An Interview with Jeff Franco

By: Mark Young

If you don’t know who Jeff Franco is then you’ve definitely missed out on one of the most incredible transformations we’ve ever posted on our website.  If you didn’t catch it the first time around you can check it out HERE.

Recently we’ve managed to catch up with Jeff to chat with him about his transformation and here’s what he had to say.

Mark Young:  Hi Jeff!  It’s great to have you back on our website.  I’d like to start by saying that you did an absolutely incredible job with your transformation.

You were obviously pretty out of shape when we sat down to chat the very first time about our program.  What prompted you to take on the challenge to make such a dramatic change in your life?

Jeff Franco:  Well, thank you. I’d like to start by saying that you did an incredible job in helping me achieve my transformation. So kudos to both of us.

I was pretty out of shape indeed. Well, basically what prompted me was just the fact that I was sick of the way I looked in the mirror. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I was tired of being known as “the fat guy”.  I was tired of being lazy, having no energy, no motivation, and tired of being depressed.  Sometimes, my family members would tease me and call me tubby or stuff like that; not to be mean to me or hurt my feelings because I know it was all in good fun, but I guess deep down it did kind of hurt a bit.

When I was young, I was very active. I did swimming, I did karate, I played soccer and hockey and I was always very very thin. Then as the years went by and I started to give up some of these activities, I started to put on a little weight. Then a little more…and a little more.

For the last couple of years that I was overweight before starting the whole transformation I tried to work out and tried to lose weight, but I really didn’t know how to go about it and, to be honest, I really didn’t know what I was doing.

I would procrastinate and say to myself, “well, I’ll start next week”.  One week turned into 2 weeks, which turned into a month that turned into 2 months and so on and so forth. And when I did work out, I would never stick with it consistently and eventually just gave up on the whole thing. I was eating junk food all the time and just sitting around doing nothing. It’s no wonder I was overweight.

I finally decided it was time to really do it this time; to really stick with it. I wanted to have more energy and be stronger. I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to look attractive. And being an actor I wanted to look better to increase my chances at landing some different roles. I just wanted to be comfortable with the way I looked. I didn’t want to be embarrassed to take my shirt off.

Now I’m happy with the way I look. I can honestly say that I have more confidence in myself. I’m glad I did it because it’s a wonderful feeling. If you’re happy with the way you look then that’s all that matters. I wasn’t and that’s ultimately what prompted me to undergo this lifestyle change.

Mark Young:  I’m sure that having seen your transformation our readers must think you were totally fearless from the beginning. Did you have any reservations or doubts when you started?

Jeff Franco:  Sure. I had my doubts. I didn’t know how successful I would be. I didn’t know if I would really stick with it like I said I would. I didn’t know if this would really work. I didn’t know the first thing about weight loss. I didn’t know a lot of things. But I tried my best to block these thoughts from my mind because I really wanted to do it this time. Whatever it took, I was willing to do it. Once I jumped on the scale each week and noticed that the pounds were dropping, that was enough to keep me going.

Mark Young:  As you know, there were many positive responses to your articles and your transformation has served to motivate several others to make a change for themselves. However, there was one email that wasn’t in agreement with the rest so I thought I’d give you a chance to comment publicly on some of the things said about you.

I have to admit, I was stunned when I opened my email one morning to read this:

“After seeing this man’s transformation on your website, I have to say he truly looks AWFUL. I can’t believe you can promote this as something for people to aspire to. He looks like death warmed over, and almost emaciated. This is definitely not inspirational for me.”

Of course, I responded with the following:

“I have to agree that you are indeed entitled to your opinion. In any case like this there are those who find this appealing and those who don’t.

However, I will say that the effort, not the end goal, is what I find most inspirational about this story. Jeff came in with a specific goal, took the instructions we gave him, and executed them to the letter.

His dedication to our plan is what sets him apart from the masses who won’t make the time to eat 6 or 7 times per day and exercise 5 times per week. Instead of fast food Jeff chooses lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and healthy starches. In fact, Jeff has more discipline at his age than I’ve seen in most 40 and 50 year olds.

I think we could all learn something from Jeff regardless of our goals. This was truly the point of the article.”

And finally I got this in retun:

“Thanks for your reply. You are right…he is very disciplined. However, for the average person, who has a full time 12 hour a day job, volunteer responsibilities outside of the home and/or full time family responsibilities, going to the gym 5x per week and eating 6-7 times per day is totally unrealistic and not a goal which one can aspire to. He obviously has nothing better to do or he has made this his full time job.

It’s not a matter of “making the time”, it is a matter of only having 24 hours to do a 28 hour day. I think many of us already eat lean meats, fruits/vegs and healthy starches, so suggesting that we all eat junk food is also not realistic.

I still don’t think that looking like a concentration camp survivor is inspirational, but of course, that is my opinion.”

I’m sure a lot of people feel that time is very limited and that doing something like this is impossible for them. How do you address these issues and what would you like to say about the email above?

Jeff Franco:  *Laughing*  You know what, man? I’m willing to bet that whoever wrote that is overweight and is jealous of the fact that someone has managed to lose weight and look good; something that they have had no success at doing themselves. It’s like you said, there are some that find this appealing and some that don’t. Fair enough. Hey, you can’t please everyone.

Every other response or feedback from people that I’ve gotten has been positive with the exception of this one. I don’t want to sound cocky or arrogant saying this but, I know I look good. And you know what? It’s not the negative response that bothers me. I’m an actor. I live with negative responses. What bothers me is the name calling? Where do you get off calling me a concentration camp survivor? That’s just a horrible, horrible thing to say to someone.

Stop making excuses and running your mouth and do something about it.  Some people are all talk and that’s why they’ll never lose the weight.  They never MAKE the time to work at it. And you’ve got to work at it. It doesn’t just happen.

I have nothing better to do?  Please. I was working two jobs at one point and still managed to eat right and exercise. There have been times where I hadn’t slept for a couple of days because I was so busy so I can see how people might see time as an issue.

I may eat 6 or 7 times a day, but do I cook 6 or 7 times a day?  Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I cook enough food to last me for a couple of days. And it’s not hard to bring some food with you in a Tupperware container when you’re out or go to work.  That’s what I do.

And yes, I go to the gym 5 times per week, but I’m only at the gym for an hour so don’t give me the “I don’t have time to exercise” B.S.  IT’S ONE HOUR! Instead of watching TV for that hour, or in most people’s cases 4 hours, get off your ass and do something. Don’t say that you don’t have time to exercise and then watch two hours of TV.

Make time for exercise. And sure there will be times where you’re either too busy or even too tired to go to the gym one day. It happens. I’ve missed workouts, but you know what? I still went the other 4 days in the week and sometimes I would even make up for it the next time if I missed a day.

And NO, most people don’t already eat lean meats, fruits/veggies and healthy starches for your information because if they did, the majority of the population wouldn’t be so overweight. I don’t consider a Big Mac a lean meat.

“It’s not a goal people can aspire to”? Uhh..well…I did.

I used to be probably the laziest un-motivated person you could ever meet. And now I’m just the opposite. Why? Because I made health and fitness a priority. I MADE time for it. That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s not impossible. This might sound so cliché, but whatever.  If I can do it, believe me, anyone can.

It’s just a matter making time, picking a goal and achieving it. Just doing it. Whatever it takes. And that goes with anything in life, not just eating healthy and working out; if you really want something, just do it. Simple as that. Just do it.

So for the one rude person that made that comment. Sorry you feel that way and good luck to you.

For everyone else that gave me positive comments. Thank you all. I appreciate all the kind words and they’ve encouraged me to keep going. I hope that I have inspired others.  Even if it’s just one person then that makes me happy.

Mark Young:  *Laughs* Wow Jeff. Tell us what you really think.

What about going to the gym? It must’ve been intimidating at first. I mean, you used our consulting program so you had a program to follow, but it was probably still tough. How did you manage that?

Jeff Franco:  Yeah, it was a little intimidating at first. There are all these machines and I didn’t know how they all worked and I didn’t want to go up to them and start reading the instructions looking like an amateur. I remember one time I couldn’t figure out how to adjust the bench press bench.  Man…did I feel like an idiot.

The consulting program was great though because when you sent me the program, it was very helpful to see the videos that you sent me for each exercise.  When I got to the gym, I looked like I knew what I was doing. And more importantly, I knew how to do the exercises properly.

Eventually you get used to all the machines and stuff and know how they work. Plus, there a lot of people at the gym and if there was a machine that I didn’t know how to utilize properly all I did while resting in between sets was watch how other people use them. It’s as simple as that.

So it can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get into the swing of things it’s a breeze. It’s becomes so easy it’s ridiculous. You know, I would print out the program that you sent me and take it to the gym with me so that I could record the number of sets, reps, and amount of weight I used for each exercise. Lots of people at the gym do that. And it’s good because you’ll know exacty what you did one week and try to up the amount of reps or weight the next week. That way, everytime you go to the gym it’s like a challenge for yourself to do a little more each time if you can.

Mark Young:  That’s sound advice.  What do you think your biggest challenge was with regards to losing weight and how did you handle it?

Jeff Franco:  The biggest challenge was probably giving up all that junk food! Stuff like fast food, chips, donuts, pop, and chocolate…ohhh the chocolate. Probably the worst was the chocolate. I love all that stuff.

Sometimes when I was really craving, all I had to do was look at old pictures of myself when I was overweight because eating all that stuff got me there in the first place. Or sometimes (I don’t know if this was a good idea or not, but it seemed to help me) if I couldn’t eat a pizza and I was craving it, all I did was smell it and quickly put it away. Weird, I know. I figured if I couldn’t eat it, I might as well smell it. I’d get weird looks from people when I would take food out of the fridge, smell it and put it back. It’s understandable I guess, because it’s kind of a strange thing to do.

So the biggest challenge for me was the junk food.  I basically handled it by focusing on my goal which was to lose weight. And you can’t lose weight while eating junk food. But it’s not like I never ate junk food again. If I couldn’t ever eat junk food I would go utterly insane. I still have my one day a week where I eat whatever I want. I look forward to that day. It’s my reward for eating healthy 6 days a week and exercising 5 days a week. I deserve it, dammit. It keeps me sane. Your body needs a treat every once and while.

Mark Young:  Remind me not to let you near my fridge you food sniffer.  *Laughs*

You’ve mentioned a few times that you train five times per week. You must really enjoy training?

Jeff Franco:  *Laughs*  A lot of people do enjoy working out. I, on the other hand, can’t stand it. I don’t like going to the gym and working out. To me it’s like doing chores or going to a crappy job. I just don’t like it. But, you gotta do what you gotta do.

If I want to keep in shape, I’ve got to keep going to the gym. So I do. Sometimes I have to force myself to go, but I go. Then I feel good about it once I’m done my workout.  I guess it’s a love, hate thing. I hate doing the work, but I love the results it brings.

Mark Young:  Fair enough.

I really want to thank you for taking the time out for this interview. Are there any other thoughts, insights, or lessons learned that you think might be of value to our readers before we wrap up?

Jeff Franco:  I don’t think so. I guess just to say that you can do anything you set your mind to. You just have to be willing. At least that’s what I’ve learned.

Mark Young:  Thanks Jeff. I really appreciate your time.

Jeff Franco: You’re Welcome.

Add comment April 2nd, 2008