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I was a 42 Year Old, Fat, Physical Mess...

then I Lost Over 40 Pounds of Fat,

Gained 10 Pounds of Muscle and

Decreased My Body Fat by more than 18%!!!

 

Dear Friend,

 

Hi, my name is John Bartlett. I'm 42 years old, and until recently, I was a fat, physical mess. Actually, when my wife took my "before" pictures and I looked at them for the first time I was devastated.

 

May 16, 2005 - Before

May 16, 2005 - Before

May 16, 2005 - Before

July - After

July - After

July 31, 2005 - After

 

The person in the pictures couldn't possibly be me. But it was! At 5'8" my body weight had climbed as high as 240lbs. After having my tonsils removed I started to lose weight but mainly because I was having problems eating. I was obese and struggling to get the excess weight off.

 

Me at 240 lbs Me with Dennis Green

 

I had some real motivations for losing weight...

 

First, my wife and I were preparing to adopt a baby from Kazakhstan and I wanted to be able to run around and participate in all the activities our son would be involved in. Up until now I would start to wheeze just from walking the dog around the block. In addition, my blood pressure was very high and the medication was not controlling it.

 

I wanted to be around for my son and see him grow up. I didn't want to die of heart disease and leave my wife alone with a child to raise. I wanted to be active and enjoying life with my expanding family. Besides, what kind of role model would I be as an obese parent?

 

If all this wasn't enough incentive my father had recently died of a heart attack. His death was caused, in great part, to waiting until his 60's to get serious about his health. When he was 60, doctor's orders forced him to begin eating right and working out regularly. But by then it was too late. He died of a heart attack, just 5 days after his 65th birthday.

 

Then came the straw that broke the camels back...

 

For years I had been taking medication for high blood pressure. I thought I was doing fine, but during a recent check up the doctor told me my blood pressure was 180 over ... Well, I don't quite remember the bottom number because the top number completely shocked me. I was scared to death! All I could think of was ending up like my dad. I was following along in his footsteps and I needed to make some serious changes and fast.

 

My quest to lose weight...

 

I became obsessed with fitness and started reading everything and anything on the subject. I searched the internet for the best methods to lose weight and tried many of them. Some I ruled out because they were just plain crap! During my many months of research I came across Tom Venuto's ebook "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle." Actually, I came across his book many times but I just couldn't bring myself to spending another $40. Heck, for $40 I should get an actual book - and a hardcover one at that. So I continued my research without Tom's help.

 

Over many months of research I came to many conclusions...

 

First, listening to professional bodybuilders, who took steroids, would be a mistake. How could I relate to someone with the advantage of powerful drugs? After all, I wanted to get healthy, not become a steroid addict. Also, most professional bodybuilders have far superior genetics than I do. Most are naturally lean and muscular. I am naturally fat.

 

I also discovered that most professionals are sponsored by nutritional companies and are paid handsomely to promote their nutritional products. I've taken all the so-called fat burners and miracle pills and never noticed much of a change.

 

What I needed was a mentor...

 

Someone who was like me. Someone who had trouble losing fat. Someone who didn't rely on drugs. And, someone who achieved his goals even though the cards were stacked against him. I needed this mentor to help reassure me that it was actually possible to lose weight, even though I had a slow metabolism and a tendency to retain fat.

 

Over time I learned more about Tom Venuto. I learned he was like me...just a normal guy who learned the true way to real fat loss. Even after purchasing his e-book I didn't read it right away. But when I did, I knew I had found my mentor! His book took all the research I had done and combined it into and easy-to-read and very comprehensive manual.

 

I made the changes and the fat just melted off..

 

After reading his book I made the changes Tom recommended and once I made these changes I noticed results almost immediately. The fat began melting off and I even gained some extra muscle.

 

May 16, 2005 - Before

Week 4

Week 6

After - Week 11

May 16, 2005 - Before

Week 4

Week 6

July 31, 2005 - After

 

It's worth your time to learn more...

 

As you can see from the pictures above my body has undergone a radical change. During my transformation I documented everything. I wrote down everything I ate, all my workouts, and everything I learned as I was going through the transformation process.

 

Now I want to help everyone that wants to achieve the same results! That is why I developed this site. It is your FREE resource to help you get the most out your weight loss program. Join me each day and you'll learn exactly what I eat, how I train, and everything new I learn about improving my level of fitness. You can also join the forums and chat with me and others and get support and encouragement as you transform your own body. And, best of all, access to my site is completely FREE!

 

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my results are not typical. Actually, they are far beyond average and, although you WILL get fantastic results, I don't guarantee that you will get the same results in the same amount of time.

 

So, no matter if you are looking to develop a bodybuilder physique, just get in better shape, or like me need immediate help for some serious health problems, it is worth the time to learn more. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Join me today and together we will make 2006 the best year ever!

 

Sincerely,

John Bartlett

 

P.S. Click here to access my online training journal now! You will learn first hand what I do everyday to stay in shape.

 

P.P.S. Click here to get Tom's instant downloadable ebook "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle". You will be glad you did.

 

 

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Location: BlogsPreparing for the Washington State Bodybuilding Championships    
Posted by: John Bartlett Friday, June 02, 2006

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"Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming." ~Anthony Robbins

A New Twist on Going Heavy and Light:

A week or so ago I said I was going to switch to doing a light week then a heavy weeks but I didn't exactly do that. Instead, I've been starting each workout with a few heavy sets and then switching to several lighter sets for the same muscle group. I'll use this morning's workout as an example.

I started with 6 warm-up sets of squats on the Smith Machine. Once I was sufficiently warmed-up, I did 3 heavy sets of Smith Machine squats:

315 x 6

315 x 6

365 x 4

Next I did 3 straight sets of deep front squats with a new twist. Actually, I've done these before and noticed a lot of muscle pain the next day. I started out doing 5 or 6 front squats with only 135 pounds, then I did several mini-reps. Then a few more full reps and more mini-reps. I continued switching back and forth from full reps to mini reps until I hit total failure. The mini reps were done by starting with my thighs below parallel and exploding upward about 1/4 of the way. Then I returned back down to below parallel. I did several of these every few reps. I did a total of 3 set of these and WOW were my quads burning by the time I finished. These really work the vastus medialis (tear drop).

At that point I was having trouble standing up and walking so I decided to sit down...on the leg extension machine. I did 3 triple drop sets; each subset was done to burning failure. 

200 x 12, 150 x 6, 90 x 6 (no rest between sets)

200 x 8, 130 x 6, 90 x 4 (no rest between sets)

200 x 8, 130 x 4, 70 x 4 (no rest between sets)

By the time I finished the triple drops, I had lost my ability to walk. For some reason, the leg extension machine burns the glycogen out of my quads better than any other exercise. The burn is so intense. My quads were done, toasted, spent, gone, wasted, totaled. Only 9 grueling sets; each one done with total intensity. My Central Nervous System (CNS) had been worked with the 3 heavy sets and every muscle fiber in my quads was fatigued by using the semi-stretched mini-reps and the triple drop sets. My legs were very pumped.

I usually do hamstrings after I finish my quads but I just couldn't do them this morning. For hams, I wanted to start with very heavy stiff-leg deadlifts and there was no possible way my legs would have been able to support me. My quads could barely hold up my body weight. Actually, they couldn't hold up my body weight. I had to lock out my knees to stand up. I decided that I would return to the gym this evening to work my hamstrings. It's needless to say that I had to take the elevator down from the gym this morning. My legs just weren't working good enough to attempt the stairs.

Sedona is on Fire:

Yesterday afternoon my town caught on fire. That's right. A fire started a few miles from my house. Overnight it grew to 1500 acres. They currently have more than 200 fire fighters, 3 air tankers and several helicopters working on putting it out. As of 12:00 Noon, the fire was zero percent contained. Below is a photo of the fire taken yesterday just after it started.

This is not an unusual occurrence here. It is fire season and large fires are to be expected. It is, however, unusual to have a fire in town. A few homes were lost and many others have been evacuated. But they don't expect to lose any more homes. The evacuation was done yesterday and they are just being cautious. They'll probably allow people to return to their homes soon. Below is a link to a news clip from this morning.

News Clip

With the weather breaking 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) almost every day and the air quality getting pretty bad from the fire, cardio has gotten really difficult. Even so, I plan to do some mountain biking Sunday morning. Hopefully, the wind will blow the smoke out of town by then. Time will tell.

Until next time, train hard, eat right and get Shredded!

   

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