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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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 An unpleasant Weigh-In Minimize
Location: BlogsTraining Journal as I prepare for my First Bodybuilding Contest10-Week Muscle Gaining Phase    
Posted by: host 1/17/2007 1:24 PM

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"It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference." ~Paul "Bear" Bryant

Weights & Measures Day:

I have some good news and bad news regarding today's weigh-in. The good news is that I finally broke through my 194 lb plateau. The bad news is that I seem to have added fat, not muscle (see my progress chart below). Now my body fat percentage has gone higher than I wanted it to during my muscle gaining phase. So I had to decide whether to continue trying to gain muscle or switch to my cutting phase. Logically, it would be time to switch to my cutting phase but there were more factors to consider.

The weather was one. I do all my cardio on one of my bicycles; mostly my mountain bike. Here in Sedona, we are in the middle of a cold snap where temperatures are down in the 40s and 50s Fahrenheit. BBRRRR! It's much too cold to do cardio outside right now. In a week or so, temps should be back to normal (in the 60s F). It'll be a much better time to start my cardio. The last thing I want is to dread doing cardio due to the uncomfortable temperatures.

So, for the next week, I'll drop my caloric intake from 3500 down to 3000 calories/day. This is still above my TDEE so I can still gain muscle mass if my body chooses to do so but this will reduce the chance of gaining additional body fat. Next Wednesday morning I'll revisit this issue and, based on my body composition, I'll make a decision as to continue on my mass gaining phase or switch to my cutting phase.

Tuesday's Workout (Back & Biceps - Hypertrophy):

After several warm-up sets, I started out with a super set combination of pull-downs.

Reverse-Grip Pull-Downs/Wide-Grip Pull-Downs Super Sets:

200 x 12, 200 x 6 (no rest between exercises)

200 x 10, 150 x 12 (no rest between exercises)

200 x 12, 150 x 12 (no rest between exercises)

Wide-Grip Pull-Ups:

BW x 10

BW x 12

BW x 10

Hammer-Grip Pull-Ups:

BW x 8

BW x 10

BW x 10

Smith Machine Shoulder Shrugs:

290 x 16

290 x 16

290 x 12

Standing Bicep Curls (EZ-Curl Bar):

75 x 15

75 x 12

75 x 12

Single-Arm Isolation Curls (Triple Drop Sets):

25 x 9/10, 20 x 4/5, 15 x 4/5 (no rest between weight changes)

25 x 10/12, 20 x 5/6, 15 x 6/6 (no rest between weight changes)

25 x 9/10, 20 x 5/5, 15 x 5/5 (no rest between weight changes)

Nothing special during this workout. I kept the intensity as high as I could and took each set to failure; some positive failure while others to negative failure. All bicep work was taken to negative failure while my back work was only taken to positive failure.

Wednesday's Workout (Legs - Heavy):

This workout might be my last heavy leg workout while maintaining a caloric surplus so I decided to see if I could accomplish at least one of my strength goals. I chose to see if I could squat 500 lbs for 1 rep.

I started with several warm-up sets; 45 x 15, 135 x 10, 225 x 6, 315 x 3, 405 x 1. Then I loaded the bar with 495 lbs and attempted to squat with it. I was able to do 2 reps but I didn't quite go down to parallel. I was close but still didn't quite get low enough. Anyway, I was happy to do 2 reps and decided not to go any higher with the weight.

Squats:

495 x 2

455 x 3 (during my 3rd rep, I got light-headed so I didn't do any more reps)

455 x 6

455 x 3 (Once again, during my 3rd rep, I got light-headed so I didn't do any more reps)

405 x 6

I don't know why I was getting light-headed. Maybe I wasn't breathing properly but it definitely effected my workout.

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts:

405 x 4

405 x 4

405 x 4

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

   

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