Posts filed under 'Interviews'
Questions by Stacey Nolan Young
I thought it was about time that we got up close and personal with the owner and creator of Nutrex Solutions- Private Personal Training to answer some questions. Mark opens up about his motivations and reveals some very personal thoughts and experiences in the process.
What is your educational background?
I graduated in 2000 from McMaster University with a degree in Kinesiology. I loved McMaster so much that when it came time for grad school it was a no-brainer. I went on to a Masters program in Biomechanics, which I ultimately decided (after a year and a half) wasn’t for me. I transferred into Exercise Physiology under the supervision of Dr. Stuart Phillips and went to work doing research in one of the leading exercise metabolism research labs in North America.
What made you decide to get into this field?
Another year and a half after I made the transfer to exercise physiology my father got very sick. He’d had severe pain in his lower back for well over a year and it was diagnosed as chronic pain which everyone knew was a load of BS. Still, they couldn’t find a suitable diagnosis and things continued this way until he ended up in the hospital due to his insurmountable pain.
During his time there he went into cardiac arrest and we later discovered that there had been a blockage in an artery that supplied part of his intestine and that had been the source of the pain all along. Inevitably, the result was that his body became quite toxic, and after a long and painful week, we had to let him go. That experience tore me up and I was completely devastated.
The whole time I was going to school from 9AM to 3PM and running my own part-time personal training business on the other end of the city from 5 to 9PM. I didn’t own a car either so I was spending at least a couple of hours per day on the bus. Something had to give.
Finally I sat down and asked myself what I REALLY wanted to do with my life. I completely shut out thoughts about what everyone else expected from me and I decided that all I really wanted to do was to help people change their lives. I’d only worked with a few people to that point, but I knew the power of the passion I had and that if I worked hard enough I could change the lives of hundreds or maybe thousands of people.
I had to tell everyone I knew that I was leaving grad school (after investing $30,000 and three years of my life) to pursue my dream. I expected this part to really suck, but strangely everyone seemed to be on my side. I can’t say thank you enough to all of the people involved for your understanding and support.
How have your philosophies changed over the years?
In too many ways to count. I’ve literally read for thousands of hours about nutrition and training and everything in between and I’ve tried so many methods only to find out that most people tend to over-science everything.
I used to worry about this vitamin or that mineral or what supplement could accelerate this or slow that. Now I tend to focus on big picture stuff like whether people are exercising or not. Are they eating frequently? Are they putting healthy food options on their plates?
Ultimately, I’ve gone from the basics, to the really advanced stuff, and come full circle back to the basics. Sure, I still read the techy fitness information but the basics will always prevail.
What is your favourite recipe?
I don’t particularly enjoy cooking and I don’t love doing dishes so if I’m going to make something it’s going to be quick and easy. My favourite dish we’ve made recently is our coconut curry stir fry (which will be included in our soon-to-be-released recipe book). I could probably eat that for a month without getting tired of it.
Who in the fitness and health industry do you most respect and admire?
Wow…that’s a tough one. I don’t think I could narrow it down to one person. John Berardi, Paul Chek, Mike Robertson, and Eric Cressey have had the biggest influence on how I go about training people and managing nutrition programs. Aside from Paul Chek, I’ve chatted by email or talked on the phone with the rest of these guys and they’ve all been incredible.
To a lesser extent I’ve been influenced by Mike Boyle, Dave Tate, Charles Poliquin, and Ian King. I’d also like to learn more from Alwyn Crossgrove who is taking the industry by storm.
On the business side, I like Ryan Lee and Jim Labadie. They’ve totally changed the way I think about doing business in the fitness world.
What are your thoughts on regulating the personal training industry?
It depends on who does the regulating. If it is done by the same people handing out weekend crash course personal training certificates then it will be a total disaster. If the standards were too high (like having a university education) we’d lose a lot of good trainers who are completely self taught.
To be honest though, I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon because it would require a large body of trainers to agree on some fixed training and nutrition standards and that could take a century.
If it does happen, I don’t foresee that it will be much more than a government cash grab. I think enforcement would be poor at best so most trainers would just keep doing what they’re already doing.
What do you really think about all of the fad diets out there?
Apparently there are more diet books than there are religious texts in the world. That should tell us something. As I mentioned earlier, the basics are always the most obvious route to where you want to go. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.
What sets your services apart from all of the other ones out there?
Truthfully I don’t think there is anything in our program that hundreds (maybe thousands) of other people don’t already know. What is different is that I feel we’ve made it into a realistic plan that actually works in the real world and we actually care about our clients.
There is no magic, no gimmicks, no supplements, no marketing hype. We’ve just taken what is tried and true and found a way to make it fit into most people’s busy lives.
What, in your opinion, is the key to getting fantastic results?
Above everything else, consistency is the single most important factor in creating an incredible physique. Many people follow excellent programs in short bursts which essentially gets them nowhere. Following a solid exercise and nutrition program with steady devotion is paramount.
The program does not need to be severe. It just has to be one that you can follow for the rest of your life.
What worries you most about the climbing obesity rates in North America?
It scares me to death because I know that during some point in my life I’m going to lose a lot of friends and family to the diseases associated with obesity.
I’m also afraid because the children of this generation don’t know any differently. I can remember the days when my family would sit down to dinner and we’d eat a real home cooked meal that didn’t come from a box in the freezer or a Styrofoam fast food container. I remember my mother making me carry my lunch to school instead of a fistful of cash to spend at the local pizza joint.
I remember my parents sending me outside to play in every season of the year instead of sitting on the couch watching the electronic babysitter (TV) or playing Xbox. I remember throwing a baseball with my dad and tobogganing with my mom and my sister.
It frightens me because a lot of kids these days don’t have these memories. They never play physically the way I remember playing. They’re being slowly poisoned with artificial foods for the sake of convenience. Their parents are so stressed from trying to pay the bills that they hardly have time to raise their kids by the same principles they were taught. What would our great grandparents think of the way we feed our kids?
These children don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a fast food restaurant on every corner and their friends didn’t have Type 2 Diabetes. This is our future. This is all they know. That terrifies me.
What do you think that people can do to prevent it?
Parents need to start with their children. They need to find the time to create healthy meals made from real food and stop feeding their children convenience foods, candied snacks, and sugar laden beverages. They need to send their kids out to play. They need to play WITH their children. Most importantly, they need to lead by example because kids model their parents’ behaviours. Quite simply, if we want to have a healthy future on this planet it has to start at the kitchen table.
Of course, I have plenty of idealistic views about the governments in North America stepping in to regulate our food industry and grocery stores, but this is probably never going to happen in a way that truly makes any difference.
What is the most important thing that you have learned over the years?
The single most important thing I’ve learned is that you must love those close to you with everything you’ve got. You never know when they’ll be gone.
January 7th, 2009
About a year ago we posted the incredible transformation of a young man named Jeff Franco. In fact, it was one of our most popular articles ever!
Over the course of one year he lost 65 pounds and an amazing 11.25 inches off his waist! By the end he was totally ripped! If you missed it you’ll definitely want to check it out HERE to get up to speed.
Now, one year later, Jeff is still maintaining a body fat percentage around 10% and his waist is within ¾ of an inch of his last visit.
Recently Jeff dropped by for a chat and we managed to get him to open up about the trials and tribulations of maintaining such an unbelievable amount of weight loss.
Mark Young: Hey Jeff! I want to start by saying congratulations for keeping the weight off. It’s obvious that you’ve worked hard over the last year and you look fantastic.
It seems to me that while losing weight is tough, most people seem to have even more difficultly keeping it off. What do you think it is that has allowed you to keep it off for so long?
Jeff Franco: Thanks, Mark.
Losing weight was tough at first, but when I started to see the pounds come off, it motivated me keep going to achieve my weight loss goal. And, believe it or not, it did get easier as time went on. After all was said and done I had lost the weight and looked and felt good about myself. Now all I had to do was try to stay that way which was hard as well.
The reason I think that this can be difficult is because when you’re maintaining the weight that you’ve worked so hard for, there’s no real goal to achieve afterwards. At first you could say, “My goal is to lose 40 pounds”. After you’ve lost the 40 pounds, you set another goal; to stay at your current weight, but that isn’t very exciting.
When you weigh yourself every week, you don’t see your weight drop; instead it stays the same and that can be unmotivating. “Okay, so last week I weighed in at 170 pounds and this week I weigh in at…170 pounds”.
Although you are progressing because you’re maintaining your weight, you feel that you aren’t. When it comes to maintenance, people have to find other goals or ways of motivating themselves. Just because you’ve lost the weight, it doesn’t mean you stop eating healthy and exercising. You’ll go back to the way you were before, overweight and out of shape. And then do you really want to go through that all over again?
The battle doesn’t end after you’ve lost the weight. You can always improve yourself in some way. You can always be leaner. People have to understand, that it is a lifestyle change. So even after losing the weight, the training must continue in order to maintain the body that you now have.
When I lost all that weight, I liked the way that I looked and more importantly, I liked the way I felt. I guess what really motivated me to keep the weight off for so long was thinking back to what I was before and realizing that I never want to be like that again.
People notice me now. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the attention. And my girlfriend loves my body. That’s motivation enough. There are still ways that I would like to improve my physique. I want to be leaner and more cut, but like I said it’s a constant battle and it will take time and I’m willing to do it. This is the lifestyle I decided to choose and I will continue doing this for all my life.
Mark Young: Congrats on the girlfriend! I guess we’ll have to hold back all the ladies who have been emailing us for your number since we ran your article. *Laughs*
Seriously though, when you did the Jeff Franco Project series you were a single guy. How has having a girlfriend affected your workouts and your eating regime? I know you were pretty strict before, but most people find it more difficult to stick to their plan when they’re sharing their time with someone else. How do you manage it?
Jeff Franco: *laughing* Yeah right.
Having a girlfriend affecting the eating regime? Not at all. Affecting the workouts? Absolutely.
For the time being, we live in different cities. My routine for the last 6 months or so was going to work in the morning, coming home from work anywhere around 2:30 - 4:30 pm, heading to the gym for an hour or two and then coming home in the evening. She’s an hour away and since I only get to see her weekends, I’ve found myself skipping workouts to go see her because I really miss her during the week.
So, I’ve definitely skipped a few workouts for that. Not mention the other times in the last year where I was too tired, too busy, too sick, or injured and missed workouts. I went whenever I could.
It hasn’t exactly been 5 days a week like I was used to when going through the Jeff Franco project, but I usually hit 3-4 workouts a week getting and get in about 5-6 hours of exercise. Some weeks it’s been 2. Some weeks it’s been 1 or none. Although, just recently I’ve become more strict with the training; I told my girlfriend I couldn’t come down as often during the week so I could stick to my training. She understands, but I’m sure she doesn’t like it so much. *laughs*
As far as the eating habits are concerned. I haven’t slipped. If I were to slip on that as well as miss workouts, then I’d be in trouble. But I haven’t. She pretty much eats like I do. I think I’ve inspired her to do that which is kinda cool. We have our one cheat day together on the weekend and enjoy it.
Every other day of the week I’m as strict as I ever was with the food. Once in a while, I’ll find her eating a donut or something in front of me and waving it in front of my face telling me how good it is. But it’s all in good fun, because she knows I can handle it. We both eat pretty healthy most of the time. Some of my habits have rubbed off on her and has inspired her because now she wants me to train her!!!
So even though I’ve missed workouts, I haven’t gained any weight back. I’m still happy where I am and will continue to improve as I go. And I will keep training and eating this way so I can continue to improve myself. We both will. Things are going to happen that interrupt training. Life throws you curveballs, you’ve just gotta roll with it.
Mark Young: Since you’ve been pretty constant with the diet and missed a few workouts some people might be thinking that the workouts maybe aren’t that important. Could you clarify that for us?
Jeff Franco: They are important, don’t get me wrong. Weight loss occurs when you combine healthy eating habits and exercise together. That’s how I lost all that weight. Since I don’t need to lose anymore weight, I can afford to miss a workout here and there. I won’t progress my muscle tone as quickly but I won’t all of a sudden become overweight again because I missed two days at the gym one week… unless I was consistently eating unhealthy foods.
I don’t care who you are, no one is going to go to the gym for 5 days a week every week for the rest of their lives. We’re not robots. I’ve been eating as healthy as possible and worked out consistently to get to where I am now. I’ve done the best I could and this is the body I’ve built SO FAR.
I wouldn’t look this way if I’d just dieted and didn’t workout at all. It would never have worked. I would have lost maybe like 10 pounds in a year, not 70. You have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.
You also have to use weight training to strengthen and tone your body. If you just diet, big deal. That’s only half the battle. The workouts are very important.
Mark Young: I agree 100%.
One thing science has demonstrated conclusively is that those who have strong social support are more likely to succeed at losing weight and keeping it off. You mentioned that both you and your girlfriend eat healthy foods together.
How important do you really think social support is for long term weight loss? Do you think it would be harder if she wasn’t so supportive?
Jeff Franco: I definitely think social support is important. It would be harder if she wasn’t so supportive of my lifestyle. If you had one person that worked out every day and ate healthy all the time and the other person was just lying around doing nothing but eating junk food, there would definitely be a problem.
One would rub off on the other. More likely the unhealthy lifestyle would rub off the most. Luckily for me, my lifestyle has rubbed off on her and we do this together now. I’ve known people who were thin while single and then blew up months after being in a relationship.
It’s true that social support is very important to keeping the weight off. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a party or gathering of friends and have turned down a drink, or a cookie or a piece of cake or what have you. It’s hard.
Mark Young: It sure is.
As I’m sure you’re aware, New Years is approaching. What recommendations would you have for anyone who is going to make permanent weight loss a priority this year?
Jeff Franco: Ultimately, the most common New Year’s resolution that happens every year is “I’m gonna lose weight”. In January at the gym, it’s packed with people who have said “yeah, this time I’m really doing it!”
By the time mid-February rolls around, it’s back to normal again because most of those people have given up. I say, if you’re going to make permanent weight loss a priority this year, just do it. People are either going to stick to it or not. All I can say is stick to it. Consistently. No matter what. I did. It was worth it.
Mark Young: Thanks again Jeff for taking the time to chat with us.
Jeff Franco: No problem. Anytime.
If you still can’t get enough of the Jeff Franco Project you can check out his interview from last April where he dishes out some tough love and shares what it really takes to make a radical transformation. See the full interview HERE.
December 16th, 2008
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.
April 2nd, 2008
Everyone loves a good success story. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you feel really connected and proud of that person. Such was the case when I interviewed my client Sherry Bartmanski. I received a great response from that article so I decided to interview another client of mine. This person has turned her life around and made positive changes in the face of adversity. Her determination, strength, and perseverance throughout this process is inspiring. I present to you Susan D’Angelo.
Sue - In the Beginning
The Interview
Me: You’ve been at this for a long time. What is it that motivated you to get started to make a change in the beginning?
SD: I was in a health crisis. I was actually told I was obese. I knew I had to do something and I saw the results that happened with Sherry. That’s what kicked the whole thing off.
Me: When you walked in, you told me that you’d hit a certain level where it was either “Do or Die” for you. What is it that sort of pushed you over the edge?
SD: (laughs) I hit 200lbs, and felt I had to lie to you about it so I told you I was 199.
Me: So if that was the starting point, then how much weight have you lost in total since?
SD: So far, 70 lbs.
In Progress
Me: That’s amazing! What would you say are the main discernable differences between how you felt then and how you feel now?
SD: I can move. I can breathe. I feel strong. I’m not worried about walking up a flight of stairs anymore. I actually enjoy running every once in awhile. (laughs) Just general overall health. I feel young inside and vibrant. Total change.
Me: If you were speaking to someone in the general public, and they said “Sue, I need to get your advice on getting in shape”, what key points could you give them?
SD: You have to have balance. There has to be a balance of what you put into your body and what you take from it. You have to make it strong. Don’t try to focus only on diet or only on exercise. There is a relationship between the two that needs to be considered. Make yourself a priority. You can’t put yourself on a back burner. That’s what I think I did to get into the worst shape of my life. I prioritized everything and everyone else first. I really think you have to make sure you become your own #1 priority. Then the nutrition is easy because you’re now sensing some value in yourself and you’re able to commit. You’re going to treat yourself better and exercise is key.
Me: How do you do that? How do you justify prioritizing yourself when you have children and a family and a work life?
SD: It’s difficult. But I’ve learned over time that when you don’t make yourself a priority, in the long, run you’re the one who pays for it. You’re the one who is going to fall apart. And then you’re not there for your kids. Physically and mentally you’re not there because you’re not vibrant and healthy. You may not be there because you might be dead. Work is always something that has to be a priority but if you’re not strong and healthy, you’re not going to function that well at work, or for that matter at play.
Me: If you were going to make specific nutrition recommendations to the population, based on your understanding, what would they be?
SD: Definitely an increase in vegetable consumption. People usually have very unbalanced diets, very high in wheat consumption, high in starch, potato and pasta consumption. So probably first and foremost would be throwing the vegetables into your diet.
Me: From an exercise standpoint, for a person with a sedentary lifestyle and job, what specific direction could you give someone that is doing pretty much nothing?
SD: Well other than just move, I think setting goals and making a commitment to yourself to exercise in a recreational way would probably be the easiest first step. Whether it be “On Sundays we’re going to, as a family, go on a hike” or “I’m going to go for a bike ride”, just setting an actual time for recreational activities is probably the easiest way to get someone jumpstarted into exercise.
Me: Do you think supplementation has a role for everyone and if so, what supplements would you recommend?
SD: Well I think that in today’s day and age with the lower quality of foods, we’re not getting the minerals that we used to get out of the foods or any of the nutrition that we used to a hundred years ago because we’ve depleted our soil so badly. So supplementation today, I think is paramount because we’re NOT getting the balance and the nutrition out of our food sources that we should. Plus, most of us in the general population are not eating right. I can’t explain specifics on particular supplements. I count on your expertise and research.
Me: You’ve come a long way and a lot of people make excuses for why they can’t put themselves first or why exercise is a limitation (i.e.: they can’t afford a trainer or a gym membership, the time commitment is too much, they have children, they have work lives…etc). How do you respond to that?
SD: I made a choice myself. I didn’t want to take money away from my family. I made a commitment to myself that I was still going to make me a priority and I was still going to come and see you, so I made changes. I went from part time to full time to supplement my income in order to afford this and not feel guilty about it. As far as time goes, my kids are older so I didn’t have the guilt of not making dinner or anything like that to deal with. It was just a matter of having two days a week that I wasn’t available to them for a very short span of time. I have a very supportive husband who likes to play taxi driver every now and then. But as far as prioritizing again, you just have to put yourself first because if you’re not going to be healthy and happy… nothing else will work out.
Me: Given what you know now about the results that can be obtained through exercise and proper nutrition, if your husband weren’t to play taxi, your kids were young, you were busy and you were the weight you were before, would you now have found time to make it happen?
SD: Knowing what I know now…definitely. I would somehow change my life; change my schedule so that I could accomplish this. In the beginning I really didn’t know. You were very confident in what changes were going to come. I didn’t know. I hadn’t been there. With that knowledge up front…I’d have found a way to make it work sooner.
I didn’t think I’d get to where I am now. I didn’t ever think at any time, before meeting you that I would be sitting here criticizing my body for certain muscles not being as defined or as big as I want them to be. I just never thought that I would get there. It has been a very pleasant surprise. The thing that surprised me the most? It’s that I have never not wanted to go and work out.
In One Leg!
Me: I know people always have reasons and we’ve addressed the main ones: money, time and physical ability but, you’ve recently been diagnosed with Lupus. (For people who don’t know, Lupus is painful and potentially life threatening disease) It must have taken a lot to come to terms with that. How has life changed for you since you’ve found out?
SD: I’m not a person who holds a lot of stress in. I vent all the time. I’m aware more quickly of how my stress is affecting me because my Lupus becomes very visible. (Pauses) Certain things that used to irritate me or stress me out I am finding easier to cope with by putting them on the backburner and saying “Well really, I don’t need to worry about that, I don’t need to stress about that”. I tend to shrug off a lot of things that would normally have bothered me before. I don’t take them on anymore. I’ve learned that some battles are better off not fought.
Me: When you hear people give reasons why they can’t find time to exercise when you’re facing this life change in front of you, does that make you feel differently? How do you respond to the people who have these “challenges” when you’re obviously facing something a little bit more serious?
SD: I think that anyone who tries to make an excuse for not doing something that they think they want to do or that they’re expressing that they want to do, really aren’t committed to having that goal attained. They’re like “yeah-it would be nice IF I could go to the gym, It would be nice IF I could lose weight” but truly in my opinion, it’s not a priority of theirs.
Me: So if it becomes a priority, it’s a priority even in the face of setbacks?
SD: Yes. Definitely.
Me: I think the reason I’m bringing this up to such a great extent is because I believe that people think that they have it bad until they get a reality check. Most people have the luxury of being able to hold on to a bar in the gym and have their hands not hurt. When your hands bother you, you have to put on a pair of gloves and hope to hell that they don’t get sore. I just want to bring that to the attention of people who think they have limitations but, when they put it into perspective, they really don’t.
SD: Well the thing that comes to mind with me in the gym, when I do hang on to something and my hands are bothering me, it’s an irritation that I’m more determined to get over. I think I can better arm my body to resist any kind of downswing in regards to the Lupus by getting stronger. So my hands might hurt on that day but through determination, I’ll just push through because I know my body is going to be stronger when I walk out of the gym than when I walked in. I think in the long run that it’ll help me deal with Lupus.
Me: Great mindset Sue! Let’s go somewhere else. With regards to managing your house so that you can eat the foods you need to eat without cheating, how do you handle that? How do you handle having cheats and stopping or how do you prevent yourself from not breaking down during the week?
SD: I rely on willpower because I have stuff in my house every day that could tempt me. My theory is that it doesn’t have to be in the house to be tempting. If I’m not going to be strong for myself, I can go around the corner. It takes 2 seconds. But for me it’s not that much of a challenge.
There have been occasions I have weakened but they’re few and far between because I think I’m worth not denial, but deferment, of the pleasure of having a chocolate bar or a bag of chips. That’s the big thing with the eating plan that you’ve had me on. It’s not that you can never have the foods you think you want; it’s just a postponement of that craving. I can live with deferring a craving so it really hasn’t affected me.
Me: Anything else you want to throw in?
SD: If you think the battle of health and vitality is lost, go find somebody who has done something positive. Talk to them and learn. Look for help. It’s not impossible. I’m walking proof. I’ve attained what I thought I’d totally lost. Don’t give up. You can make a change. That’s about it.
Me: Alright. Thank you Sue.
SD: You’re welcome Mark.
January 23rd, 2007
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