My Transformation: It Almost Ended Before it Began

Now I had to figure out when I would begin my new program.  I had a trip to Denver coming up and decided that I would wait until I got back from that trip to begin.  Oh I had a trip the following week and then one right after that.  I’ll figure it out.  I was just making more excuses.

A few days later I notice that Bill Phillips had started a new company.  It’s Bill Phillips Transformation.  This was the same guy who founded EAS and started Body For Life (BFL).  He revolutionized the fitness industry with BFL by helping millions of people transform their lives.  Body For Life and it’s Champions from the first BFL like Porter Freeman were what inspired me the in 1998.  I checked out his new company and saw that he had come up with a new and different program that helps people transformation their bodies and lives while participating in his new challenge.  I decided that I should sign up.  The registration deadline was April 2nd.  Today’s date was April 2nd.  What a coincidence, no more excuses, I’m signing up and starting right away.  I had been stalling and hadn’t really planned anything out.  One of my biggest problems with my nutrition and even working out was travel.  A trip was what was keeping me from starting my new journey.  I had no other choice but to start the next day and plan things out during the first week.

In order to give myself an edge I decided to hire a personal trainer.  I wanted an outside perspective.  I wanted a new atmosphere and I wanted a place that was all about training.  I wanted a performance center.  I checked out a place that I heard about that was actually a little closer to my house than my gym.  It was called Emerge Fitness.  I took a look at the trainers online and liked what I saw as far as experience.  I drove over and met with Matt McCarthy.  We talked for a while and I told him that over the next 12 weeks I wanted to drop from 240 to 200 and I showed him my old before/after pics and said that I wanted to achieve the same goal.  I was thinking that he probably thought that I was full of crap but later he told me that he thought that I could do it, because of my confidence.  I liked what i heard and  I bought 50 sessions so that I would have a full commitment.  If I didn’t get results it would be my fault and I would have wasted $2,500 and would have had nothing to show (more motivation).  Workouts were set up for 4 days a week with a 5th that I would do on my own.  My first workout was the next day.
(I’ll get into my cardio program and nutritional program in a future blog, but my diet was very clean.)

I got through the first 3 workouts and my motivation had climbed.  I left for Denver keeping in mind that I had to be very careful with my program when I traveled.  Traveling had been a major problem for me in the past.  I wouldn’t work out and the entire trip was a cheat day.  I ate anything and everything and drank a lot more alcohol on the road than at home.  Some of my bad habits would make it back home with me upon my return and could last for a couple of days or a couple of weeks.

I landed in Denver  and that night went out with one of my friends/clients Jarvis Green (former Defensive End with the Patriots and Texans).  It was a great dinner I ate two loaves of bread, shared a few appetizers including fried calamari and ate some kind of pasta.  I also had about half a bottle of wine and had a number of beers.  That night back in my room, I felt awful.  I had just done what I promised myself I wouldn’t do.  I already failed.  If I can’t take control of my diet and my training program on the road, than I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish my goals.   I stay weak minded, I had to take control of myself.  I needed something that I could stick with.  I decided to write off that dinner as a cheat meal and the next day I got up and jumped on the tread mill and an hour later had scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast.  The rest of the day I ate very healthy.   I went to dinner again with Jarvis, only this time I left the bread alone and I ate a salad with salmon and balsamic vinegar in it.  I did drink two beers but other than that I was pretty happy with how I had gotten through the night.

The rest of the trip was great and the best part is that I stuck to my nutritional plan and continued with my workouts and cardio.  My failure on this trip made me stronger.  It’s better to screw up early.  I felt like I had made it over the hump.  I finally had a trip that I didn’t come back heavier from.  I actually lost weight out there.  After this trip I knew that I was on the right path.  For the next several weeks, I went on several more trips.  Each one was a challenge, but I passed up drinks at parties and clubs with friends and food that in the past I would have stuffed myself with.  

Identify your biggest problems.  Be honest with yourself.  Face your fears.  Overcome and you will succeed.