Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep, its Monday, 6:30 a.m. and the annoying alarm clock has just gone off. The snooze button is pressed allowing another few minutes of rest. As I lay in bed, with my eyes not fully shut or fully asleep, I begin to reminisce. I reminisce about the days of being an athlete, being a competitor, and most importantly being healthy. The days of going to the gym, getting a great workout in had been long gone and the idea of eating properly had basically been thrown out the window. Processed foods, baked desserts, and fast food had become my best friend to a hungry stomach. Going to KFC and getting a family meal that comes with a bucket of fried chicken for myself was my favorite treat. Or even baking four dozen cookies for my fellow colleagues at work and bringing only two dozen into the office because I knew I would devour them over the next three days. It’s no wonder why I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the doctor had to prescribe medications for me.
At the beginning of September, 2010 I looked in the mirror before taking off to work and realized that I no longer needed a belt to hold up my dress pants, and they were tight! I asked myself what happened to me. Was it work, stress, time or just the lack of motivation? Sure, all of these components would have an impact on the ability to workout and even eat healthy. But for me, the biggest component that was being lacked was the level of consistency being maintained which had always played a major factor in my life when I was healthy. That moment was my turning point. I needed to change and regain that consistency level I had. I knew that losing weight, building muscle, and being healthy wasn’t going to be an overnight process. It took time to become unhealthy, lose muscle, and gain weight, so it was going to take some time to get to where I wanted to be. I decided to put myself through a 90 day body challenge. This meant that I needed to get back to basics by eating healthy, exercising regularly, and making a change in my life. So this is what I did.
(Click to enlarge Workout Plan)
It’s now been 90 days and the greatest Christmas gift to me is that I am once again healthy. The use of medications that were prescribed is no longer needed. My weight which was 215 pounds at 16% body fat is now at 185 pounds at 7% and I feel fantastic with so much energy all of the time. The dress pants situation with not having to wear a belt is completely gone. Not only do I now need a belt to hold them up, but I had to get them taken in by the tailor because they were too big on me. If you have a goal, stick with it and don’t lose that level of consistency which I had lost, but have regained. In the beginning, a diet and working out is going to be tough. You are going to feel sore from the gym and occasionally going to feel hungry if you haven’t reached the time to eat one of your meals. Stick with it! You may fall into that roller coaster effect which I term to mean that some days you feel and look great but other days you may feel like everything your doing isn’t working. Stick with it! If you get those thoughts of food that you want eat but their not on your meal plan think about that goal, how far you’ve come, and were you want to be.
Don’t lose that level of consistency!
Beep…Beep….Beep….Beep… the alarm clock goes off, time for me to get up to do abs and cardio…What will you do?
BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES
215 lbs at 16%
185 lbs at 7%
Get Started today with your transformation and your new body here: Stage Ready Nutrition & Training
Specials Thanks:
Brian Cannone – Stage Ready Nutrition & Training
Gregory Geiger – G3 Photography– www.studio95photo.com
Montanari Brothers – Gold’s Gym New Haven, CT
That workout and diet woud KILL me Damien, especially the shape I am now in and at my age. haha