Well, it's that time of year again. This is the third year I will be attempting to do the transformation challenge. I would consider the first year to be somewhat of a success but sadly I have gained a lot of that weight back and have not been eating well of going to the gym for quite some time. 

I am doing this challenge again because I want to loose weight and become more active. really general stuff here but that sums it up.

 My goals are:

• Get to the gym at least 3 times a week
  
• Plan and prepare my meals ahead of time
  

Very, very basic goals but I know that these are my weaknesses and if I do these things successfully, the weight will go down and the activities will go up. It's that simple.

I plan to achieve these goals by scheduling time to accomplish them. Again, very simple plan but not being specific about when I am going to workout and when I am going to plan and prepare my meals has been the reason I have not been successful with past transformations. My first transformation was somewhat successful because I had specific time to go to the gym and prepare my meals. Once I got away from that, I was not as successful.

Meal Planing for the following week will occur On Monday evening after the kids go to bed. The food will bought on Friday and prepared on Saturday or Sunday for the entire week.

Weights will be on Monday, Wednesday Friday AM before work. Cardio for 30 minutes each day will be mid afternoon or early evening just a brisk walk.

I am doing this transformation challenge for several reasons:

• Set an example to my children and show them the importance of eating health and exercising. My boys are constantly asking to play video games, PC or iPad ... I am always on the PC or iPad so it's hard to tell them any different.
  
• I feel older than I should ... I want to feel healthy.
  
• abs not flabs
  
• I want to play soccer again
  
• I want to be able to say I have ran a complete mile without stopping - I seriously have never done that before!
  
• My arms are puny!
  
• I need a VACATION! haha
  

The fridge and pantry has been cleaned out, I am fully stocked on supplements. I have the Body By Design workout ready to rock and roll and my before pictures have been taken.

 This is my second challenge. I still want to trim some fat but now that I am a bit more comfortable in the gym, I really want to add some noticeable mass. Having visible abs is what would be really cool. I haven't had that since I was "skin and bones" in my early 20s. 

I am also looking forward to really getting a solid cardio routine going. That's one thing I didn't do very well on in the last transformation challenge and it's something I want to make sure I am consistant with. I played soccer way back in the day and had no problem, even with a bit of asthma, playing midfield position for an entire 90 minute game in the desert heat of Arizona. Not quite like I am today but I seriously would love to get back into some recreational soccer again.

So how am I going to do this challenge? I have a plan and I am sticking to it! Simple as that. I have done this before and there's no reason to not be successful again. ... Even more successful!

The Body by Design book was very helpful last time so I am going to use it again. The meal planning took a lot of time last time so we are going to try to simplify it quite a bit. As much as I like variety, I am going to stick to the basic meals most of the time with a meal or two each week with a little more flava.

Who are my role models?

A large majority of the people I work with! It's mind blowing how consistent they are with their eating and exercising. They truly "Lift Life".

Who is keeping me accountable?

Every one I know! If they don't know I am doing this challenge then they don't know me. BodySpace members ... I need your help! If you don't see a blog from me each week, send me a message and bug me about it! I want to maximize this amazing community and hopefully become an inspiration to others!

I am looking forward to the CHALLENGE and what the results will be in 84 days!

Life Changing 12 Weeks

Along with my wife, I have completed the 12 week transformation challenge! Most importantly, I know that this is only the beginning of a healthy living lifestyle for both of us! We still have work to do in regard to getting in shape but are off to an excellent start and already have plans in place for the next phase of our life long plan.

Let me rewind a bit though so you realize how important this challenge was to me. I feel my life actually depended on its success. Before our transformation started, I honestly was not sure I was going to make it through the entire 12 weeks but I know I had to give it my best. Why? I had been having these flutters in my heart, which were only getting more frequent as the days went on. I had also been told by the doc that my blood pressure was high. Once, when I got the heart flutter, everything around me went black! That really freaked me out. It scared me a bit, too … kind of scared me to LIFE I guess you could say.

With the 12 week transformation challenge just around the corner I knew it was time to get serious about my health if I wanted to see my children grow up. After one last binge through the 2010 holiday season, my wife and I cleared out or cupboards, fridge and freezer and said goodbye to our old tired, unhealthy selves and ran after our goals.

I will admit that it has not been easy. It was quite tough actually. Neither one of us had ever spent any measurable time in the gym until we started this challenge. The most cardio I got was bowling or tennis on the Wii, which wasn’t much. Committing to 4-5 hours in the gym lifting and about 3.5 hours of cardio each week was a huge change for us. Honestly I probably averaged, 3 hours in the gym and just an hour or two of cardio each week. I had a couple weeks where I didn’t lift because I injured my back. My biggest challenge was forcing myself to do cardio. The eating process was fine-tuned throughout the 12 weeks, which was probably the biggest area of success. I did much better than I thought I would at resisting from eating tasty foods.

Anyway, after it was all said and done, I know I could have done better in some areas but overall, I have instilled healthy habits in my life and don’t intent on changing back to the old ways. I am actually excited to continue to move forward. Although no one else but my wife would even notice a change in my muscles currently, I think I have built a solid foundation to continue to build on. I have seen gains in all muscle groups and am looking forward to really seeing muscle growth as I continue to lose fat. Hopefully by the end of June when I go on vacation to see old friends and family, I will have lost most of my fat and added a noticeable change in muscle mass.

More importantly than looking good, just two weeks or so into the challenge, my heart flutters stopped and I haven’t had them since!!! My time with my family has also improved by incorporating my cardio into fun family days at the park, riding bike, going for walks, and many other things. We have had much more fun getting in shape, compared to just sitting on the couch watching TV or playing video games.

I lost 33Lbs and nearly 7 inches from my waist line! I can’t wait for another twelve weeks to go by and see what the results are then! Here are my complete stats:

I am participating in the Bodybuilding.com Employee Transformation Challenge so I can finally get in shape. I have been at Bodybuilding.com for two years and actually packed on some poundage (not the good kind) since working here. In my previous job, I was always on my feet for 12 or more hours each day so, even though I didn't eat the greatest or exercise, at least I burned some calories at work. Sitting at a desk all day, while still not eating healthy with literally no exercise has not been good for me.

My goals are:

• lose fat while building lean muscle mass
  
• Improve cardio so that I don't get exhausted while playing with my kids
  
• I want to be able to see my abs ... that will take a lot of work
  
• Learn to eat healthy on a regular basis and have it become a lifestyle rather than just a diet
  
• establish healthy fitness habits that include weight lifting at least 3 times a week and cardio 6-7 days a week.