Hi. My name is Mark, and before I tell you my story, let me give you the facts. I'm 5'8" tall and I turned 40 years old during this contest. I began the contest weighing 162 pounds at 21.9% body fat as tested with a BodPod; at the end of the contest I weighed 146.5 pounds at 12.7% body fat. I lost 16.8 pounds of pure fat and gained 1.3 pounds of lean body mass. I did this using the Turbulence Training 6-Month Bodyweight Manual Phases 1 through 4, as well as following almost all of the 25 nutrition tips contained in that manual, and walking my dog for at least 40 minutes each day. My goal was to lose 13 pounds of fat, and I surpassed that goal. I'm thrilled with my transformation!
I was a thin youngster, but I let myself go all throughout my twenties and thirties, eating as much junk as I could stuff into myself, and not getting any exercise at all. By the time I was in my late thirties, I had made my way from the overweight category into the obese category. I'm a college professor, so standing in front of roomfuls of twenty-year-olds for hours each week is part of my job. Getting ready for school each day frankly sucked: I was faced with a closet full of tent-sized, dumpy clothes, wondering which shirt could best hide my doughy body and my apparently nine-months-pregnant belly. Unfortunately, the answer was always the same: None of them could. I knew that the fat wasn't going to go away on its own; if I didn't do something about it, I was going to end up being something I never wanted to be: a fat old man.
Vanity wasn't the only reason I wanted to get in shape. As a teacher, I'm expected to be a role model for my students. While I'm confident in my abilities as a scholar and a teacher, I couldn't help feel like a fraud, since I was fat, unhealthy, and out of shape. How could I expect the students to take my advice and follow my directions when I apparently could not even follow the most basic rules of health and fitness? I knew I could do better for myself, and for them. I wanted to be an example to show young folks that they don't have to end up obese once they start to enter the middle of life. I wanted to get lean and fit, for myself and for them.
My health was another reason I wanted to get in shape. As harsh as it sounds, and as much as I loved him, my father was fat; he died for reasons that seemed to me to be related to being inactive and obese. For instance, his heart was huge and diseased, and he had problems with blood circulation in his legs. He was very inactive, and he knew nothing about health or nutrition. My older brother is in his fifties and to a large degree followed in my father's footsteps. He had a major heart attack a couple of weeks ago; he said he thinks it is because of his obesity. My father and brother weren't role models for me when it came to health and fitness; on the contrary, they served as warnings.
I decided it was now or never; it was time to make it happen, Cap'n (as they say). I started to make some progress with weight loss, but I knew that it was important that I do some resistance and cardio training, even though I wasn't concerned at that point with gaining muscle. I was attracted to bodyweight training, since it seemed so natural and basic. I saw some of Craig Ballantyne's videos and I liked his personality right off. He's intelligent and easygoing, but when it comes to safety and correct form, he's very serious. I began to do some research and came to find that every fitness guru seems to know and respect him; in fact, I bought a few other books and programs, and several of them mentioned Craig. The author of one of the programs even admitted that he was actually planning to do Turbulence Training himself! None of these other programs seemed to have anything to offer that I wasn't already getting with Turbulence Training, and usually they seemed to be missing something. Most importantly, I just didn't have the confidence in the other guys like I do in Craig. So, I committed myself to the Turbulence Training 6-Month Bodyweight Manual.
That confidence in Craig's expertise even helped keep me motivated when I was struggling through some particularly challenging workouts, and my brain was looking for anyway out. I knew that I was following a well-designed program that was getting me closer to my goals.
I had been doing Turbulence Training for a while when the contest began, and I had already made good progress with my weight loss and fitness level, but the contest was a great chance to get a little extra motivation for 12 weeks, and to further ingrain the good habits of exercising and eating healthy foods in moderation. I'm totally thrilled with the results of my previous 12 weeks with Turbulence Training. In fact, I'm sure I could have lost even more fat, but I didn't want to go too far beyond my goals.
It's hard to think of things that are more important than your health, and thanks to Turbulence Training, I now seem to have super-human levels of health. My doctor said he has never seen cholesterol as low as mine except for people on medication (this is a good thing); when he told me that, it was like Christmas came early. Also, I got my pulse checked recently, and the lady doing it asked if I exercise a lot, since it was so low. How nice of her to notice! Lastly, I had to fill out a very lengthy and detailed health questionnaire to get a discount on health insurance; at the end, you get a score. Thanks to my following all of the nutrition and exercise guidelines in the Turbulence Training manual, I got a perfect score! The program had no recommendations for me except to keep on doing what I'm doing.
The only clothing I have that fits is socks. I need a whole new wardrobe, but shopping is actually pretty fun when the clothes look so good on you! Clothes shopping used to be a very disappointing and uncomfortable experience when I was obese; now I look forward to it. Also, my colleagues and students honestly can't seem to shut up about my transformation. Literally every single day I have multiple people giving me compliments and asking how I did it; often it's the same people, who are shocked all over again each time they see me. I enjoyed the most recent compliment quite a bit: Simply, "You look very fit." Perhaps I was feeling a little smug, and getting used to the compliments, but my reply was just as simple: "I am."
I'm already looking forward to the future. Now that I'm lean, I'm excited to try some of Craig's other workouts and to start working on building more muscle. With all of the weight-loss and fitness programs out there, it's great to have sort of a "home program" in which you have complete confidence. I've put in work with Turbulence Training; I've paid my dues. I used Turbulence Training to get in the best shape of my life. Craig has so many programs, for so many types of goals, that I know I will be able to keep using Turbulence Training to stay fit for the rest of my life.
Nutrition: I ate a low-calorie vegan diet, following the 25 nutrition guidelines given in the bodyweight manual.
Pounds: I lost 15.5 pounds on the scale but according to the BodPod measurements, since I gained muscle, I actually lost 16.8 pounds of fat.16.8
I'm ready to begin.
Thanks Craig!
Mark
