One last thing...

I know that was supposed to be the last one, but I just wanted to say one last thing. If you really do enjoy what I have to say, think I'm cute, or just want more Twitter followers or Facebook friends here are the links to my personal social network profiles.

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This ain't goodbye, it's just see you later...

This post marks a bittersweet day for me. On one hand, this is the last blog assignment I’ll have to do for this class. On the other hand, it’s the last blog assignment I’ll have to do for this class lol.

Overall, I’ve loved the experience. Not since the days of livejournal have I blogged, and never was it about anything relevant. Granted, the relevance of the content here is subject to opinion, it’s still better than any of the adolescent “why doesn’t she like me”, teenage angst filled garbage that I littered the internet with back in the day.

In fact, I might even keep the blog going once the class is over. I’m the kind of person who usually has a lot to say and nobody to say it to. Not to mention that the vast amount of knowledge I've acquired in regards to health and fitness isn't gonna do anyone else any good if it stays in my head.

So when I realized this was to be my last official graded blog post, I wanted to think of something great to post, an entry with real content, I really want to go out with a bang. Unfortunately for you guys, I got nothin…lol

So I’m going to end this assignment first by thanking all of you for reading, commenting, and subscribing. Without your interaction, this blog is just a diary. Now i'd like to share with you some of my favorite motivational quotes, some words of advice and some random ass video or picture because the assignment calls for it lol.

• I said this in my last post, but I absolutely love the concept behind this quote. Whenever you fall off track or regress, remember “In order for an arrow to reach its target, it must first be drawn back”.
• Don’t be afraid to be different, don’t be afraid to be dedicated, when people call you obsessed, just tell them that “obsessed is a word that the lazy use to describe the dedicated”.
• “You’ll never know how far you can go if you never take that first step”.
• And along those same lines, “every journey begins with a single step”.
• “Make the rest of your life, the best of your life”
• “Strength is the product of struggle”
• You can’t wing it when it comes to health and fitness. Sit down, take some time, and develop a blueprint, because  “If you fail to plan, then plan to fail”
• “You can’t out train a bad diet”
• “abs are made in the kitchen”
• “you can have results, or excuses, not both”
• “go ahead, make fun of the way I eat, I’ll just make fun of the way you look”
• This one is for the ladies “Good girls do cardio, bad girls lift heavy”
• “Train insane, or remain the same”
• “Push yourself, nobody else is gonna do it for you”
• “If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up”
• “You can feel sore tomorrow, or feel sorry for yourself tomorrow, you choose”
• “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”
• “I don’t have time” is the grown up version of “my dog ate my homework”
• To add to that “It’s not about having time, it’s about MAKING time”
• “it’s called a WORKout because it requires effort. Without the work it’s just an easy out”
• “the body achieves what the mind believes”
• “Sacrifice = Success”
• No Pain, No Gain
• This one I love, for those of you who are just beginners “no matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch”
• “The only bad workout is the one that never happened”
• “Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction”

Aaaaaand that’s enough of that for now. So I wanna summarize some of the things you all should have learned during these last couple months:

1. It’s never too late to start making changes. My pops is in his fifties and just decided he wanted to begin eating healthier and supplementing
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know. How many people do you know would ask their son for advice?
3. Good girls do cardio, bad girls lift heavy
4. If you’re short on time, want a crazy effective workout, and you’re a bit of a masochist, Crossfit might be right for you
5. The gym is a gym, not a club so act right or get out
6. DON’T DO CURLS IN THE F*CKING SQUAT RACK!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Not every diet will work for every person, you've got to do a little self-experimentation to figure out what works for YOU
8. Last but not least, no matter what it is you do in life, don’t half ass it because...

Punch the clock, hit the books, hit the weights: my violent life

So I've been slackin on my mackin as of late and haven't had much time to post. So I'm gonna fill you all in on what's going on in my life right now.

School this semester has been relatively easy as far as the workload is concerned, but with the end of the semester approaching things are starting to pickup. In Social Media Marketing Strategies, my personal branding project (the whole reason behind this blog) is going to be due soon, on top of my portion of the group presentation. I've tweeted enough to get credit for this class nearly 50 times over, so I'm really not worried about that, but I have at least one more blog post to create after this one, as well as creating a Facebook fan page. I might even film a couple workouts and upload them to my already existing YouTube page which I'll then link to everything else.

Work has been a complete snooze-fest since august, but training is FINALLY almost over. Next week is the end of this 4 1/2 month nightmare and I finally get to start selling to customers and making commission. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. For those of you that don't know, when I'm not putting in work at the gym, I work at Echo Global Logistics, a freight management company based out of Chicago. To explain what I do in detail is an entire blog in itself but to put it short, I play the middle man between companies that have stuff to ship, and the trucking companies that want to ship stuff for them.

Now my favorite part, my fitness journey. One of the things I like to do is self experimentation when it comes to my diet. this year alone I've tried being paleo, which is an all natural diet meaning you pretty much cant eat anything that you couldn't kill in the wild or pick of a tree or bush. I've gone 2 weeks without a cheat meal, which wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I've even gone 2 weeks without eating dessert (now THIS was hard AF).

This time around, I have decided to try Intermittent Fasting. I have an 8 hour eating window, from 12pm - 8pm everyday to get in all of my needed calories and macro-nutrients for the day and I don't eat for the other 16. It's not as difficult as it sounds I swear. The hardest part about it is measuring and keeping track of my macros (i.e. the amount of protein, carbs, and fats I need in a day). My measurements are 313g of protein, 100-150g of carbs depends on if its a training day or not, and 75-100g of fat for a total of 2500 or so calories on non training days and 3100ish on training days. I decided to split my day up into 3 meals, breaking my fast at lunch time which works well for me since I work a pretty standard 9-5. for a more in depth description of IF check out a fellow blogger and personal trainer/nutrition coach here

You're probably wondering why the heck someone would submit themselves to this kind of torture. Part of the idea behind intermittent fasting is by only being able to eat within that 8 hour window, it makes it more difficult to exceed your daily caloric intake because one can only eat so much in 8 hours. On top of that you're body becomes better able to process your nutrients and use them for energy when the greater part of the day is spent fasted.

I've pretty much tried everything else there is already anyway, so why not? I've done low carb, eating clean, eating 5-6 meals a day and everything I said before. The only things I haven't done are gone vegetarian or vegan and I love meat too much to so that sooooo.....yeah. I wanted to try it and see what kind of effects is has on my body and my athletic performance.

Truth is, although fitness is my passion and I've lost TONS of weight in the last few years, I still have a loooong way to go to reach my ideal body. I should weigh under 200 lbs but with my muscle mass and the way my body is built I can carry 200-205 pretty well, so my goal right now is to lose 25 lbs by the end of April.

So for the purpose of adding a little accountability here are my stats:

Starting date 11/22
Starting Weight: 230 lbs
Current Weight: 228 lbs
Goal Weight: 205 lbs
Goal Date: 4/22

I actually weighed less than this over the summer, but I put on about 5lbs of muscle while doing a mini bulk,  but thanks to my new desk job, I put on about 5lbs of fat as well. I am not discouraged though, just more motivated now than ever. I think of it like this: for an arrow to be fired forward, it must first be drawn back.

In case you dont understand IFing still after reading that blog, here's a video to help clarify

I have high hopes for IF, but if it does work for me, it doesn't mean it works for everyone. However you decide to diet, make sure it's healthy and don't half ass it. Remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

Gym Pet Peeves: Thas that sh*t I dont like!

Just about every time I’m at the gym someone tries to pull me aside and proceed to talk to me for 10 minutes or more…while I’m between sets…walking from one station to another…with my headphones on and music on full blast…when I clearly don’t wanna be bothered….

This might be my biggest gym pet peeve and today while I was recalling this it got me to wondering “what other kinds of things make people mad at the gym?” so I decided to probe the interwebz, ask my friends and family, and even the people I work with and This is what I came up with, in no particular order.

The Towel Guy - You know who I’m talking about, that guy who leaves his towel on a machine to claim is as he bangs out a set or two on another machine. I admit, I’m a little guilty of this but with my water jug instead of a towel. You don’t know how many times I've walked away from the squat rack and come back to some dude pulling my plates off so he can do straight bar curls, which leads me into my next pet peeve

Curling in the Squat Rack – Just don’t do it. Squat racks are for squatting. If you want to curl there is a wall full of dumbells, a rack full of ez-curl bars, and at least 2 preacher curl stations, so GTF outta the rack!

The Gym Bag Guy – This is the guy who although the club has gone through all the trouble to provide its customers with beautiful, functional locker rooms, he carries his stankin ass gym bag around with him from station to station, machine to machine and no matter where he puts it, somehow it manages to get in someone’s way…come on son, do better.

Dropping Weights –Now If ur deadlifting 300 plus, then you have EVERY right to drop the weight once you finish that last rep on that last set, I do it myself. But if you’re isolation curling 20 lb dumbells and taking 5 minutes between sets to flex ur guns in the mirror, I will not hesitate to tell you that ur doin too much. It doesn’t make you look cool, it just makes you look like a tool.

The creepy gym guy – Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for meeting a girl at the gym. What would be better than to meet someone that shares a similar passion for health and fitness that you do? The couple that works out together looks hot together, period. But don’t try and talk to every girl you see walk past you in a pair of yoga pants and nike frees. And definitely don’t be that stalker dude that looks for the same girl every time she comes in and then go talk to her for 20 minutes. She is after all, there to get a workout in just like everyone else, so let her do her thang, then talk to her.

Doin too much – I see far too many guys trying to lift too much weight, using horrible form, and using his whole body to do curls. Odds are, if you weight a buck-thirty, ur probably not gonna be strong enough to curl 80 lbs dumbells. Leave ur ego at the door and drop the weights down man. That girl that you think ur impressing by slangin around all those plates isn’t even lookin at you. I have yet to meet a girl that was really impressed by how much weight I was throwin around anyway, it’s usually only dudes.

Grunting – now this is a sensitive topic for me because I grunt, quite a bit. But there are two kinds of grunters: the guy who grunts because he’s really putting in work and makin gains. Like I said with weight dropping, if you’re doing a heavy compound movement with a lot of weight (because ur actually strong enough to do it) and ur tryna power up ur one rep max, then grunt by all means. In fact, scientifically speaking the exhalation that occurs during grunting cam enables ur body to produce 3-5% more power, helping you reach that personal best; if you don’t believe me, google it. But, if you’re that guy who again, is curling 20 lb dumbells and staring at urself in the mirror, just exhale, don’t grunt.

The dapper dude – if u take a shower, put on cologne, put gel in ur hair, and lay out ur outfit before you hit the gym, just stay home…seriously. If ur shoes match ur shorts, thas fine. If u already look made up because ur coming from work, thas fine too. But if you get ready for the gym like you get ready for the club, don’t even bother coming in, just sit on ur couch and think about what you’ve done.

Talking on ur phone – its fine if you use ur phone as ur music player, but it doesn’t mean you need to tweet, update ur facebook, text and call ur homeboy to find out where ur goin tonight. All that time you spend messing with ur phone while sitting on that bench is time of mine that ur wasting while I’m waiting for you to get done, shut up and lift!

Having conversations in the locker room while ur naked - I dont need to say anything about this, just dont do it. It's bad enough that EVERY old guy walks around but-ass nekkid and for some reason, ALWAYS has to bend over to pick something up, dont make it worse.

So if you’re guilty of more than one of these, STOP. Odds are, ur pissin some people off and they wont be there for you when you need a spot.

Check out this YouTube video to see some more gym no-no's

"No matter how you workout, dont half-ass it. If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you"

Crossfit: it aint your grandaddy's workout

A little over a year ago I was watching a bunch of shirtless, sweaty, out-of-breath dudes doing handstand pushups, power cleans, and pushing prowler sleds and I fell in love………….with the sport of Crossfit lol. It was the 2011 Crossfit games on ESPN, presented by Reebok that introduced me to the fastest growing fitness trend in the world.

Despite the growing popularity in the fitness community, and its spotlight on ESPN, much of the world is still in the dark as to what Crossfit actually is. I've decided to take it upon myself to help bring it to the masses, and explain just what Crossfit is to you, my ever loyal (lol) blog readers. However, since most of you have NO idea what I’m talking about half the time, I’m gonna keep it as short and simple as possible while still being informative.

Crossfit is a workout program and sport that integrates aspects of Olympic weightlifting, calisthenics, power lifting, plyometrics, and gymnastics into a short, intense session of energy depleting, sweat dripping madness. In any one workout one can be forced to run 400 meters, then pick up a barbell and do overhead squats, then immediately do 30 box jumps, and finally push a 250 pound prowler sled 30 meters across a finish line without stopping in between.

Each workout is given a set number of reps and then circuits, or time limits to motivate the athlete and give them a goal to reach.

Workouts of the day or WODs as they are referred to are given names like Cindy, Helen, and Mary which are synonymous throughout the Crossfit community.

The movement became so popular that it was eventually turned into a competition and now has a yearly competition that is featured on ESPN, sponsored by Reebok, with a prize of half a million dollars.

All throughout the world, the US and Australia particularly, Crossfit gyms or “Boxes” are popping up month after month. There are even certifications trainers can earn to become Crossfit instructors.

The benefit of Crossfit from a workout perspective is the intensity of the workout enables one to get the same calorie burn as a standard workout in half the time, usually around a half hour or so. This is one of the reasons I love it so much, with a jam packed schedule of school, work and a dwindling social life, this allows me to get my much needed workout in without taking up too much of my time.

Ok that’s enough of be blabbering on, now that you have a basic knowledge of the sport, here’s a video so you really get the idea behind it....

Insane right? and look at those dudes, they're build like machines. If that's what I can look like from doing Crossfit I'll gladly the 150 bucks a month average it costs to join a box. Theres a number of them here in MI, closest to me is Bloomfield Crossfit, go ahead Google it. 

It has become so popular in fact, that Groupon even had an offer for $125 off a one month membership at Bloomfield Crossfit, which I most definitely bought.

Now Crossfit isnt for everyone, if you have bad knees or a bad back its definitely not the way to go. If you cant find the motivation to push yourself to exhaustion, beyond any limits you've ever reached before and really unleash your inner beast, then stick to your Jane Fonda tapes and your Thigh Master

But regardless of how you choose to workout, just remember, if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you...

It's time to put the myth to bed

Have you ever noticed how when you walk into the gym and you look over or up at the area where all the cardio equipment is that it’s packed with females? Then you take a look over at the free weights and it’s like a big testosterone laden sausage fest? Did you ever wonder why that is? When I first started working out, I asked myself the same question, so I decided to do some investigating to find out. What I came up with was the same answer, over, and over, and over, and over. “I don’t wanna get big and bulky like those bodybuilder chicks on you see on TV” was about the gist of it.

Now before I knew about the science behind bodybuilding and nutrition, I thought it made sense, I actually agreed with them. But once I started to educate myself, I realized how silly that urban gym legend really was.

Simply lifting a weight is not going to turn you into a she-hulk, there is A LOT more to it than that. In fact lifting weights will help you LOSE weight as well as making your curves, curvier.

What makes both men and women swell up like swollen behemoths (aside from steroid use) is what they eat.  Truth is, what happens with your body is more dependent on what you put into tour body than what you do with it. There’s a saying amongst the fitness community, “abs are made in the kitchen not the gym”.  Most fitness buffs, trainers, and physique competitors will tell you, it’s about 20% gym and 80% nutrition when it comes to making changes to your body.

In order to gain muscle mass like bodybuilders do, they have to consume massive amounts of calories in COMBINATION with intense exercise. They need to be in a caloric surplus at the end of each day in order for their body to have what it needs to build new muscle fibers.

If weight loss is the goal, the simplest way to explain it is to combine exercise, with a caloric deficit, meaning consuming fewer calories than you burn in a day.

Ladies, if you’re still not convinced then what would you say if I told you that resistance training (i.e. weight lifting) burns NINE TIMES MORE calories than cardio does?  Meaning you’re going to reach your weight loss goal faster if you incorporate weight lifting. Muscle even helps you burn more calories when you’re just sitting on your butt watching TV. This is because a pound of muscle burns 50 extra calories a day, even at rest. So by putting on 10 lbs. of lean muscle, you burn 500 more calories a day, that’s an entire meal’s worth! Tell me that’s not a convincing enough argument.

Why does resistance training burn so many more calories than cardio you ask? Well to answer this question, I’m going to have to piss off some of my creationist followers and refer to human evolution. Once we developed from tree dwelling, knuckle dragging ape folk and began walking upright, our bodies began to change and adapt to our new means of transportation. Since we couldn’t simply open the fridge or hit the nearest drive through to get food back then, we had to be very conservative about how we burned energy when getting from place to place. Our bodies began changing and becoming very efficient at using calories for energy when walking. This meant walking and running became easier for our upright, long legged bodies to do. Since then our anatomy hasn’t changed much in regards to calorie consumption when walking. So all those hours you’re spending on the treadmill are for naught because it’s like expecting a Prius to burn through a tank of gas like a Hummer. In short, we’re built to run, it’s easy, and if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.

Now all you runners, don’t get upset, I’m not saying cardio doesn’t have its benefits. But in my, most trainers and all physique competitors opinions, the quickest way to a hot bod is through the weight room.

Now if you’re ugly, I’m sorry, weights won’t help you. But if you want killer legs, a tight butt, and toned arms, spend some time away from the treadmill and slang some iron ladies.

Make the rest of your life, the best of your life...

I was really excited to receive an email from my dad afew weeks ago asking me for advice about starring a healthier lifestyle, this is what he wrote:

"Pa, I really want to eat healthier and take some supplements, what do you suggest for this old diabetic guy?"

NOTE: "Pa" is a term of endeerment used commonly in spanish speaking families, I'm Puerto Rican so its not weird lol.

As you can see my father is diabetic, he has type II -- adult onset diabetes, which results typically from poor eating habits. My dad used to have a serious sweet tooth and it eventually caught up to him. Regardless, my dad was and is in what I consider to be incredible shape for a 55 year old, I mean the guy still has a 6 pack!. He is recently retired from the military s0 being fit for him is a way of life. To this day, he still wakes up each morning and does push ups and situps before going about his business.

My dad took notice of my enthusiasm for health and fitness afew years ago when he saw me for the first time after my initial weight loss but I dont think he really understood how vast my knowledge until after I replied to his email.  This is what I wrote:

"I'm really happy to hear that you want to start taking better care of yourself. Especially because I think you already do such a good job as it is. So we'll start with basic food principles then move on the supplements.

 Food:

1. Drink Only Water - this one is always the first thing I tell people. Granted, you're diabetic so you don’t drink a ton of sugary stuff, but a glass of soda can contain up to 350 calories, ALL from sugar. This also means stay away from most diet sodas and drinks as much as possible as well. While they contain no calories, the sweeteners that are used to flavor them are actually quite harmful to your liver, which is the command center for your metabolism. Again, as a diabetic you should have general knowledge of how your liver controls insulin response, which also has a huge effect on your body storing and creating fat. Lastly, shoot for 64 oz. a day (8, 8 ounce glasses or so) I carry a gallon jug around with me all day. Only drawback, you'll probably pee more lol.

 

2. If it's white, it aint right - What I mean by that is to eliminate the big 3 white starches from your diet: White Bread (or anything made with bleached flour), white potatoes, and white rice. Again the problem with all of these is your body's insulin response to these refined carbohydrates. They spike blood glucose levels which causes your body to store fat instead of using it for fuel.

Some good substitutes are:

Bread - anything with whole GRAIN, not whole wheat, that’s just a fancy way of saying "the same crap you've been eating". Rye and pumpernickel are both really good as well. Personally, I don’t each much bread at all, only for cheat meals, which I'll get into more later.

Potatoes - just substitute one potato for another, try sweet potatoes instead. They're really easy to make (you can even do it in the microwave).  and taste great with some cinnamon.  They're full of vitamins and are a great source of complex carbohydrates, the best kind.

Rice - Try brown rice, quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH), or barley. They all can be eaten the same way and are WAAAYYY better for you.

3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables at every meal - it's pretty self-explanatory and really easy to throw some in with any meal. I buy bags of frozen veggies, throw em in a big Tupperware container with a couple teaspoons of water, some herbs and spices and pop em in the microwave for a few minutes to steam, and couldn’t be easier. Fruits and veggies are important because they're loaded with all kinds of nutrients that help a variety of things and well, no one has ever gotten fat because they ate too much lettuce. Veggies have a really low caloric density, so you can eat more volume-wise and consume fewer calories than say, a cheese burger. What this means is you feel fuller, and stay fuller, helping avoid food cravings.

4. Cheaters DO win - allow you some freedom when it comes to diet. Every week I have 1 cheat meal where I eat and drink WHATEVER i want. It’s a great shock to your system and has been shown to rev up your metabolism after a week of calorie restriction. If you cheat once in a while, don’t feel bad. If you have an occasional craving, indulge it. It when you deny yourself too much that people fall off the wagon and give up because it's "too hard".

 

So now on to supplements, I'm going to give you a list of essentials, and then a list of optionals, it's up to you to decide on those.

 Supplements:

 Essentials:

1. Multivitamin - there is no arguing here, every person should take one. Regardless of age, sex, race, religion, etc...We simply don’t get enough nutrients that we need from the food we eat. Truthfully you would have to eat a truckload of fruits and vegetables every day in order to get everything you need; it's simply not physically possible. While not all multis are the same, they all serve generally the same purpose so you don’t have to get real expensive here. They make specialty vitamins for women, men, kids, older people, athletes etc... Based on what they're specific needs are and you can buy one if you want, but it's not needed.  I also don’t think you need to overload on vitamins all at once, so while the label will tell you to take 2 a day, with some brands I take 1 a day or one in the am and one at night before bed.

2. Whey Protein - If you're goal is to build, or even maintain muscle mass, protein is important. Early in the morning and post workout your muscles are STARVING for amino acids, whey protein is a quick dissolving source of them and is perfect to take at these times of the day. If you don’t feed your muscles, like anything else, they will die. Be careful of proteins with a lot of sugar, there are a lot of brands out there so take a look at the labels. Look for something with at least 20 grams of protein per serving (scoop) and less than 5 grams of sugar. My favorite is Dymatize Elite Gourmet Protein, it tastes awesome, but it can get pricey at times.

3. Fish Oil - These are a good source of healthy fats which can actually help your body shed fat, as well as omega-3 fatty acids which are good for brain health. They also have been shown to improve joint lubrication for those who have stiff joints or arthritis, I take 2 every morning, the only drawback is that with some, your burps taste like fish. With these, brand doesn’t matter much, try and find the cheapest ones you can get.

 

Optional:

1. Pre-workout supplement - this gives an energy boost and helps you power through workout. They usually contain caffeine for energy, creatine for muscle endurance, L-arganine (which makes your forehead tingle a bit when you take it, this is usually a sign for me that I'm ready to go), and certain amino acids, which again are the foundation for muscle building. I take one before every workout. So far my favorites have been Jack3d from USP Labs, C4 from cellucor, and my absolute favorite Assault from MusclePharm.

2. Glucosamine + Chondroitin - This is another joint helper. It helps maintain, and in some tests, rebuilt cartilage in the joints. This is especially important if you're older, do heavy lifting (squats, deadlifts etc...) or are an athlete or runner. It's also been shown to help maintain flexibility and strength in tendons. Brand here doesn’t matter again, I buy mine from Costco.

3.Testosterone Booster - Now I know what you're thinking and no, these are not steroids. The two most important hormones needed to build/maintain muscle mass are human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone. Much of how much your body produces is based on genetics and lifestyle, but you can help it out. As we age, starting around 30, our bodies slow down production of testosterone because evolutionarily speaking; we are passed our prime reproductive age. The booster I recommend is actually an all herbal supplement called Tribulus. The kinds I have experience with are from the brands Raw Power and Now Foods. Both of which I bought off amazon for a lot cheaper than in store.

So that's it as far as beginner food principles and supplements is concerned. There is a ton more to learn but I don’t want to overwhelm you as this is enough by itself. The last tip I have for you is to shop around. Supplements are expensive but if you take advantage of sales, rewards club memberships and the internet you can save a ton of money. I never set foot inside a GNC unless it's Gold card week (the first 7 days of each month) where you save 20% on certain supps. Most of what I buy comes from amazon or bodybuilding.com. Also, check out company's Facebook pages and websites, I get tons of free samples all the time.

Hope that helps, if you have any questions, doesn’t hesitate to ask at any time. This is my passion and what I wanna do for a living so I always get a kick out of helping people improve their health.

 

Love you pop,

Rich Jr."

 

 

 

This tips are good for anyone looking to begin a journey towards a healther lifestyle so dont think that because you're not a 55 year old man, that you cant benefit from the information here.  Since sending this email my dad has begun supplementing with a daily Multi, and fish oil as well as swapping for healthier food choices. While normally it is the father who is proud of the son, this time I'm definintely proud of my pops.

Know it's never too late to make the rest of your life, the best of you life

Please allow me to reintroduce myself...

So I guess I should let you know what me and this blog are all about, as every superhero has a pretty sweet origin story with tragedy, inspiration, and eventually, triumph. Well chapters 1 and 2 are closed for me and I'm currently writing the third.

My upbringing wasnt much different than most kids from where I'm from, except for the fact that I went to Roeper, a school for gifted kids. With that came alot of pressure and expectations but rewards as well. My favorite reward unfortunately was food, and I was rewarded ALOT. As a kid, being fat is no big deal but once I got to highschool and girls and sports became my two main focuses, well let's just say this is where the "tragedy" part begins.

Like I said, I was always chubby as a kid, but I didnt reach my heaviest until highschool when I peaked at 283 pounds. Now I always had friends, I played 4 sports a year and lettered in all of them, but none of this mattered because none of the girls I liked, ever liked me back. Looking back on it now, it seems juvenile and stupid, but as a teenager, highschool is EVERYTHING. Not being able to get the girl I wanted or seeing her date one of my friends was like getting punched in the stomach, every day.

It didnt stop there though, because of my weight and constant rejection in highschool, I developed some serious self-confidence issues and carried it with me, like my weight, everywhere I went.

While i continued to be active after highschool, playing in multiple basketball and softball leagues, my weight never really changed. In fact, although I did lose weight after highschool, it was only because I stopped lifting weights so my body suffered quite a bit of atrophy.

Fast forward afew years, february 2008, 2 days after my birthday, I had to have an emergency appendectomy, with a follow up surgery a couple months later. I was basically bed-ridden for 3 months, gained a ton of weight and began to really HATE looking at myself.

One day I was just fed up, I immediately went out, joined planet fitness, and starting hitting the gym HARD. I ate chicken and brown rice every day and spend hours working out. 3 months later I was down 30 pounds and almost 10% body fat.

I spent hours a day on Google and YouTube looking for different workout routines, equipment reviews, and healthy recipes. It began as an interest, and soon became an obsession. I began missing social events to spend time at the gym, all of my money went to workout gear and supplements, even my conversations would start about other subjects and end being about health and fitness.

While this may seem like a bad thing, there were alot of benefits. My confidence level skyrocketed, I finally began gettin the attention from females that I had always wanted, even my grades in school went up. It was then I decided that this would become as much a part of my life as my own family.

So today, my passion hasnt changed at all. In fact, I've decided that once i graduate from college I'm going to get my certification in personal training and nutrition and hopefully someday own my own training facility.

I'm more confident than I've ever been, but also more critical. My body is still a work in progress and every day I attempt to make strides in my endless pursuit of perfection. Deep inside me, still lives that shy little fat kid with low self-esteem that loves food and sometimes eats just because. There are days where my past comes back to haunt me and I'm struck with a bout a low self esteem or attempt to eat my emotions but all in all I'm in a much better place.

Here's a picture to show you just how far I've come on my journey

2007-2012



Now it's not all rainbows and unicorns, eating healthy and working out isnt always easy. There are days where I just wanna plop down in front of the tv or xbox with a pizza, pop, and package of oreos and trust me, it's one hell of an internal struggle to keep myself from doing it. I get alot of grief from people around me too, I get stares when I show up to work or school with a gallon jug of water and a huge lunchbox, my friends get annoyed when I have to rearrange social plans because I have to hit the gym after work, and my mom gets mad when I dont eat the dinner she cooked because in her words I'm "on that diet thing".

Eating healthy is expensive too, its no wonder why there are so many fat broke people. you can go to McDonalds and spend a couple bucks for a quick meal, I spend nearly $100 a week just on food for myself; and that's not even counting supplements.

All that aside, I love the satisfaction that comes with being dead tired after a tough workout, I love the looks from the ladies, i love enjoying buying new clothes, and most importantly, I love not hating myself anymore and I wouldnt give that up for anything.