pizza, etc.).
During my downtime,
I found myself rarely being social with kids my age, due to the fact
that I was completely burned out from school and work. As a result, I
often took 1-2 hour naps in the middle of each day. Due to the lack of
activity and horrible eating habits, my weight could only go one way,
UP.
As you can imagine,
I rarely looked at myself in the mirror as I got disgusted with the way
I looked. Although most people could not believe how much I let myself
go, I chose to block that out of my mind and did not think anything was
wrong with being big.
Tipping the scale at
my heaviest at 384lbs, I had no perception of how much my weight problem
was getting in the way of my everyday life. Now, after losing over
200lbs, I realize how much I was being held back. Barely fitting into
most furniture (chairs, couches, etc) and wearing a 58" pair of jeans
was not something that I could keep up for much longer without affecting
my health.
I started this
program at 352lbs on March 15th, and exactly nine months and four days
later, I weighed in at 170lbs. That's 182lbs less in just over 9 months
(about 20 lbs/month). I went from wearing a 58" waist and 4XL shirt, to
a 32" waist and a S-M top (depending on the brand).
My blood pressure
went from 165/100 and a rest heart rate of about 87 beats/minute to
110/68 and a resting heart of 48 beats/minute!!! This, of course, is the
result of the
cardio
exercise I did religiously while loosing weight.
What Got Me Started?
I went to the doctor
just a few weeks prior to my 19th birthday and found out some very
alarming news. When a person is tested for
diabetes,
any reading at or above 7.2 means they are diabetic. My reading came
back at 7.1, which meant not only was I severely overweight, but I was
now a borderline diabetic.
To make matters
worse, my blood pressure was 165/100 with a resting heart rate of 86-88
beats/minute. It was here that I realized something drastic has to be
done. My father had recently signed up for a gym membership where he was
sold on a package of 25 personal training sessions.
Jeff
Setton.
As he was extremely
busy, he was only able to utilize 4 of the 25 sessions over the span of
one year. When he found out I was willing to start exercising, he
immediately signed me up at his gym and transferred those sessions to my
membership.
I was provided with
a trainer who had a reputation as being a "drill sergeant." After a few
weeks, I began seeing quick results (Week 1 = 9 lb weight loss, Week 2 =
7 lb weight loss, Week 3 = 11 lb weight loss). I went through ups and
downs during this journey, but all in all it was completely worth all
the countless hours I put into cardio to get my body back in shape.
Diet
I started with a
trainer, who also provided me with 3 simple rules I needed to follow (as
always, Keep It Simple!). Firstly, the only things I could eat were
essentially from three of the main food groups,
Protein,
Carbohydrates,
and
Vegetables.
From these groups, I could only eat the following:
Protein:
Carbohydrates:
-
Sweet potatoes
-
Brown rice
-
Oatmeal
-
Wild rice
Vegetables:
I could select one
item from each category for THREE meals/day. On top of the three meals,
I was allowed to have 3
Whey Protein
Isolate shakes in between each meal.
Sample Day:
Meal 1:
7:30am
8 egg white omelet
Cut up vegetables in omelet (tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant,
red/green/orange/yellow peppers)
60g of sweet potatoes (~30g of carbs)
Snack 1:
10am
1 scoop Whey Protein
(28g protein/scoop)
Meal 2:
12:30pm
115g of Turkey
Breast (35g of protein)
1/2 cup of brown rice (37g carbs for 3/4 brown rice)
Green salad w/ 1/4 cup brown rice (1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, Greek
spice, lemon juice, other spices)
Workout:
Cardio for 60-75 minutes (1:45pm)
Snack 2:
3pm
1 scoop whey protein
(28g protein/scoop)
Meal 3:
5:30pm
125g of Chicken
breast (35g of protein)
1/3 cup of oatmeal (20g carbs)
Lots of greens (celery, cucumber/tomato salad, Anice, etc.)
Snack 3:
8pm
1 scoop Whey Protein
(28g protein/scoop)
Supplements I Used
For the first 6
months of this lifestyle change, I did not take any fat burners,
thermogenics, etc. The only supplement I was taking was a daily
multi-vitamin
twice/day,
Vitamin B,
C,
D and
E.
As the weight became
progressively harder to take off, I decided to try Clenbuterol for a few
months, which provided me with more success. I took off an additional
48lbs in 6 weeks, and was doing the 2 week on, 2 week off phase with the
Clenbuterol.
On my 2 weeks off, I
was taking a product here in Canada called "Maximum Burn" which contains
Ma Huang
(ephedrine),
White Willow Bark
(aspirin) and
Caffeine.
I found these two stacks to be quite effective.
Training
Sample Week of
Muscle Training: 3 Day Split (use for calorie burning and toning)
Workout #1
- Back and Biceps
-
Wide-Grip
Pulldowns (20reps, 20reps, 20reps)
-
Underhand
Bent-over
Rows (20, 20, 20)
-
Seated Long
Pulley Rows
-
Barbell
Deadlifts (20, 15, 12)
-
EZ Bar Bicep
curls (20, 20, 20)
-
Hammer Curls
(20, 20, 20)
Workout #2
- Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
-
BB Bench
Press (20, 15, 12)
-
Incline DB
Press (20, 18, 15)
-
BB Military
Shoulder Press (20, 15, 12)
-
Standing
Lateral Raise (20, 20, 15)
-
Close-Grip
Bench Press (20, 18, 15)
-
Rope
Pulldowns (20, 18, 15)
Workout #3
- Legs
-
Leg Press
(20, 20, 18, 15)
-
Walking
Lunges (20, 15, 15)
-
Leg
Extensions (20, 18, 15)
-
Lying Leg
Curls (20, 20, 18, 15)
-
Seated Leg
Curls (20, 18, 15)
-
Abductor
(20, 20, 20)
-
Adductor
(20, 20, 20)
Suggestion To Others
My suggestion for
anyone trying to reach their goals is simply, do not give up. If working
out and getting results was easy, wouldn't all of North America be in
shape? You have to ask yourself what your priorities in life are. If you
take pride in the way you look, then you have to exercise and stay in
shape.
Just remember that
if someone is trying to discourage you from reaching your goals, they
are simply jealous. I had so many people tell me at 270lbs that it was
impossible to get "slim" because of my genetics. I got the last laugh!
Don't let anyone steer you away from your
goals.
Have a set plan as
to what you want to do, and where you want to be by certain dates.
Setting time frames for yourself is another way to achieve your goals.
Back in August 2005, I knew I was going to be going to Florida on
December 25th 2005. I weighed in just over 230lbs (~233lbs).
I set a goal that by
the time I stepped foot on that plane; I would be weighing in at 170
lbs. On December 25th, I got on the plane weighing 171 lbs. I was up 1lb
on the scale from celebrating the night before (had a few things to eat
off my program).
 
Don't Let
Others Discourage You!
It just goes to show
that with dedication, commitment, and your goals stuck in your head at
all times, anything is possible. Remember, never give up, and do not let
people tell you what you can and cannot achieve!
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