Weight Before: 280.2 lbs
Weight After: 252.2 lbs
Net Loss: 28.0 lbs

Body Fat Before: 29.4%
Body Fat After: 16.4%
Net Loss: 13.0%


What was your life like before the Challenge?

Before the Challenge, my life was fairly healthy, or so I assumed. My eating habits included skipping breakfast most of the time, lunch with my coworkers at some of the local restaurants, and dinner at home. My idea of healthy was to focus on chicken, fish, pork, and to stay away from red meat. I didn’t eat fast food often, and I would ride my bike 2 or 3 times a week, exploring my neighborhood. I had no idea that I starving myself of nutrition and specifically protein.
Mentally, I was depressed about my body, but felt I was in control and just had a lack of motivation to change it. Later I realized this is how I justified being over weight, and needed outside help to really challenge my thoughts about my life style. The truth is that I became so comfortable with being overweight; I feared having the body that I truly wanted. This fear laid quietly in my mind, stocking any emotions that I might have about perusing a better life style and pouncing on any idea of educating myself in fitness. As a result, my day-to-day routine became my own worst enemy, and I allowed it to seize control over me as I would passively watch and justified what I was doing to myself.



What made you decide to take the Challenge?

I realized that in order for me to take back control over what was rightfully mine, I needed a game plan. Unfortunately, the only game plan I had was what I was currently doing, which was not working.
People say that the best way to learn a foreign language is to surround yourself with people who only speak that language, and since I wanted to learn the language of fitness, I needed to surround myself with people who spoke fitness. This in itself was a challenge. All through high school, I was the typical “fat” kid that no one wanted to hang out with. I hated physical fitness. I would always be the last one to finish 4 laps around the track and was usually greeted with laughter as I would walk across the finish line.
Since then, I would avoid fitness like the flue. I would join fitness clubs only to say that I belong, but anytime I would workout, mentally I would think back to high school and focus on the laughter and the pain that I would associated with it.
Joining the Transformation Challenge gave me an opportunity to tear down my wall, build the confidence I needed in a gym, and focus on my game plan, not the laughter.



At what point in the Challenge did you start seeing positive changes in your body and your mindset? What did that feel like?

Changes to my body came after the first three weeks. I lost inches off my stomach and waist, and I was eating more than what I was use to. There was a range of emotions that I went through, but there are three that really stood out.
The first emotion was hope. After seeing what three weeks could do to my body, I was thrilled, and it really gave me hope and purpose to why I was joining the challenge. I didn’t know what type of changes I was going to see at first, but I was very hopeful to see the changes I would achieve at the end.
The second emotion was anger it came in two forms: depression and unfocused motivation. After seeing the changes that I made after the first three weeks of the challenge, I was angry at myself and become depress for not having the metal ability to focus on fitness earlier in my life, and that it has taken me so long to have the need to build my confidence and to change my life. Later, I used this anger to motivate me to continue the challenge and to push myself harder than I would have normally pushed myself. I felt this was beneficial to some degree, but then I took it way to far. For so long, I passively watched as this “self inflected mental virus” consumed my thoughts. Thinking that the next three weeks would yield similar results, I pushed aside the game plan, and tried to force the results. I ended up tripping over my own goals only to show very little progress during the next weigh in.
The final emotion was accomplishment. After ten weeks of the challenge, I finally felt like I had the ability to understand when my decisions where being control by focused thought or by my emotions. I felt my eating habits were not determined by my cravings, but by the game plan that I had laid out for myself. My work outs had purpose and method instead of chaos.




Did you utilize any form of personal training offered by Anytime Fitness? If so, how often?

I did not have a personal trainer that the club was formally offering, but I did have very knowledgeable fitness guru that I met with two times a week as a workout partner. I also took full advantage of the classes that where offered by the club, the team meetings (not just my team), and the information the club made available to the participants about work outs and diets.




What nutritional supplements did you use? (Be specific regarding brand, quantity, etc) How vital were they to your success?

The nutritional supplements that I used really made me understand that fitness is not forced, but is a balance of exercise and diet. For the entire challenge, I used a lot of EAS products. For the first four weeks of the challenge, I used the EAS Myoplex Meal Replacements along with EAS 100% Whey Protein. I would also eat Premiere Protein bars, which help with the sugar cravings, but ultimately hindered my progress. For the last eight weeks, I maintained a diet of whole foods supplemented with either a EAS 100% Whey Protein mixed with some type of fresh fruit, ice and water, or the EAS Myoplex Meal Replacement shakes with low fat, low sugar peanut butter and half of a banana.




How is your life different since doing the Challenge?

One of immediate changes that I notice is my confidence level. I no longer try to avoid the gym, but rather embrace the idea of fitness. Before the challenge, every time I would work out, I felt others were laughing at me. Now I feel others watch me for inspiration and motivation.
I feel I have better control of my decisions and actions. I can choose whether or not to allow my emotions to affect the choices that I make regarding my work outs and my diet. I now have hope of one day having the body I want.
My eating habits have completely changed. I make active decisions about the food I choose to eat and more importantly, when I eat them.

“Give a man a fish, and he will be fed for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will be fed for a lifetime.”

This challenge has given me the education I needed to know in order to fish, and it has also taught me how to find the best fishing spots.


What advice would you give someone who’s considering entering an upcoming Anytime Fitness Transformation Challenge?

Every one joins the challenge for different reasons. All you need to do is to really focus on your diet and your work outs, and do not let your own negative thoughts derail you from your own goals. Don’t worry about what others look like or think about you. Become inspiration to everyone around you, and let them inspire you.
It is better to assume you know nothing about fitness, than to assume you know everything. Put your limiting emotions aside, and ask questions, voice concerns, attend classes, and get involved. If you have trouble committing yourself, get involved any way you can. Every one has something to offer.
Lastly, most people are motivated by two things in life: fear and to avoid pain. You will need to conquer both of these mental blocks in order to find success in the challenge. A lot of people will make time to get fat, but very few people will make time to get fit.


Let me know what you think. Click Here to email me.

Favorite Links:
calorie-count.com
eas.com

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January 8, 2007 - The Before

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