The Man Behind the Bootcamp Workouts
The Man Behind the Bootcamp Workouts
Very soon, I’ll be running in the Peachtree Road Race, held in Atlanta, GA each year on July 4th. To me, this is my second Christmas. I’ve been running it since 2003, the first year of my transformation. As a matter of fact, that was the first race I ever participated in.
But to truly appreciate the meaning of this race, you will need to understand where I came from.
In December of 2002, I was playing Madden on the playstation and threw an interception. I was so upset (to this day, I still believe the computer cheated), I threw down the controller out of frustration. When I bent over to pick it up, I had an A-ha moment that would forever impact my life.
I looked at my large belly and couldn’t believe it. I had let myself balloon to 300 lbs, XXXL shirts and a 46” waist. It was no wonder that I would get exhausted every time I went up the stairs in my home. I also hardly had any self-confidence and self-esteem. Honestly, I was ashamed of who I was.
The poor nutrition choices I made were certainly a reflection of who I was in the mirror. Breakfast was an iced honeybun with a soda just about every day, followed by a super-sized lunch at a fast food joint (you can probably guess where when I said “super-sized”), along with more soda.
This was me at not even my biggest
Dinner was where I really cut loose at a point of what I call, “Ridiculousness”. I would eat an entire bag of chips while trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, which most of the time, ended up being a frozen pizza (yes, the entire pizza). Then to top it off, I would eat a huge bowl of ice cream, followed by another huge bowl of ice cream.
I had never taken the time to plug in everything I ate back then into a website like www.fitday.com, but I’m guessing it was around 10,000 calories on some days.
Right then and there, in that very moment as I reached down for the controller, I decided I would make a change. Of course, I also knew it was right smack in the middle of Christmas season and I had to be real with myself. So, just like everyone else, I decided to jump on the New Year Bandwagon the next year. But I had a goal so that I wouldn’t bail in February like most people do unfortunately. I was going on vacation that following summer, and I wanted to drop 50 lbs by the time we went.
On day one, I remember going to my old high school track to supposedly jog. I was exhausted after just one lap. Keep in mind that I’m being a little vulnerable here, but I honestly teared up a little bit. I asked myself if I would actually follow through with this and was this just too hard. I wondered if I was just too late.
Surprisingly, the nutrition part wasn’t so bad. I decided that I would allow myself a full cheat day and the rest of the week, I would simply make better choices. I wasn’t on a “diet” per say, but I certainly upgraded my nutrition. For example, when my co-workers and I would hit the mall, I used to hit fried foods and rice, or pizza, or a double cheeseburger. But now, I got grilled chicken and green beans, and I would put tobasco sauce on the chicken for a kick. I knew it wasn’t rocket science. Quit eating crap… that’s what it came down to.
It was hard work, but as I practiced and continued to persevere, I was finally in control. 6 months later, I had lost 75 lbs. It felt amazing. As a matter of fact, I was so thrilled, I vowed to run the coveted Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta for the first time in 2003.
105 lbs lost
Here’s the crazy part – I didn’t even train for it. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly did some running a couple of days per week, but I certainly didn’t train for a 10K. One of the best moments of my life was realizing I was only a half mile away from the finish line… and I ran the entire route.
As I approached the finish line, a sense of victory overwhelmed me. “I’m going to finish this thing. This is unbelievable!”. Tears, again, filled my eyes, but this time they were the outpouring of past frustrations, doubt and fear. I had done something incredible and it changed my life and mindset.
Since that amazing day, I have lost another 30 lbs, bringing the total to 105 lbs lost. The best part? I have kept it off.
That is why I do what I do. I want to show the world that if someone like me, who was filled with fear and doubt, can do it, anyone can. This is my way of paying it forward.
I get up at 4:30 because I’m driven and there’s a lot of people who need our help. There are thousands (scratch that – millions) of people who are sitting in the EXACT same seat as I was in December of 2002. They may feel hopeless and wonder how they got there. They may wonder if it is indeed too late.
Never. It’s never too late.
So whether you’re a fitness enthusiast who follows this site for the cool workout and fitness tips, or a fitness trainer or bootcamp coach just trying to get new ideas, I welcome you. And even if you just happen to land on this site because you’re searching for “something”, here it is.
I won’t sugarcoat anything. Speaking from experience, losing fat is hard work. Using metabolic resistance training is challenging. But it not only works, it’s life-changing. That’s what you’ll find here, along with other cool stuff that will help people lose weight without any fancy equipment.
Let’s build a community. Let’s share our fitness war stories. Let’s share our ideas. That’s why I’m here. How about you?
Mike Whitfield, CTT
The Anabolic Cookbook: A Review
Look all over and you’ll find many kinds of diet cookbooks so when I came across this I knew I had to write an Anabolic Cookbook review. Whatever eating plan you expect to follow, whether it’s a mainstream weight loss plan like South Beach or Atkins or something more unusual like macrobiotic, you’re going to find plenty of relevant cookbooks at your local bookstore.
One of the upcoming diet plans at present is the anabolic plan for fitness buffs who principally want to gain muscle. Anabolic dieting is largely appropriate for individuals who are bodybuilders, so this evaluation of the Anabolic Cookbook is for them.
Anabolic Cookbook Review Of Foods
The author for the Anabolic Cookbook, also known as Anabolic Cooking, is Dave Ruel. Tasty, appealing foods form the basis of the eating plan that Dave has put forth in his book. Drab, tedious, and lacking in taste describe the foods that most body builders consume, according to Dave. The meals in Dave’s cookbook reflect his own boredom with the standard fare given to body builders and contain recipes to tickle the taste buds while remaining healthy and suitable for gaining muscle without gaining fat.
About foods intended for fitness buffs, you can’t argue with Dave’s perspective. What you eat on your diet doesn’t have to be disgusting or boring. In fact, lots of folks seem to have the mistaken belief that good-tasting food has to be bad. The basic character of a food is what truly will make your taste buds take notice, rather than the additional fat, salt, or sugar that are so common these days. If a healthy diet is what you’re after, there’s no necessity to give up the good-tasting components.
What does Dave imply whilst he utilizes “anabolic cooking” to illustrate his diet plan? Whilst it comes to anabolic cooking, you’ll be receiving high-quality nutrition while building up your muscles and avoiding too much fat consumption. You wouldn’t wish for any diet plan to contain foods that chiefly get stored or go to waste–they should be effectively put to use by your body. Not a soul would quarrel with Dave’s point of view on this.
The cost of the book, though, may shock some people. No one would declare this cookbook is inexpensive. The listed price at the point this is written is $47, which as cookbooks go is rather high. You may very well need to investigate less costly sources for the same information, be it from a local bookstore or even a library, although we must mention that there are some nice bonuses included with the Anabolic Cookbook about fat burning foods.
Anabolic Cooking To Gain Muscle and Lose Fat
For optimum fitness, most inhabitants want to get rid of fat and gain muscle. Excess excess weight and fat are not good for your health compared to lean muscles. Especially for body builders, anabolic cooking may possibly be a good pathway on the road to your fitness goals. It is certainly healthier for you than pumping your body full of supplements or other drugs. Be familiar with what you’re getting into, and make your own decision with reference to buying the Anabolic Cookbook.
Do Your Own Anabolic Cookbook Review
Click Here To Eat Delicious Foods to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat
Categories: Supplements and Diet Tags: anabolic cookbook, build muscle, cookbook, lose fat, recipes
Body Mass Index
BMI also known as Body Mass Index is a method used by health professionals to discern just how healthy an individual is at any given point in their lives. This method dates back to the 19th century although the term Body Mass Index was popularized in the 20th century. Although numerous studies have been done and the theory improved upon time and again, there is still room for improvement, especially when one is looking into the BMI calculator.
For starters, the BMI calculations start by weighing the individual then measuring their height. The individual’s weight is then divided against their height squared and their BMI attained.Although this method has been around for years it is now commonplace and used by doctors and nutritionists alike in order to determine ones health status.For those who might be new to this method of calculation rest assured it is fairly simple. As has been mentioned earlier, this technique involves dividing ones weight by their height squared.As an example, for a lady who weighs in at 64 Kilograms or 140 pounds and stands at 5’ 7” then the body mass index should be calculated as 64/140 which gives a BMI of 22 which indicates normal weight. This formula can be applied across the board on individuals within different weight and height classes.
Worth noting is the fact that there are certain elements of the BMI calculator that should be looked into even as the calculations are being done.For starters, there is the normal BMI rate, which stands at 18.5-24.0. This means that for every individual whose calculations fall within this range they are presumed to be in the normal weight category. However, should the BMI fall below this then the person is considered to be underweight weight.
Worth noting is the fact that there are certain elements of the BMI calculator that should be looked into even as the calculations are being done.For starters, there is the normal BMI rate, which stands at 18.5-24.0. This means that for every individual whose calculations fall within this range they are presumed to be in the normal weight category. However, should the BMI fall below this then the person is considered to be underweight weight.
BMI Calculations
On the higher side, there are those who have a BMI that is above 24.0 which means that they are overweight. Moving even further upwards there are those who have a BMI that is greater that 30. Such individuals are considered to be obese, but should the BMI be higher than 40 then the patient has crossed into the morbidly obese section.
Although this system has proven to be rather effective, there are certain times when the calculations have proven to be inadequate. As a case in point, if the person being weighed and measured is an athlete then chances are that they will be on the heavier side. This occurs because most athletes tend to have more lean muscle than fat. For the newbie, lean muscle is heavier than fat which could result in inaccurate weight readings. Therefore when the BMI calculations are done the results could indicate higher numbers which could be contrary to the actual state of the athlete’s form.
Another area where these calculations seem to fall short is when the subject in question is a child. This is because the child is still developing and therefore could have a height to weight ratio that is slightly inconsistent.
However, in order to combat these anomalies in the system, different adjustments have been made on how to calculate BMI. This means that a more accurate reading can be made for both children and athletes.
BMI calculations are used by different health professionals to determine the kind of diet one should stick to and to ascertain whether an individual is healthy or not. This is easily determined, as mentioned earlier, because the higher the BMI is the higher the chances of the client being overweight, obese or morbidly obese.
Although the body mass index method of determining a person’s health status might have its flaws, it is still used to gauge whether an individual is healthy or not regardless of how active or inactive they are.
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