Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Day Ninety: Interview

I was asked to do an on-line interview for a commercial weight-loss website. I'll post the link once it is live. Here it is:

-Your name to appear in your interview: Maximus Lewin, CrossFit L2 Trainer
-City & country: Oakland CA
-Age: 40
-Weight before diet: 215, 36% bodyfat
-Weight now: 169, 14.5% bodyfat
-Target weight: 169, 8% bodyfat
-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program? In February 2005, at the age of 38, after several years of letting myself go, eating all kinds of junk, not exercising and generally disrespecting myself, I was bursting out of my size 40 jeans. When I walked I was jiggling in all the worst possible places. At 215 lbs, I felt out of shape, out of breath, and old and over the hill before my time. I realized my life was miserable because of my weight, and what made it worse was that I had formerly been quite athletic. I dragged myself to the gym, and got on the treadmill, embarrassed by how bad I looked in the full mirror in front of me (WHY do they do that!!) What made it worse was that there was pretty woman next to me, and I felt she must have been disgusted by me. I certainly was disgusted by myself and my self-esteem was at an all time low. After that first treadmill workout and some weight lifting I thought I might not be able to come back from the damage I had inflicted on myself, but I resolved to try!
-What type of weight loss program did you follow? At first, I used a conventional aerobic exercise (jogging, etc.) and weight training program along with a low-calorie diet. I did manage to get down to 196 lbs and gained a bit of muscle (this is what you see in the picture in my profile, September 2005). I always thought I knew a lot about fitness, but in September of 2005, I discovered CrossFit. It took me some time to realize that I had found the Holy Grail of Fitness And Diet, but when I did finally firmly embrace it, along with the Zone Diet, in April of 2006, the results were stunning!
-Why did you choose this weight loss method/program? Simply put, there is nothing that approaches the combination of CrossFit and the Zone Diet for overall health, sustainable weight loss, increased athleticism and anti-aging properties. One caveat is that this is a lifestyle change, not a temporary "diet" that you can do and then go back to sitting on your duff eating Twinkies. That won't work!
-How long were you on your weight loss method/program? I have been using this method to increase my muscle mass, lose fat and develop athleticism for about 18 months now, and in the process have become a CrossFit Certified Level 2 Trainer. i became super-serious about losing weight in July, when I started my blog at http://crossfitzonediet.blogspot.com/
-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to maintain your weight and to stay fit? I do CrossFit, which is a cutting edge combination of sprinting, rowing, running, climbing, gymnastics, Olympic Lifting, power lifting, kettlebell training and various other modalities. I also walk, bike, ski, etc. I would do jujitsu again if I had more time.
-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming? The biggest obstacle is facing yourself fully and realizing that you have a long way to go. You must realize that there are no quick fixes, no magic bullets, no mystical pills or powders, only hard work and discipline.
-How did you keep yourself motivated? The good news is that the hard work and discipline feel GREAT, far better than what you might get out of emotional eating and sitting on your butt. Would you rather eat a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's or be able to run, jump, throw, climb, and feel and look great? I personally have adopted a fitness lifestyle and make my living from fitness, so I simply cannot let myself slide back into fatness and weakness.
-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers? Eat small frequent meals. Eat protein at every meal. get the majority of carbohydrates from vegetable and fruits. Don't eat junk food or a lot of sugar. Get 40% of your calories from carbohydrate, 30% of your calories from protein and 30% of your calories from fat. Fat is not the enemy, refined carbohydrates are! If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area you can hire me as a personal trainer and nutritional consultant, contact info is on my blog at http://crossfitzonediet.blogspot.com/
-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening? No, I will never fall back into my old patterns. I have gone from being an old man of 38 to a young stud of 40 and don't plan to go back to being old and over the hill before my time! I will always remember how hard it was to climb out of that hole: I might not be able to do it twice!!
-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helped or inspired you to lose weight? (you can add your blog here, as well as four other sites/blogs that help you with your lifestyle change decision) http://crossfitzonediet.blogspot.com/ - http://crossfiteastbay.com - http://crossfit.com - http://www.drsears.com/welcome.page

8AM 3/8 cup steel cut oats, 3 oz pork chop, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup berries, 1/4 oz almonds, teaspoon olive oil = 4 blocks +.5x fat

Noon 3 oz roast beef, 1 oz mozzarella, 2 slices Diabetic Lifestyles Bread, tablespoon light mayo = 4 blocks

3PM small cone carbolite frozen dessert with almonds = 1 block +2x fat

4PM cup Greek Yogurt, scoop Max Muscle Gourmet Protein Powder, 1/4 oz almonds, 1/2 cup blackberries = 3 blocks +.5x fat

9PM 5 oz skinless chicken thigh, Masala sauce, 3/5 cup mashed yam with butter, cup squash = 5 blocks +.5x fat

Block Target = 19 blocks +.5x fat

Total blocks = 16 blocks +.5x fat

1 comment:

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