John Stone
Fri, April 1st, 2011, 07:40 AM
For the April 2011 TSM I've selected forum member "jeremy155rr" (Jeremy). I think many of us can relate to Jeremy (on a personal note, his transformation reminds me of my own in many ways): he was athletic and in great shape when he was young, but then slowly let himself slide until he was overweight, out of shape and very unhealthy. Read Jeremy's incredibly inspiring interview and discover how he regained control of his health and changed his life forever!
Why did you decide to make a transformation?
To be honest, I was scared. After high school I was in fantastic shape, weight ranged from 145-165lbs, resting heart rate in the 50’s, and played every sport imaginable. Eventually I began to put on weight and became your everyday yo-yo dieter. I would lose it, put it back, and so on but remained in decent shape. My job was very physical in nature, and like so many others my career was abruptly ended due to layoffs. I gained a substantial amount of weight in a brief period and my wife became concerned. She wanted to do a blood sample (she is a nurse) and couldn’t get an accurate reading due to all the fat in my blood, it literally separated like some natty pb. My triglycerides were out of control, somewhere in the 400-500 range and my cholesterol and blood pressure wasn’t so hot either. I’m 29 and was put on medication due to treating my body like crap. That is when I became dedicated to transforming myself. This was on September 10th, 2010, and I weighed in around 230lbs at only 5’7”.
36520 36521
What sort of planning did you do before you started?
Not much really, I just got started. I had some of the knowledge, and all of the resources I would need. I re-connected with my JSF family and started gettin it.
What were your initial goals?
My goals from the get go were to transform into the optimal ‘me’. I knew what I was capable of being from in the past and set out to one-up that. I told myself I looked great when I weighed 160lbs so that was the weight I wanted to initially shoot for. I just needed a date for that goal to be completed. I love riding mountain bikes so I told myself I was going to get a new one, but that wasn’t enough… too many excuses can happen there. Load up the bike, drive to the trailhead and so on. Solution, get into road cycling. I was hooked immediately, and have always been fascinated by triathlons. I started scouring my local resources and found all the race dates that I could, the first one being March 12th 2011. I figured that would give me enough time to get close to my initial goal weight, and not look absolutely ridiculous in some cycling kit. I think I pulled off the spandex look okay and successfully completed my first two races that just so happened to be back to back. March 12th was a run-bike-run duathlon and I came in 4th place in my age group (2nd if they put me in the right one) and completed the course faster than over half of the field. March 13th was a cross country mountain bike race where I also came in 4th place in my age group. I also completed this race in the top half of all age groupers in Cat 3. On March 20th I competed in a short track mountain bike race (all out sprint for half an hour for laps) and won my class.
What was your diet and supplement intake like?
As far as diet goes, I’ve always been a fan of KISS (keep it simple stupid). If anyone has ever been halfway serious about being physical fit they know, and have seen many times, the lists of what the nutrition staples are and that is what I tried to base my diet around. I’m a small guy and have always had a pretty good understanding of BMR and calorie intake levels. I wanted immediate return on my investment from the scale and the mirror so initially I was on a pretty harsh crash diet. It wasn’t as restricting as others I’ve seen but it was still below what is generally recommended. I scaled up my calorie intake periodically to keep my fat burning engine running as efficiently as possible.
Supplements, I try to keep it pretty simple there as well, protein, both powders and bars, a good multi, EFA’s and omegas, and some BCAA’s. On occasion I’d be duped into some sort of thermogenic and not finish it. I’d throw something else in there every now and again like green tea or something.
What was your training like?
Well, I’ve always had great access to a gym, until I lost my job. Even then it wasn’t the financial burden (I was still paying for it) but the fact that it was so far out of the way. I used to go before/after work just about every day, but no longer had that convenience. I live a pretty good ways away from most things and my new career put me going into the opposite direction of my gym. Basically if I wanted to go to the gym after work it would put me on the road for about an hour one way. I have a spin bike and initially just did cardio and bodyweight exercises. I was quite successful with that actually, by December of 2010 I was down to 190lbs (-40lbs).
36522 36523
I did need something more though and decided to go the P90X route, and I’m glad I did. I did doubles from the start and the workout is pretty intense. If you are committed enough the results will be fantastic. The other benefit was it is a 90 day program and that put me ending it around the same time my goal was to set to end. I’m doing P90X again currently but supplementing quite a few workouts for training purposes.
36525 36524
36526
36527
What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
Like everyone else, time. Time is such a precious commodity, and it is often difficult to juggle it with family and work. Planning and commitment can get you over that hurdle though. Transitioning my nutrition was very difficult. When you take in the bare minimum in calories for the sake of seeing the weight drop and being motivated there comes a time when you have to decide if its weight (muscle), or fat that you want to lose. Gradually increasing your calorie intake and monitoring your progress closely can be very difficult and stressful. I vented, bitched and moaned on JSF, almost got down right depressing at one point in my journal. I’m sure my wife wanted to throat punch me at one time or another. The work paid off though, the weight came off slower, but lifts were increasing and my cardio was off the charts. Overcoming that was just an all out battle at times, had to give myself some ‘cowboy up’ speeches and I was able to push through, with help of course from my JSF peeps and my very lovely and supportive wife.
How has your life changed?
Well, I don’t huff and puff anymore when I’m trying to put my socks on:D. I can enjoy my hobbies the way I was meant to and my doctor no longer has to give me death talks. I started my new career in August of 2010 and I have an ID I carry around. My 5yo daughter saw it one day a couple months ago and asked her mother who it was. After being told it was her daddy she proclaimed ‘That is NOT my Daddy!’ That made me feel good, and gave me the realization that if I stayed the course I would be a positive influence on her and my son and God willing can be here for them for quite some time.
How did John Stone Fitness and/or the JSF Forums help you?
Not applicable… I joke :lol:. I feel like I’ve absorbed so much knowledge in the past about health and nutrition, much of it came from JSF, and what didn’t I would have forgotten and a JSF’er would point me in the right direction and remind me. I’ve been hanging around JSF since 2006 and the resources here are incredible. On that note, I want to thank John Stone for putting it all together and sticking to it, there is no telling how many lives his website has helped, and he always takes the time to answer my asinine questions. If he’s out there I would also like to thank Chris (1FastGTX) for always helping out whenever I sent him a pm. Thanks to Gravity Homer and Guava for all the obvious time they put into their very informative posts, and thanks to Mastover (http://mastover.com/) as well for taking the time answer my questions. Thanks to everyone that kept up with my journal also, I thrive on feedback and am very grateful to everyone that has stopped in and offered a kind word of encouragement.
What advice would you offer to others?
Keep a journa (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10)l – it helps tremendously. If you think you need a wake-up call and you haven’t done it recently, go see your doctor! Everything is better when you are physically fit, take up a new hobby, or pick up an old one and strive to do your best at it. Have confidence in yourself and take time to appreciate your smaller accomplishments (I’m still working on the latter).
What are your future plans?
Still dialing in my ideal weight, hit my goal and still feel I can improve quite a bit. For now I’m going to try and hold at 155lbs (once I get there) and muscle up as much as possible during the race season (I’ll be eating quite a bit). My calendar is full of races for this season and I hope to do as many as I can. Maybe a full Ironman distance triathlon someday. I’m most looking forward to my Xterra triathlon in July which is just an off road (mountain bike :tucool:) triathlon. I just want to be the best me that I can be. Three races down so far and April 2nd is the date for my first official triathlon – I see pain in my future!
Any closing thoughts?
Thank you to everyone, this is a very supportive and motivational community and I’m glad to be a small part of it. Stick around, there will be much more to come from me! Stay tuned to my journal (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=51407) for more race reports/pictures and my quest to get shredded! I apologize for the long read, I’m a little deep.:spaz:
36529 36528
36530 36531
Wow! The changes you've made are mind-blowing, Jeremy. Congratulations on everything--you're an inspiration to us all!
Why did you decide to make a transformation?
To be honest, I was scared. After high school I was in fantastic shape, weight ranged from 145-165lbs, resting heart rate in the 50’s, and played every sport imaginable. Eventually I began to put on weight and became your everyday yo-yo dieter. I would lose it, put it back, and so on but remained in decent shape. My job was very physical in nature, and like so many others my career was abruptly ended due to layoffs. I gained a substantial amount of weight in a brief period and my wife became concerned. She wanted to do a blood sample (she is a nurse) and couldn’t get an accurate reading due to all the fat in my blood, it literally separated like some natty pb. My triglycerides were out of control, somewhere in the 400-500 range and my cholesterol and blood pressure wasn’t so hot either. I’m 29 and was put on medication due to treating my body like crap. That is when I became dedicated to transforming myself. This was on September 10th, 2010, and I weighed in around 230lbs at only 5’7”.
36520 36521
What sort of planning did you do before you started?
Not much really, I just got started. I had some of the knowledge, and all of the resources I would need. I re-connected with my JSF family and started gettin it.
What were your initial goals?
My goals from the get go were to transform into the optimal ‘me’. I knew what I was capable of being from in the past and set out to one-up that. I told myself I looked great when I weighed 160lbs so that was the weight I wanted to initially shoot for. I just needed a date for that goal to be completed. I love riding mountain bikes so I told myself I was going to get a new one, but that wasn’t enough… too many excuses can happen there. Load up the bike, drive to the trailhead and so on. Solution, get into road cycling. I was hooked immediately, and have always been fascinated by triathlons. I started scouring my local resources and found all the race dates that I could, the first one being March 12th 2011. I figured that would give me enough time to get close to my initial goal weight, and not look absolutely ridiculous in some cycling kit. I think I pulled off the spandex look okay and successfully completed my first two races that just so happened to be back to back. March 12th was a run-bike-run duathlon and I came in 4th place in my age group (2nd if they put me in the right one) and completed the course faster than over half of the field. March 13th was a cross country mountain bike race where I also came in 4th place in my age group. I also completed this race in the top half of all age groupers in Cat 3. On March 20th I competed in a short track mountain bike race (all out sprint for half an hour for laps) and won my class.
What was your diet and supplement intake like?
As far as diet goes, I’ve always been a fan of KISS (keep it simple stupid). If anyone has ever been halfway serious about being physical fit they know, and have seen many times, the lists of what the nutrition staples are and that is what I tried to base my diet around. I’m a small guy and have always had a pretty good understanding of BMR and calorie intake levels. I wanted immediate return on my investment from the scale and the mirror so initially I was on a pretty harsh crash diet. It wasn’t as restricting as others I’ve seen but it was still below what is generally recommended. I scaled up my calorie intake periodically to keep my fat burning engine running as efficiently as possible.
Supplements, I try to keep it pretty simple there as well, protein, both powders and bars, a good multi, EFA’s and omegas, and some BCAA’s. On occasion I’d be duped into some sort of thermogenic and not finish it. I’d throw something else in there every now and again like green tea or something.
What was your training like?
Well, I’ve always had great access to a gym, until I lost my job. Even then it wasn’t the financial burden (I was still paying for it) but the fact that it was so far out of the way. I used to go before/after work just about every day, but no longer had that convenience. I live a pretty good ways away from most things and my new career put me going into the opposite direction of my gym. Basically if I wanted to go to the gym after work it would put me on the road for about an hour one way. I have a spin bike and initially just did cardio and bodyweight exercises. I was quite successful with that actually, by December of 2010 I was down to 190lbs (-40lbs).
36522 36523
I did need something more though and decided to go the P90X route, and I’m glad I did. I did doubles from the start and the workout is pretty intense. If you are committed enough the results will be fantastic. The other benefit was it is a 90 day program and that put me ending it around the same time my goal was to set to end. I’m doing P90X again currently but supplementing quite a few workouts for training purposes.
36525 36524
36526
36527
What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
Like everyone else, time. Time is such a precious commodity, and it is often difficult to juggle it with family and work. Planning and commitment can get you over that hurdle though. Transitioning my nutrition was very difficult. When you take in the bare minimum in calories for the sake of seeing the weight drop and being motivated there comes a time when you have to decide if its weight (muscle), or fat that you want to lose. Gradually increasing your calorie intake and monitoring your progress closely can be very difficult and stressful. I vented, bitched and moaned on JSF, almost got down right depressing at one point in my journal. I’m sure my wife wanted to throat punch me at one time or another. The work paid off though, the weight came off slower, but lifts were increasing and my cardio was off the charts. Overcoming that was just an all out battle at times, had to give myself some ‘cowboy up’ speeches and I was able to push through, with help of course from my JSF peeps and my very lovely and supportive wife.
How has your life changed?
Well, I don’t huff and puff anymore when I’m trying to put my socks on:D. I can enjoy my hobbies the way I was meant to and my doctor no longer has to give me death talks. I started my new career in August of 2010 and I have an ID I carry around. My 5yo daughter saw it one day a couple months ago and asked her mother who it was. After being told it was her daddy she proclaimed ‘That is NOT my Daddy!’ That made me feel good, and gave me the realization that if I stayed the course I would be a positive influence on her and my son and God willing can be here for them for quite some time.
How did John Stone Fitness and/or the JSF Forums help you?
Not applicable… I joke :lol:. I feel like I’ve absorbed so much knowledge in the past about health and nutrition, much of it came from JSF, and what didn’t I would have forgotten and a JSF’er would point me in the right direction and remind me. I’ve been hanging around JSF since 2006 and the resources here are incredible. On that note, I want to thank John Stone for putting it all together and sticking to it, there is no telling how many lives his website has helped, and he always takes the time to answer my asinine questions. If he’s out there I would also like to thank Chris (1FastGTX) for always helping out whenever I sent him a pm. Thanks to Gravity Homer and Guava for all the obvious time they put into their very informative posts, and thanks to Mastover (http://mastover.com/) as well for taking the time answer my questions. Thanks to everyone that kept up with my journal also, I thrive on feedback and am very grateful to everyone that has stopped in and offered a kind word of encouragement.
What advice would you offer to others?
Keep a journa (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10)l – it helps tremendously. If you think you need a wake-up call and you haven’t done it recently, go see your doctor! Everything is better when you are physically fit, take up a new hobby, or pick up an old one and strive to do your best at it. Have confidence in yourself and take time to appreciate your smaller accomplishments (I’m still working on the latter).
What are your future plans?
Still dialing in my ideal weight, hit my goal and still feel I can improve quite a bit. For now I’m going to try and hold at 155lbs (once I get there) and muscle up as much as possible during the race season (I’ll be eating quite a bit). My calendar is full of races for this season and I hope to do as many as I can. Maybe a full Ironman distance triathlon someday. I’m most looking forward to my Xterra triathlon in July which is just an off road (mountain bike :tucool:) triathlon. I just want to be the best me that I can be. Three races down so far and April 2nd is the date for my first official triathlon – I see pain in my future!
Any closing thoughts?
Thank you to everyone, this is a very supportive and motivational community and I’m glad to be a small part of it. Stick around, there will be much more to come from me! Stay tuned to my journal (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=51407) for more race reports/pictures and my quest to get shredded! I apologize for the long read, I’m a little deep.:spaz:
36529 36528
36530 36531
Wow! The changes you've made are mind-blowing, Jeremy. Congratulations on everything--you're an inspiration to us all!