So the last couple of posts have all been a little geeky and EV based, so I thought it was time for one of the other fields I’m really interested in. Health and fitness. This will be an ongoing theme, but this will get you started on the most important step. Let’s start with some goals. Most men I speak to don’t want to look likebodybuilders, nor do the women want to look like the stick insect catwalk models. What people are generally after is to be attractive to the opposite sex, be admired by the same sex, and to look damn good naked! This is a good thing, because not everyone can look like a bodybuilder or catwalk model, but looking great naked, and being admired by others is definitely something achievable, and in a fairly short time too.
Late July 2010 - 25%+ bodyfat, no picture of the body I was dodging cameras
I’ve been 73kg’s and +- 15% body fat for most of my life, basically I was a normal guy, not fat, but no definition where my abs should have been either. But then I ended up in a hospital in Rome with a broken elbow (a story I’ll write about a little later) just before my 31st birthday. From then on I put on 1 kg of fat every month until I saw this picture. I weighed over 80kgs and was 25% body fat. 25%, that’s one quarter of my body that was fat! I’d moved from the realm of the normal bloke to the realm of an overweight unfit couch potato. Looking at it I just wondered who ate my former self! My face looked huge and hidden under those clothes was a soft floppy body. I was dodging cameras when I had my shirt off, so there’s no picture here of the worst bits.
Now I was no nutritionist, nor personal trainer, or even someone who knows much about food, but I do often get told I seem to be an expert at just about everything. The reality is different. In truth I am an expert, but at just one thing. I have an uncanny ability to be able to learn about topics and gather the skills to be an expert at them incredibly quickly. It could be paragliding, building electric vehicles, or in this case, understanding the way our bodies function. So I headed off into my usual “bury yourself in knowledge” mode. What came out was a complete shock to myself. Before heading down this venture I thought I had it at least mildly figured out. “If you want to look good, avoid fat, do lots of cardio and high reps low weight in the gym.” What a load of bull, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It seems funny now, but back then I thought a can of baked beans was a good source of protein! And then let’s wash it down with some Vitamin Water er Vitamin Sugar 
Ok, lets go with step one of turning someone with an undesirable body into someone who could easily be on the cover of health magazines. The first step to looking great naked is to…
Choose the right foods
Just doing this simple move and nothing else will have a major impact on 95% of the population. It won’t get you looking like you belong on any covers on it’s own, but it will get you looking better than than you were, and is the easiest thing to fix in this plan. So in this step your goal is basically to just eat decent unprocessed, home made food! Don’t worry about carbs or fats or how much and when. For now just eat things that are grown, picked, reared or from something that was milked. That’s it, and even more simple is what to avoid. Take aways and junk food are obviously out, but so is anything else processed. Think about the supermarket. You want to stick to the outside where they keep the meat, veggies, eggs and dairy, and avoid the middle isles where things come in boxes. Sadly for some, bread is processed, so is pasta, and of course sugar. A major trap people fall into is the protein shake, energy drink and energy bar trap. Cut those out of your diet, in fact remove them from your vocabulary. They will do far more harm than good. you can think of them as you would soft drinks and chocolate bars.There are some exceptions to the rule, but for now just keep it simple.
Focus on this for at least a month, you should be seeing great result while still being able to eat enough food to feel full. Don’t overdo it, having to loosen a belt is never a good thing, but for the next four weeks don’t live with hunger in your life. You’ll find it should be quite easy to do, your body doesn’t crave a specific amount of food, it craves a specific amount of nutrients, so less of the good stuff is more filling than plenty of the bad stuff. You’ll even lose most the cravings for junk after a couple of weeks, though not all. I still want cheesecake often, but don’t worry, there are tricks for that which I’ll get into later.
One of the things I found most strange during this phase was how I started enjoying vegetables. I’ve never eaten them before in my life, I was a serious green dodger, from childhood when my mom used to try hide onions by chopping them up, to when I grew up would reluctantly force meals down at girlfriends houses because I didn’t want to appear too picky in front of their parents. All of a sudden after a few days I started craving cauliflower with melted cheese on it (yes that’s allowed!), or broccoli soup, or my now famous giant salads for salad Saturday, loaded with tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, boiled eggs, feta cheese and of course all types of lettuce. My salad bowl is even a giant mixing bowl now, with normal bowls I have to get up for thirds and fourths!
The Scream, munchable but not Edward Munch
Stir Friday is also a great day. I just chop up all my favourites, cabbage (red is my favourite in stir fries, but just for aesthetics as you can see in the picture on the left), peppers and mushrooms again, eggplant, patti-pans, zucchinis, spinach, and pretty much anything else green.
Now this is just what I do on those two days, it’s become a bit of a joke among my friends and family, but it is easy, quick and tasty. You’ll eventually fall into a rhythm and will choose the right foods as if you’re on auto-pilot.
Another thing to remember is that you need to watch what you drink too. It’s not as simple here as aside from water, pretty much everything is processed. For the first month you don’t need to be as strict as other months. Keep your alcohol intake as low as possible. A glass of red wine a night is just about the limit. You’ll also need to cut out anything with sugar in it, so that means soft drinks, but also fruit juices. They have almost as much sugar as soft drinks. Coffee is ok, tea is great, especially the herbal stuff. If you’re worried about not being able to sweeten anything because sugars and sweeteners are both processed give stevia a try. It’s a leaf extract the Japanese and South Americans have been using for ages.
Late March 2011 - About 7% bodyfat, 'scuse the bad hair and lack of a tan please. I've fixed them for my more recent pics, and the body is improved too!
And that’s about it, I’d love to hear your feedback. I’ve attached a teaser of my after picture to show you what can be achived in six months so you can see that I’m speaking from experience. I’ve also since then helped a number of other people to get results. Your will power will get stronger over time, but if you do fall off the wagon, just make sure to get back on and try behave a little more. There are times you can completely let go. Cheat days, but in your first month try not to have any. The results you’ll see will be the motivation to carry on. One last thing, don’t worry too much with the scale. It lies to you! Go by the way your clothes feel instead.
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