John Stone
Fri, January 1st, 2010, 07:40 AM
For the January 2010 Transformation Spotlight of the Month I've selected forum member "dejavued". Deja's physical and strength transformation are only the beginning of her fantastic story. She managed to change her life in just about every way imaginable, and she did it without giving up the things she loves. One of the things I like best about Deja is there is no lying in her. Read on for a no-nonsense interview in which Deja dispenses what I believe is some of the best practical, real-world advice you'll ever read about making a transformation.
33363
33364
(more pictures after the interview!)
Why did you decide to make a transformation?
I was chubby, lazy, and extremely unhappy with my body. I remember trying clothes on from my closet and being in tears because everything looked horrible around my giant belly and enormous love handles. I longed to feel comfortable and confident in my own skin.
For years I would go to the gym and lift the same 20 lb dumbbells and spend half an hour on some kind of cardio machine. I’d starve myself to try to lose weight and end up binging constantly. At first I tried fat free diets and then spent some time eating super low carbs, all with practically zero results.
Growing up I was really athletic and thought I knew a good deal about exercise and nutrition, but eventually it became clear I had simply been floundering for years. I not only lacked the knowledge, but the discipline and drive to change my body comp.
Feeling fat, lacking confidence, and being uncomfortable in your own skin is a horrible way to live. Life’s possibilities are endless, but neglecting your physical fitness and health is a sure fire way to sabotage those possibilities.
What sort of planning did you do before you started?
Not so much planning, as learning. I had no grasp on the big picture of physical fitness and body recomp, even though I may have thought I did. Every January and warm spring day I had the drive, the motivation to change…. I just was in the dark on how to really do that. So instead I took the motivation and focused it on learning more and more about fitness, strength training, and nutrition. My “plan” constantly changed as I learned more and more about these subjects.
What were your initial goals?
A flat tummy, minimized love handles, and a ghetto booty.
What was your diet and supplement intake like?
I’ve tried a LOT of different styles of eating and found out that almost any sound, nutritionally rich eating plan will work if one is compliant.
I think it’s really about finding a style of eating that works for you.
I spent hours and hours soaking up everything I could on nutrition. Knowing what each macronutrient does in and for your body is important. I saw a lot of people that couldn’t find the time to track macros or learn the breakdown of most foods, but to me that seemed an important part of getting a grasp on the whole picture.
I’m a believer in lots of fats, veggies daily, and plenty of protein. Clean, fresh foods are awesome, and I eat a lot of them, but I also eat canned, frozen, and junk foods on occasion.
When cutting I was really strict and tracked every day’s calories and macro breakdown. When bulking I ate a lot of junk and about twice as many calories per day as I did while cutting. In both phases I ate at least 1 gram of protein per lb of lean bodyweight, ate a big variety of food, and drank beer a couple nights a week.
Supplement wise I mostly take bcaa’s (Xtend), creatine, a multi vitamin, zinc, magnesium, and fish oil. I also use protein powder regularly, although I try to get a good chunk of my protein from whole food sources.
What was your training like?
My training was completely based on one concept: That every single woman I saw that had a bodyweight under 140 lbs (my ideal) and could squat 225 lbs, looked FANTASTIC.
I had no hips, held all my fat around my middle, and sported chicken legs. I realized that to have any chance of having the look I was going for I’d need to put quite a deal of muscle on my legs, ass, and upper back. I had fat to lose, but getting the extra muscle was as important as losing the chub if I wanted an end result of looking like a “fit chick”.
Initially I started a strength training program mostly to burn calories and build muscle. I knew constantly lifting progressively heavier weights was important, but I wasn’t focused on strength. The day I decided to see how heavy I could deadlift, my life changed. I felt strong and powerful and like I could do anything in the world. I began to focus on strength and the result blew my mind. I got stronger and built muscle, but those weren’t even a tenth as powerful as the MENTAL benefit strength training gave me. It required discipline, focus, consistency, and plain old hard work, and that work constantly paid off. I was getting stronger, and the sense of achievement and confidence that training the heavy compound lifts have given me is absolutely invaluable. To top it all off it was fun too. I was hooked.
What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
Every single day the human in me would be perfectly content to take all the instant rewards present life offers. I’ve come to realize that almost all the shortcut, immediate gratification, something for nothing, constant reward type things in life are double edged swords. Sure they feel good in the moment, but they RARELY have any kind of pay off. Rewards are just so much sweeter when earned. Every day I manage to not do everything the easy, lazy, gluttonous way; I’ve overcome a serious obstacle.
How did JSF and the JSF Forums help you?
The JSF forums have single-handedly been the biggest influence in my “transformation”. The people, stories, and information are amazing and this is seriously the place to be if you need any support in your fitness goals. John runs a top notch site, and I’m thankful for the support that all my JSF buddies have given me. You guys ROCK!
What advice would you offer to others?
-The #1 piece of advice I can give is to learn to earn your rewards. You don’t have to give up junk food, or alcohol, or whatever your weakness is, you just have to learn to earn them. A reward is not a reward if it wasn’t earned. Learn to stop associating GUILT with the things you love, but instead go get in an hour of exercise and then come home and seriously enjoy every bite or drink. Want to laze around watching movies for an entire day/weekend? Then make a deal with yourself that if you don’t miss a workout for a month you can do just that. And if you succeed, then really embrace and enjoy that lazy day.
-Don’t be afraid of muscle. The more you have, the more you can eat. As I’ve put on muscle I’ve been able to eat more and more food yet still maintain. It’s awesome. No one’s going to get all bulky and huge eating low cals and pumping iron. If you think you are, well stop being lazy and research that very topic.
- If you are trying to change your body, you’ll need motivation. Sometimes we can find it from within. Sometimes we have to create it and find it from without. Whenever I don’t feel like working out or feel like eating junk food I’ll start reading fitness journals or researching some fitness topic or watching lifting vids on you tube, and it always works. Find what works for you. This is super important.
- Believing there is only one way to do things, or that there are any carved in stone rules is false. Period.
- Research. Read, read, read. Stop looking for shortcuts. They don’t exist. Stop obsessing over how fast you can lose the weight. The beauty is in the journey. It’s hard to accept, but once you do, and begin to put in the work, your life will never be the same.
What are your future plans?
In the future I’d like to keep lifting heavy, and focus more on flexibility, prehab, and conditioning. In general I’d like to take more risks in life and get out of my comfort zone a bit more.
I'd also really like to lean up a bit more around my middle. I'm not quite where I'd like to be. I'm hoping a focus on conditioning for a bit will help zap off this fat and allow me to spend a majority of 2010 feeling nice and lean. :D
Any closing thoughts?
Stop making excuses and stop lying to yourself. Stop binging alone. If you find yourself alone in a room and stuffing your face (and you're not trying to gain weight) then you have a problem. You need to make a change. Stop using food as a crutch. Stop using it to deal with your emotions. Stop thinking you’re the exception to the rule. Stop putting things off until another day.
It’s the first of the year. The things you can do in 365 days will blow your mind. Anything’s possible. It’s the dawn of a new day. Put in the time, put in the effort, put in the work and the person sitting in front of your computer in Jan 2011 will be unrecognizable.
Life is a constant struggle. There’s a difference between peace/contentment and complacency. Challenge yourself to figure out what that is for you.
Take responsibility for who you’ve become. If you don’t like that person, inside or out, make a change.
And last of all, have fun. Joy is a huge part of life. If you rarely have it, you’re missing out on a huge aspect of living. Earn and enjoy, it’s as simple and as complicated as that.
33365
Thanks for a great interview and congratulations on your incredible life-changing transformation!
33363
33364
(more pictures after the interview!)
Why did you decide to make a transformation?
I was chubby, lazy, and extremely unhappy with my body. I remember trying clothes on from my closet and being in tears because everything looked horrible around my giant belly and enormous love handles. I longed to feel comfortable and confident in my own skin.
For years I would go to the gym and lift the same 20 lb dumbbells and spend half an hour on some kind of cardio machine. I’d starve myself to try to lose weight and end up binging constantly. At first I tried fat free diets and then spent some time eating super low carbs, all with practically zero results.
Growing up I was really athletic and thought I knew a good deal about exercise and nutrition, but eventually it became clear I had simply been floundering for years. I not only lacked the knowledge, but the discipline and drive to change my body comp.
Feeling fat, lacking confidence, and being uncomfortable in your own skin is a horrible way to live. Life’s possibilities are endless, but neglecting your physical fitness and health is a sure fire way to sabotage those possibilities.
What sort of planning did you do before you started?
Not so much planning, as learning. I had no grasp on the big picture of physical fitness and body recomp, even though I may have thought I did. Every January and warm spring day I had the drive, the motivation to change…. I just was in the dark on how to really do that. So instead I took the motivation and focused it on learning more and more about fitness, strength training, and nutrition. My “plan” constantly changed as I learned more and more about these subjects.
What were your initial goals?
A flat tummy, minimized love handles, and a ghetto booty.
What was your diet and supplement intake like?
I’ve tried a LOT of different styles of eating and found out that almost any sound, nutritionally rich eating plan will work if one is compliant.
I think it’s really about finding a style of eating that works for you.
I spent hours and hours soaking up everything I could on nutrition. Knowing what each macronutrient does in and for your body is important. I saw a lot of people that couldn’t find the time to track macros or learn the breakdown of most foods, but to me that seemed an important part of getting a grasp on the whole picture.
I’m a believer in lots of fats, veggies daily, and plenty of protein. Clean, fresh foods are awesome, and I eat a lot of them, but I also eat canned, frozen, and junk foods on occasion.
When cutting I was really strict and tracked every day’s calories and macro breakdown. When bulking I ate a lot of junk and about twice as many calories per day as I did while cutting. In both phases I ate at least 1 gram of protein per lb of lean bodyweight, ate a big variety of food, and drank beer a couple nights a week.
Supplement wise I mostly take bcaa’s (Xtend), creatine, a multi vitamin, zinc, magnesium, and fish oil. I also use protein powder regularly, although I try to get a good chunk of my protein from whole food sources.
What was your training like?
My training was completely based on one concept: That every single woman I saw that had a bodyweight under 140 lbs (my ideal) and could squat 225 lbs, looked FANTASTIC.
I had no hips, held all my fat around my middle, and sported chicken legs. I realized that to have any chance of having the look I was going for I’d need to put quite a deal of muscle on my legs, ass, and upper back. I had fat to lose, but getting the extra muscle was as important as losing the chub if I wanted an end result of looking like a “fit chick”.
Initially I started a strength training program mostly to burn calories and build muscle. I knew constantly lifting progressively heavier weights was important, but I wasn’t focused on strength. The day I decided to see how heavy I could deadlift, my life changed. I felt strong and powerful and like I could do anything in the world. I began to focus on strength and the result blew my mind. I got stronger and built muscle, but those weren’t even a tenth as powerful as the MENTAL benefit strength training gave me. It required discipline, focus, consistency, and plain old hard work, and that work constantly paid off. I was getting stronger, and the sense of achievement and confidence that training the heavy compound lifts have given me is absolutely invaluable. To top it all off it was fun too. I was hooked.
What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
Every single day the human in me would be perfectly content to take all the instant rewards present life offers. I’ve come to realize that almost all the shortcut, immediate gratification, something for nothing, constant reward type things in life are double edged swords. Sure they feel good in the moment, but they RARELY have any kind of pay off. Rewards are just so much sweeter when earned. Every day I manage to not do everything the easy, lazy, gluttonous way; I’ve overcome a serious obstacle.
How did JSF and the JSF Forums help you?
The JSF forums have single-handedly been the biggest influence in my “transformation”. The people, stories, and information are amazing and this is seriously the place to be if you need any support in your fitness goals. John runs a top notch site, and I’m thankful for the support that all my JSF buddies have given me. You guys ROCK!
What advice would you offer to others?
-The #1 piece of advice I can give is to learn to earn your rewards. You don’t have to give up junk food, or alcohol, or whatever your weakness is, you just have to learn to earn them. A reward is not a reward if it wasn’t earned. Learn to stop associating GUILT with the things you love, but instead go get in an hour of exercise and then come home and seriously enjoy every bite or drink. Want to laze around watching movies for an entire day/weekend? Then make a deal with yourself that if you don’t miss a workout for a month you can do just that. And if you succeed, then really embrace and enjoy that lazy day.
-Don’t be afraid of muscle. The more you have, the more you can eat. As I’ve put on muscle I’ve been able to eat more and more food yet still maintain. It’s awesome. No one’s going to get all bulky and huge eating low cals and pumping iron. If you think you are, well stop being lazy and research that very topic.
- If you are trying to change your body, you’ll need motivation. Sometimes we can find it from within. Sometimes we have to create it and find it from without. Whenever I don’t feel like working out or feel like eating junk food I’ll start reading fitness journals or researching some fitness topic or watching lifting vids on you tube, and it always works. Find what works for you. This is super important.
- Believing there is only one way to do things, or that there are any carved in stone rules is false. Period.
- Research. Read, read, read. Stop looking for shortcuts. They don’t exist. Stop obsessing over how fast you can lose the weight. The beauty is in the journey. It’s hard to accept, but once you do, and begin to put in the work, your life will never be the same.
What are your future plans?
In the future I’d like to keep lifting heavy, and focus more on flexibility, prehab, and conditioning. In general I’d like to take more risks in life and get out of my comfort zone a bit more.
I'd also really like to lean up a bit more around my middle. I'm not quite where I'd like to be. I'm hoping a focus on conditioning for a bit will help zap off this fat and allow me to spend a majority of 2010 feeling nice and lean. :D
Any closing thoughts?
Stop making excuses and stop lying to yourself. Stop binging alone. If you find yourself alone in a room and stuffing your face (and you're not trying to gain weight) then you have a problem. You need to make a change. Stop using food as a crutch. Stop using it to deal with your emotions. Stop thinking you’re the exception to the rule. Stop putting things off until another day.
It’s the first of the year. The things you can do in 365 days will blow your mind. Anything’s possible. It’s the dawn of a new day. Put in the time, put in the effort, put in the work and the person sitting in front of your computer in Jan 2011 will be unrecognizable.
Life is a constant struggle. There’s a difference between peace/contentment and complacency. Challenge yourself to figure out what that is for you.
Take responsibility for who you’ve become. If you don’t like that person, inside or out, make a change.
And last of all, have fun. Joy is a huge part of life. If you rarely have it, you’re missing out on a huge aspect of living. Earn and enjoy, it’s as simple and as complicated as that.
33365
Thanks for a great interview and congratulations on your incredible life-changing transformation!