Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye

So...that guy on the left was me, believe it or not. This was a couple years ago, but that was what I looked like fresh out of college, during what is supposed to be your healthiest, most fit years. Sadly, although I was working out constantly, I was also eating the wrong things at the wrong time. Not everything you read in the muscle mags is appropriate for everyone, and at the very least you need to adjust the proportions according to your personal size/stature.

I'm 5'5, so I'm not nearly as large as your average bodybuilder, but nonetheless, after every workout session I would buy a giant smoothie loaded with protein, peanut butter, and yes...SUGAR. I'd then drive home and promptly fall asleep. The diet didn't get much better during the day, what with fast food, snacks, and candy. And living with my parents at the time meant more rice and beans than is wise. So there's me in my Luchador mask, but looking more like a Lucha-don't.

Cleaning up my diet and shifting the focus of my exercise has done wonders for my body composition. I've gone from primarily a bodybuilders form of training to experimenting with a more functional form of fitness through resources such as CrossFit, RossTraining.com, and most lately, Kettlebells. To each his or her own, but my body appears to have responded most positively to this sort of training, and I feel as though my strength, speed, and stamina allow me to more fully enjoy my life. On the diet front, I've gone from the philosophy that I workout, therefore I can afford to eat whatever I want, to a diet in which I eliminated all simple carbs in favor of whole grain sources. Just this change resulted in rapid fatloss, but I didn't fully fine tune my system until I made the Primal/Paleo plunge. I gave up grains and sugars of all sorts and limited my diet to meat, fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Of course, on the weekends I loosen up a bit and allow myself a cheat meal or two.

All this has resulted in the weightloss you see today. Here is a pic of me today, wearing a pair of dress pants that used to fit snug on me. One problem is having to buy all new clothing...



Today's Workout: 2 x Tabata Sprints w/ 1 min rest in between
Check out a description of Dr. Izumi Tabata's work at one of my fav sites: http://bit.ly/5EumX

Today's Last Meal: My favorite shake recipe
I make this shake every once in a while...the soy milk and protein powder make it not STRICTLY Paleo, but there are no simple carbs involved.

10 oz Organic Soy Milk
1 Scoop Protein Powder
1 Whole Banana
2 Tbsp Almond Butter

Blend it all up until its smooth and enjoy! You have a nice mix of healthy fats, protein, and some carbs.