People look at me now and can’t believe that I have ever had a weight problem, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
I was teased and bullied at school for being the fat overweight kid.
For most of my adult life I struggled with my size – trying every FAD diet out there, including starving myself for entire days in a bid to lose weight (erm......... I know not very clever eh?).
These insecurities about my body always left me seeking validation from others based on what I look like on what I looked like,as opposed to letting them judge me for who I was.
So, as crazy as it sounds, it was competing in my first Figures Body Building competition 3 years ago, an event that judges you solely on what you look like, made me realize that it is not about looking like the girls in the magazines, or having the best physique at gym, but that it is important to have a healthy body, that we have energy to do our day to day activities and that we feel great too.
Just at the time I began training for my first competition, I was diagnosed with Graves Disease, which in lay man terms is a disease that ‘goofs up’ my antibodies and makes my immune system do things that it shouldn't. I see a specialist every three months at the hospital, and to control my disease, it is necessary for me to take prescription meds. A side effect of taking the drugs is that they make my body hold onto all the calories that I consume, and so it is essential that my exercise and eating program reflects these issues. Leading up to a body building competition, my diet is very precise and controlled, and about 9 months ago I went to see my specialist at the hospital, which just happened to be approximately a week after my last competition. She told me that my blood work had come back a little better than before and she reduced the meds that I was taking.
When ‘off season’ ie not training for a competition, my diet is not quite as controlled and the training is not quite as intense, so when I went back another 3 months later for my next check up, my meds were increased as the blood work had come back not as good as before. This obviously got me to thinking, that was it what I was putting in my mouth and how much I was getting up off my butt, actually improving my health or was it really the drugs?
So, since September 2009, I set about developing an exercise and nutrition program for myself that would hopefully improve my health and help to reduce the amount of prescription meds that I am currently taking.
Well, this week I went to see my specialist for my most recent 3 month check up and I could not wait to get home and tell Richard the results, and I couldn't wait to share my triumph with you either. She told me that my test results were near on perfect and that she had not seen them this good since starting to treat me nearly 3 years ago. What she told me sure beats any plastic trophy that they can give you for winning a body building competition and I feel like I have won my own Olympic Gold Medal.
I am not currently training for a body building competition and not sure if I am ever going to do one again, and so please don’t think that you need to eat and train like a body builder to get the same results. But, I do train and eat, specific to my body type, and I am constantly challenging myself not only with my weights but with my food too.
Just over a year ago I weighed 138lbs and my body fat % was at 31.5% which meant that I was carrying around 43.5lbs of fat with me everywhere I went, and my health was obviously being compromised.
Whilst developing my own fitness and nutrition plan, I took regular stats of myself, but, the majority of the gains that I have made though, did not take me the whole year to accomplish, but I actually achieved the majority of these gains over the last 5 months, and below you will see the progress I have made since September 2009.
At week 1 my stats were :
Weight 129lbs
Body Fat % 28.0%
Body Fat 36.1lbs
At the end of week 15
Weight 125lbs (down 4.0lbs)
Body Fat % 22.1% (down 5.9%)
Body Fat 27.6lbs (down 8.5lbs)
My current stats at week 20 (February 11th 2010)
Weight 119.8lbs (down another 4.8lbs in 5 weeks)
Body Fat % 18.0% (down another 2.3% in 5 weeks)
Body Fat 21.6lbs (down another 6.0lbs in 5 weeks)
Total Gains Over The Last 20 Weeks (My total gains over the last 11 months can be seen by clicking on my homepage photo)
Total Weight Lost 9.2lbs
Body Fat % Dropped 10.0%
Total Body Fat Lost 14.5lbs
Everyone has their own fitness or weight loss goal, but make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons.
My goal is to invest in my future health, as if left untreated my Graves Disease can have very serious complications. And yes, it is a bonus that my physique is improving all the time, but this weeks hospital test results by far super cede how great I may look in a bikini this year.
What matters more is that we eat and train for our health, and not because we want to look like that model in the glossy magazine, or have the best looking legs/arms/butt at the gym.
Aim to be a better healthier version of YOU and not to look like or look better than someone else. People put money into a pension to invest for their future, or spend money on their house to improve its’ value, but how many of us actually invest as much money and effort into looking after our own bodies? If we don’t invest in our own health, what good is the fancy house and retirement fund if we are not healthy enough to enjoy them?
Please forward this article onto anyone who you feel would find it interesting, and please note that we will be emailing you this week with details about the launch of our new website, and you will be able to check out online all of our Nutrition & Weight Loss Programs that we will be running, so watch this space for more details.