Here
it is: the true, behind-the-scenes story of how my
most embarrassing “screw-up” as a fitness
professional just so happened to be the best mistake I ever made
You
know, I’ve been a part of the
fitness industry as a personal trainer, nutritionist and author for
close to 10 years now. During that time, I’ve had
the opportunity to write for nearly every newsstand publication you can
think of, appear on more health and fitness radio shows than I can
count, and I’ve even been fortunate enough to have my ideas
broadcasted over the airways of some of the most prestigious television
networks.
But
you know what else? And this is way
more important than any of that:
When
it comes to dieting for fat loss, I’m just like
you—and I always have been.
You
see, on February 18th,
2003 I set out to achieve a very real, personal goal of mine to get
into the best physical shape of my life.
And
for at least a week prior, I sat there and meticulously
mapped out every single item I planned to eat over the course of the
next 12 weeks.
The
end result? Exactly what you would
expect to see in a “solid” fat-loss nutrition
program: plenty of fruit, veggies, lean protein, and healthy
fat.
And
of course, none of my
favorites.
No
pizza, no mac n’ cheese, no ice
cream, and certainly none of those mouth-watering chocolate chip
cookies that I had grown to love so much over the years.
Surely,
it wasn’t going to be an easy
ride, but I knew it’s what I absolutely had
to do to achieve my goals.
Or
was it?
Fast
forward three weeks.
I
roll out of bed, head to the bathroom, step on
the scale and notice that the numbers didn’t change one bit
since the day before. In fact, they hadn’t changed all
week.
What
the heck, right?
I
mean, I’m sitting there doing
everything in the world I thought I should be
doing, and instead of losing fat as fast as humanly possible like I should
have been, the exact opposite was happening—I
wasn’t losing fat at all.
Three
days and a bunch of cardio later, same story.
(By
the way, does any of this sound the least
bit familiar?)
By
this time, I was feeling pretty
discouraged. Simply put, the fruits of my labor just
weren’t adding up to the effort I was putting in—a
scenario which ultimately paved the way to my most embarrassing
admission:
Maybe
a day or two later, I get invited to this
party—hosted by Italians. Need I say more?
Thought
so.
I
walk in the door and smack dab in front of me
is a seemingly endless table spread-full of pasta, meatballs, pastries,
and Italian desserts.
But hey, I’m a personal trainer and fitness buff, so I resisted, right?
Wrong.
It
didn’t take but fifteen minutes and
a single offer to “grab something to eat” before I
was living up to my reputation of having the biggest appetite in town.
Plate
after plate of Italian goodness—devoured.
It
was GREAT.
Until
the next morning, of course, when I woke
up guilt-ridden feeling like a complete failure.
Yeah,
I know, things weren’t going as
fast as I would have liked, but so what?
Bottom
line, I made a commitment to myself, and
when the going got tough, I broke it.
Let
me ask you a question: Have you ever felt extremely guilty
after eating something you “shouldn’t
have” while trying to lose weight?
Believe
me, I know how you feel. Like
I said, I’m no different than you.
So
did I quit?
Not
this time. Even with my royal
screw-up hanging over my head, I knew I needed to get back on track.
So I
did what any good fitness pro would
do: I stood up, brushed off the dirt, and got on with the
plan.
Now
for the really embarrassing part.
No
more than a few days later, temptation decided to rear its ugly head
once again, this time in the form of not one, but two large, freshly
baked pizzas sitting on my kitchen table as I walked through the door
from a long day at work.Apparently,
my roommates at the time
didn’t much care that I was “on a
diet”. Nice looking out, guys.
So I
get offered a slice, and naturally (so as
not to be rude, of course) I accept.
Before
you knew it, that one slice turned to
two, then three, and it wasn’t long before I had put the
finishing touches on nearly an entire large pizza.
Can
you just imagine what I’m thinking at
this point?
Just
in case you can’t, let me get you
up to speed: I’m thinking I might as well find a
new freakin’ career path because I can’t even
manage to resist the same cravings I regularly tell my clients to
withstand.
Talk
about a humbling experience.
So
you’re probably wondering, did I
quit after yet another
“screw-up”?
Surprisingly, (even to me) I didn’t.
Believe
it or not, the next day I woke up, did
some cardio, and actually managed to have a pretty successful remainder
of the week diet-wise.
Then,
the day I had been dreading—weigh-in
day—finally rolled around.
To
be honest, I stepped on the scale that day
for one reason: to find out just how much ground I had
lost—and would therefore have to make up—over
the course of that last week.
Well,
I never found out that number.
No,
it’s not that my fat butt broke
the scale, and no, I didn’t suddenly, albeit conveniently,
forget how to read.
You
see, when I looked down at the scale that day, I discovered something
pretty unreal—despite having just experienced the most undedicated
week of my entire dietary life, I somehow managed to lose
three pounds.
A simple weigh-in fluke? I’m right there with you, but get this: No more than a few seconds later I grabbed the measuring tape from the bathroom sink only to find out that my waist measurement went down a full inch to boot.
What?
I
was floored. This made absolutely no
sense to me (at least at the time it didn’t; now,
it makes all the sense in the
world, and I’ll soon fill you in).
So
what in God’s name happened?
How
in the world did a week full of pizza, pasta,
and pastries pull me straight out of a fat loss rut
and supercharge my results way beyond what I was
able to accomplish by staying “strict” with my diet
for weeks beforehand?
Is there an explanation?
You
better believe there is.
In
the Death of Dieting Video, we scratched the surface. When I
come back on Sunday, we're going to dig A LOT deeper. You're
not going to want to miss Sunday's update. Keep your eyes
peeled for "The Most Important Hormone You Probably Never Heard Of".
In the meantime, if you haven't gotten the chance to go through the Death of Dieting video or Monty and Teri's powerful case study videos, be SURE to check those videos out HERE.
Your friend,
Joel
Joel Marion, CISSN, NSCA-CPT
2001 Body-for-Life Grand Champion
Men's Fitness Training Advisory Team
LifeScript.com Women's Fitness Expert Panel
In the meantime, if you haven't gotten the chance to go through the Death of Dieting video or Monty and Teri's powerful case study videos, be SURE to check those videos out HERE.
Your friend,
Joel
Joel Marion, CISSN, NSCA-CPT
2001 Body-for-Life Grand Champion
Men's Fitness Training Advisory Team
LifeScript.com Women's Fitness Expert Panel