Article printed in April 2008 issue of Muscle and Body Magazine
BigMan, Small Steps
Printed in the April 2008 Muscle and Body Magazine
By Carl Cassani
For years I wanted to loose weight but I just didn’t have the time. As I
drove my boys to school, every morning for 10 years, I said to myself
"The first year I don’t need to drive them to school I’m going to start to
work-out". I’m going to take my commute time and put it to work-out’s.
Well wouldn’t you know it that in the August before my first "commute
free" September I met my Personal Trainer at the local pool and I was off
and running.
I was 259 lbs, 6′1", three years earlier my top weight was 277 lbs. It
had taken me three years to lose the first 18 lbs. Working with my Personal Trainer it took me 10 months to lose an additional 58 lbs to finally reach 201 lbs !!
I used a multi-faceted approach to weight loss which centered on
"making a lot of small changes". The first thing I did was visualized myself on a treadmill. I had not even started my program, but at 6 am when I was tossing and turning in bed I could hear: boom, boom; boom, boom; boom, boom - it was my feet hitting the treadmill.
When I started to do the treadmill I could only do 10 minutes, I was
dead. I said Carl it’s OK, start with that. Next day, I did my first 10 minutes, three-four hours later I’d do another 10 minutes - then all of a sudden I have 20 minutes done !!!! To this day when I do
cardio - it’s not cardio for 30 minutes, it’s three 10 minute segments.
I walk steps. I run steps. I jump rope. Sunday’s a rest day, so at 11
pm Saturday night, I’m getting my ab workout in. I was an animal. I started walking steps in my office building during the winters to get some cardio in - every couple of hours, up and down the steps for 6 to 8 flights, just to get my heart rate up. I lift three days a week, getting my entire body done. I lift 100% at home, I turned my basement into a gym.
I eat clean, I stopped drinking alcohol, I drink whey protein shakes
daily and drink casein before I go to bed.
No matter what I went to see a Doctor about, it always came down to my
weight: "If you could just lost some weight". The first time I had my
cholesterol checked they called me and asked me to come in again, my numbers were literally "off the charts". They couldn’t calculate my cholesterol and it still took me 3-4 years to start a work-out program, what was I waiting for?
Since loosing the weight I’m off five cholesterol medicines, my seasonal allergies are gone, my hand print at my Bank (Safety Deposit Box) decreased, my neck size decreased by two inches. I have glaucoma, I used to take two drops, one at night and one in the morning - now I only need one at night. My total spend with my Personal
Trainer was a bit over $2,000 - my total savings on medicines is $1,600 per year, that’s a savings of $16,000. in ten years !!!!
I don’t have to hide behind a mustache, I wear my hair short now - I
don’t have to hide behind anything. My waist decreased from 48" to 36". I still wear my 48" belt as a "badge of honor", it goes almost all the way around, but I like wearing it, maybe mentally I’m still a heavy person.
My advise would be to start with small steps - eliminate soda, order
vegetables rather then fries, always take the steps, park your car obnoxiously far away and walk. Read. I read a minimum of one magazine per week and I usually read them in one sitting.
Lift weights, eat clean, and get your cardio in - it will happen, it
did for me.
December 20, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Right on man! I’ve been doing the same thing for 16 months now to the tune of 130 pounds. Awesome work! No skin retraction issues?