Fit People Aren't Hunting Werewolves

Photo by Naypong

"Wow!" people tell me. "Your body transformation is remarkable!" I can tell that much already, since they're making remarks.

"Tell me," they continue, "how you've done it. I want to do the same thing."

Usually, they don't mean this. What they really mean is, "I want to know where you bought your silver bullets." They want to shoot werewolves more than they want to overcome.

Truth be told, I don't blame them. When I was mired in the misery of my former lifestyle that made me so overweight, I felt helpless to get better. Even though I actually knew what to do, the thought of making the right changes overwhelmed me. Until I made them.

Now, egotistical as I am, this isn't to hold myself up as the paradigm for getting in shape. It's a series of observations, starting with one from a conversation I had yesterday.

Unidentified Individual: I want to do what you did. Tell me your secret!
Me: I just eat well and workout.
Unidentified Individual: Oh. Well, never mind. I'm not doing that.

It got me thinking. We all want the metaphor I've used above, a special weapon that destroys fat and builds muscle. If it's not a magical juice elixir, or a ultra scientific gadget that exercises for you, it's hard to get excited.

Eat good food and do hard exercise? Go sell crazy somewhere else.

People that are fit already know that it's that simple, and that difficult. They have found a way to make this a part of their lifestyle. Fit people make their health a priority, and life rewards them for it.

They know other things too, none of which are silver bullets. But these are things that they've figured out along the way that have helped them.

Photo by Danilo Rizzuti, 

They're called crash diets for a reason
Don't find yourself in a wreck. Find a healthy eating lifestyle.

They're called workouts, not easyouts
Do something hard. Your body will thank you.

The workouts need to change
Don't do the same workout every day. Progressively make them more challenging.

Maintaining is a just another word for backsliding
Constantly strive for the better you. Get stronger, faster, and fitter.




Keep transforming. Keep regenerating.

Regenerating. Time Lords, Eat Your Hearts Out

My Regeneration

In the universe of Doctor Who, the Doctor has the ability to regenerate. His body undergoes a transformation, causing a complete physical change.

This generally happens when he has been injured, or otherwise gone through enough bodily stress to warrant a new self. Time Lord's like the Doctor can do this automatically when their body needs it, or they can trigger the change on their own.

Think about it. How marvelous would it be to build a new body from scratch.

I have good news. You can do exactly that. Unless you're a Time Lord, it's a slower process for us humans (and if you are a Time Lord, I'd love to see your Tardis,) but we do it every day. 


In April of this year, the doctor told me I had to go on blood pressure medication or drastically change my lifestyle. Notice, that's "doctor" with a little "d."

I generally don't tell people how quickly the transformation took place for me, because frankly, even I find it ridiculous. I'm not sure what my April weight was, but sometime before that I weighed in at 250 pounds. At 6'0, that's a bit too much, right?

Today I weigh 188 pounds. And what's more, I gained muscle and can do things with my body I couldn't dream about before. Well, I could dream. But that's all.

How did I do it, you ask? You did ask, right? Even if you didn't, plenty of others have.

`1. I Eat Healthy

You've heard this plenty of ways. "You can't outrun your fork." Combine that with, "You are what you eat," and you're on the right track.

I don't diet. I put good food in my body. Yes, to a certain point, weight loss can be about calories in < calories burned. But weight loss and health aren't always synonymous.

I'm not on the paleo diet, but it's close. I don't eat gluten, and limit all other grains. My food consists mostly of meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries and olives. There are exceptions, but not many.

The human body really does regenerate. And it does so with the food we put into it.

2. I Enjoy My Workouts

This wasn't always true. At the beginning, it felt too hard. I couldn't move. I perceived through this. As my fitness improved, I found the things I loved doing.

For me this includes swimming, one of the best full body workouts out there. It also involves a variety of free weight and body weight exercises.

You may not enjoy them at first, but the sooner you find the fun exercises for you, the sooner the transformation can begin. And you may find, as I did, that things you hated before are fun- once you can do them.

3. I Get Stronger. I Constantly Improve

Early on in my training, I came across the 300 Sparta Workout. I'll blog about that in the near future. It's a workout designed by Mark Twight, the trainer responsible for getting the actors in shape for the movie 300. He is quoted as saying, "Appearance is a consequence of fitness."

When I read that quote, I thought he was mad. Appearance was one of the number one reasons behind me getting fit, at the time.

I understand it now. I still have some appearance related goals. But, even as specific as they are, they're too broad to do me any good. As I've adapted my goals to be, well- goal oriented, I've found even greater success. "I will learn the butterfly stroke." "I will complete the 300 workout challenge." I will do accomplish this, and I will accomplish that."

Those goals don't happen overnight. Or rather, if they do, you've set the goals too low. The goals should work towards making you better each time.

Every week, I try to improve. Every workout. One more set. Five more pounds. Ten seconds quicker. When I push myself that way, I find I'm capable of more than I ever thought.

I'm capable of regeneration. And so are you.

Keep transforming. Keep regenerating.