Talk about stuffing it in!

Since reaching my goal of getting back to my Body For Life winning shape in 48 days late last year, I’ve basically maintained that shape. Maybe gone up from 5.5% to around 8% body fat.

Body For Life: My contest winning before and after photos

In the last 1 1/2 weeks though, I’ve stepped it up again to try and get down to an even lower level of body fat (I have these last vestiges of love handle fat I want to get rid of completely).

If you want me to help you win the Body For Life contest, or just get into the greatest shape of your life, read on. I’m going to show you how easy it can be done, and how enjoyable the foods I get to eat are that are getting me there. So in that 1 1/2 weeks, I’ve dropped my body fat level down to around 5%.

How have I done this?

Simple, by following my Body For Life contest-winning program (REMEMBER: When I won the Body For Life contest it was not called the Body For Life contest but the Physique Transformation Contest – we were on our own and had to come up with our own programs). There’s only a couple of tenets you have to key on in order to achieve great fat loss success.

1. You MUST track your calories every single day. I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. If you’re not willing to do this, you won’t be able to lose weight. It’s almost guaranteed.I know for me that I have to write down everything I eat in order for me to reliably lose fat. Even after all these years of doing this there are errors in estimating the calories you’re eating. If you guess on this critical component of losing fat, you’ll always guess wrong. Here’s a free site that I use to track all of my foods. In fact, you can go there and see the foods I eat and track on a daily basis (search for “easchamp”). Talk about following the path of success– I’ve laid it all out there for you. http://www.livestrong.com . Click on the “daily plate” once you register.
2. You MUST OVEREAT on a regular basis. Even today, I mean like as I’m writing this, which is June 25, 2009, I still have to shake my head at the miraculous nature of how timing your calories works like gangbusters to reliably help you lose fat. Here’s what I mean. Yesterday I ate 6,609 calories! Yet when I woke up this morning ALL of my skin fold measurements went down. And take a look at what I ate:
   

   Who would have thought I could win the Body For Life contest eating bagels... but I did, here's how

   

   Eat this donut and win the Body For Life Contest? It's true, here's how...

• 3 Dunkin Donuts “Everything” Bagels dipped in 6 tablespoons of olive oil (1,824 calories)
• 3 Dunkin Donuts Blueberry Muffins (1,200 calories)
• 10 1/2 servings of oatmeal with protein powder (1,845 calories)
• 1 Dunkin Donut Chocolate Coconut donut (300 calories)
• 1 Pint Haagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream (920 calories)
• 4 servings of Spelt (a grain – pure carbohydrates) (520 calories)

Add them up… 6,609 calories!

Can I tell you something? I felt pretty bloated. I literally had to force myself to eat so much. Before you think I’m off my rocker, I have to tell you that I sacrificed for you. And boy, was that Haagen-Dazs sacrifice hard… All kidding aside, I’m pushing the envelope to prove a really important point here. I want to

Is it possible to eat Haagen-Dazs on a regular basis and still win the Body For Life contest?

eliminate the FEAR a lot of you may have with eating this way. Logically you think there is no possible way someone, anyone, can eat this much food and end up leaner the next day. I mean, it sounds impossible right? If I hadn’t done this myself many, many times, over and over again, I too would probably feel the same way.

THERE’S A BIG BUT… however…

You have to preface this type of eating with a specific (but altogether enjoyable) diet AND exercise protocol. If you do, you can actually eat this way every 3rd day. This means only 2 days of eating a specific way and training using a certain methodology, and then you can EAT TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT.

This particular eating day I went outside of my usual envelope in both calories AND fat content. I usually try and stick with only high-carbohydrate/low-fat/low-protein meals for my “anything goes” days. As you can see above, most of the meals were anything BUT low-fat (donuts, Haagen-Daazs, and olive oil are all high in fat). But it didn’t matter as my body caliper readings still went down.

Would you like to eat these kinds of foods on a regular basis? And still lose lots of fat? I mean, isn’t this the nirvana we’re all after? Well it’s not only possible, but it’s staring you straight in the face right now, right here.

In the middle of writing this blog post I found out Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both died today… Yesterday, Ed McMahon (long-time Johnny Carson sidekick) also died.

Body For Life: Michael Jackson was a superstar to the world

Body For Life: Farrah was an inspirational body of work

Body For Life: Ed McMahon was world famous for his humor

In thinking about these 3, one thought came to mind. They lived life to the fullest and accomplished many great things in their time here.

Life is short, and the end can come at any moment. Only one knows when. Have you done everything you want to do in this world? What’s holding you back. I’m just as guilty as anyone else and have many things I still want to do that for a variety of reasons, mostly internal negative behaviour, I have not accomplished. I’m using these well-known celebrity deaths as a wake-up call for me. We only get one chance.

Stop pussy-footing around and get into great shape if that’s what you really want to do. You have the path right here in front of you. It is a well-worn one too, that is tried, and proven, not only by me, but many, many others that have used it as well. If you don’t want to get my program I understand. But don’t let that stop you from studying what I’ve written here, and utilizing this knowledge I’ve outpoured for you to transform your body.

Take Charge!

P.S. Want to: Learn the “Easy” way to get and stay in shape? Discover the secret to quick fat loss? How to exercise less and get better results? Discover the secret to ripped abs without doing endless crunches? Then be sure to get my “Amazing Fat Burning Formula” HERE.

P.P.S. If you like this post, and think it will help others, please help me help others by clicking on one of these “Share and Enjoy” links below.

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• BREAKING: Michael Jackson Dead at 50 (queerty.com)
• Conan O’Brien, ‘Tonight’ pay tribute to Ed McMahon (ctv.ca)
• Farrah Fawcett Dies at 62 (screenrant.com)

It was 1997, and I had enough!

I was tired… of how my body felt, how it moved, how sluggish I felt all the time. I had no direction, no motivation. I had ambition… but no drive to fuel it.

The Beginnings of Change

The beginning of 1997 was when it all started to change…

Before Body For Life

I remember looking through past issues of Muscle Media, the magazine created by Bill Phillips, owner of Body For Life, the megalith sports supplement company, and was struck with a thought. “What if I could become one of those people in his magazine that completely transformed their body too?” I let the thought simmer in my head as I really started to study the people that bravely sent in their before and after photos for the world to see. Yes, their physical transformations were incredible… but I was looking for something more. I was trying to look into their eyes… their souls even… to see if these people were any different than me.

No Progress

Busting my butt for the previous 7 years, I had been trying to somehow change my body. But it wouldn’t change. And I was tired of all the work with no results. So in really studying these “before and after” body for life transformations of men and women, I needed to know that these people were no different than me. And I needed to know why they could achieve such startling changes so quickly… and I couldn’t…

After dissecting the photographs of hundreds of these men and women I came to one conclusion… these people were no different than I was. I said it in my head, and I felt it in my heart and soul. “If these ordinary people could do it, then I could do it as well.”

The Decision

And it was then that something clicked inside me… it was a simple but profound decision… I WAS GOING TO DO THIS!

So I started to train, and exercise, and supplement. And I started to make changes. But then, I quit! Yes, I stopped training, stopped exercising, stopped doing everything these people did to transform their bodies so dramatically.

Hurdles and Roadblocks

What happened? I got divorced. The stress of the divorce caused me to turn to food as refuge and comfort. Back then, I rationalized not being able to complete my body transformation journey because of the stress I was experiencing. Looking back, I realize it was simply an excuse. And I used my divorce as a “larger” and more important reason to quit, than the reason I was using to transform my body in the first place.

Even more depressed and without direction than ever, another year went by. Then I saw the photos of the winners of the previous years contest: Porter Freeman, Jeff Seidman, Meredith Brown. And I saw hundreds more photos of people that entered and didn’t win, but nevertheless champions as well because of the remarkable transformations they made.

This time I knew if I wanted to join the winner’s circle, that I would have to do more than just “go through the motions”. So I searched internally for the reasons why I was doing this contest, what it meant to me, what my core desires for doing this were that would propel me through thick and thin. I realized now I had to find these reasons because “life” has a way of side-tracking all the best laid plans – unless – you have a reason stronger than the inevitable hurdles and roadblocks you will encounter.

Find Your Core Desires and Never Quit

Then, I wrote down those reasons, and passionately envisioned achieving them. Even while working for NASA as an aerospace engineer, I realized I was meant to do something else with my life. I envisioned winning this contest would allow me to pursue my dream of having my own company, helping other people get in shape, creating quality supplements that enhanced the quality of life for everyone that took them. This is what drove me.

1998 was still full of hurdles. My father died 2 months after I completed my transformation. But this time my core reasons were stronger than anything that could have presented itself as an obstacle for me.

I Did It… You Can Too!

After Body For Life

I was crowned Body For Life champion in my age group category that year. Proud and honored to be recognized by my hero was an understatement. I was on top of the world. I thank Bill Phillips for putting together this genius of a concept — one that starts with the premise that by changing your body, you can change your whole world as well. Thank you Bill!

What’s your reason? Figure it out then “bend” your world to conform to what it is you truly desire. Anything is then possible…and you CAN do it!

Take Charge!

P.S. Want to: Learn the “Easy” way to get and stay in shape? Discover the secret to quick fat loss? How to exercise less and get better results? Discover the secret to ripped abs without doing endless crunches? Then be sure to get my “Amazing Fat Burning Formula” HERE.

I have a  confession to make… I am NOT the 1998 Body For Life contest winner!?!

I know, for the past 10 years I’ve been advertised as the Body For Life winner but technically, I am really not.

I know, you might have seen my name in all the magazines that came out that year, and you see my photo here inside Muscle Media magazine promoting me as the 1998 Body For Life Champion. And you might have followed my column, “All Systems Go” in Muscle Media magazine where I helped answer people’s toughest diet/fitness/exercise questions and helped many people get in shape with my advice.

But I have to confess to you I did not win the Body For Life Championship in 1998. What I did win was the Read More→