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| AGE 25 HEIGHT 5'10" WEIGHT 225 lbs |
AGE 25 HEIGHT 5'10" WEIGHT 184 lbs |
I knew I was overweight in second grade. My father took me to the doctor and we were informed that I was 20 pounds overweight. The information didn't please my father. He started forcing me to do push-ups and sit-ups. It was my introduction to exercise. Later, I enrolled in tennis. Tennis training during Texas summers proved challenging because of the blistering heat. I trained very hard and was highly ranked in my state, but I was still overweight during those 10 years.
My freshman 15 was more like a freshman 30 in college. My smoking and social drinking habits didn't help my situation. In 2007, I participated in light exercise and dieted, which helped me lose some weight, but I never had a physique to be proud of. That's when one of my tennis teammates introduced me to Bodybuilding.com.
I moved into an apartment community in 2011 that had a nice workout facility that I went to go regularly. At the time, I wasn't taking care of myself. I smoked a pack a day and frequently drank more than I should. My diet consisted of 100 percent junk food. I started lifting and eating as frequently as possible while sticking to healthier options.
Within a few months, my body went through amazing changes. I went from 186 pounds of pure crap to a muscular 225 with some extra baggage. My last cigarette was in October 2011. I like telling myself I quit on my own, but my girlfriend, Vera, always wanted me to quit. I haven't had a cigarette since, and I have her to thank. When 2012 came around, I decided it was time to get rid of the extra bagage. I remembered Bodybuilding.com and chose Kris Gethin's 12-Week Daily Trainer as my cutting program.
Kris's program was a massive challenge. It affected me in multiple ways. Kris mentioned many times in the videos that my mood would deteriorate as I progressed through the program, and he wasn't kidding. I'm very thankful and surprised that my girlfriend didn't leave me. My family and close friends noticed some negative changes to my mood.
I got used to not consuming things I loved and my mood improved. Before I knew it, the 12 weeks were over and I was staring at the new me. The program changed my life in many ways. I hadn't done cardio in nearly eight years. Now I feel like I can run 10 miles easily. I'm no longer ashamed to take my shirt off in front of people. Also, being able to leg press half a car is pretty nice.
I followed Kris's program almost to the finest detail. I hate fish, so I replaced the fish meals with shrimp. Also, there were two cardio sessions in the program that I was unable to complete fully due to schedule conflicts. I didn't cheat on the diet at all. Whenever I craved something sweet, I drank green tea or coffee with Splenda to calm me down. I avoided bars and started bowling. I got pretty good at it during the transformation.
Of course, there were days I felt like quitting. It's weird, but when that feeling came I went to days 83 and 84 of Kris's videos and watched it to remind myself what I had to look forward to.
During training sessions, most of my inspiration came from music. I'm a big fan of metal. Those tunes help me force out extra reps. Some of my favorite metal bands are Korpiklaani, Arkona, Turisas, Finntroll, Dimmu Borgir, and Ensiferum.
I followed Kris Gethin's 12-Week Hardcore Trainer. I combined both cardio sessions post-workout. On rest days, I combined both cardio sessions into one. My favorite week of the program was week 10. This was when Kris trained with Mark Dugdale and Branch Warren. I really liked the rack squats and rack deadlifts.
By far, the biggest challenge in this program was the meal plan. There were three challenging elements to the meal plan.
- Meal preparation: I cooked three days of meals at a time. It was very time consuming. Eventually, I became a meal prep machine, but it still took a good chunk of my free time.
- Getting the meals in: Consuming a meal every 2-3 hours proved very challenging. I have a very busy work schedule, and I'm constantly in meetings. I had to force myself to eat meals when I wasn't hungry. This became less of a challenge as the program progressed, but the first few weeks were really tough.
- Boring food: Let's start with breakfast. I hate oatmeal. It's very hard for me to get down. I had to force myself to eat it every morning. Apart from that, the meals weren't tasty or interesting. Eating rice cakes with sugar-free preserves in the last few days was like heaven on earth because it was something different.
I've gained some weight after the program. I started bulking up based on info from Bodybuilding.com. I plan on continue bulking until February 2013. I'm considering trying Neil Hill's YT3 program.
I decided to do Kris Gethin's 12-Week Trainer again in February 2013, and will go directly to his DTP program when it ends to take advantage of the anabolic state that my body will be in.
As much as I would love to, I have no plans to compete or become a trainer. I work in IT as a project manager, and my career choice cannot accommodate such activities.
- It is possible. I'm the last person in the world that anyone expected to complete a program like this.
- Stick it out for two weeks at least. By then, it should become an addiction and nothing will stop you.
- Make sure to photograph yourself. It's well worth it.
- Listen to metal while training. It puts you in the right state of mind.
- Take care of yourself post-transformation. I have yet to eat Taco Bell.
Bodybuilding.com and Kris Gethin get 100 percent of the credit for providing me with knowledge to transform. All of my information came from the site and Kris's program page. I watched the videos on a daily basis and read every word on the program page. Thank you so much for providing this program, especially free of charge. You have really made a positive impact on my life.