MY 12-Week Journey to a Better Me

Bear with me here, this first post may be a bit long, but I promise my weekly updates on this subject will be much shorter and have only the quick facts.

Ok, so I came across this fitness video on YouTube.com about a guy who supposedly went from flab to fab in about 16 weeks.

I figured it was just a hoax, but then as I checked into it more, I noticed that there are several hundred people trying it and having amazing results. (There is a huge Myspace.com community devoted to it as well.) Well, besides the 16-week amazing abs workout, there is another site devoted purely towards men. Men's Workout Guide is a site created, maintained, and ran by Arnel Ricafranca and his girlfriend, Sara Wilcox. This is the one I decided to try.

http://www.mensworkoutguide.com/home.html

Now, if you look over the site, you will notice that he gives 12 videos under the Tyler Durden (Fight Club) workout. Each video gives a visual instruction on how to do each exercise, including reps, sets, and rest time between supersets.

I wrote each of these down (created a small table containing descriptions of each exercise per week in MS Word) so that I can better follow his workout. My computer is upstairs and I work out in the garage. Just easier.

Also, he insists that if you do his plan M-W-F and then do his aerobics-type exercise T-Th-Sa, that you will better your results. Fine, I'll do those too. Basically, I am going to do my Martial Arts training for the aerobics exercise. Trust me...it kills if you do it fast enough.

Ok, now here is the kicker, to maximize your results, he insists that you follow his healthy guide to eating as well. This is what I found most beneficial as I tend to eat like shit, or eat what I call "shit food." He provides what foods are best for you and why, and also he gives some sample menus of what he ate each day. I basically took his examples and mixed-and-matched this to fit my needs and wants. (Personally, I can't stand sweet potatoes, so I substitute more broccoli, which I adore.)

Now, I'm going to try and follow this to a "T" and as I just finished my very first workout and diet plan for the day, I am ready to post what might disgust you. Sorry...just a fore-warning, as I know my body looks like hell.

This is me at Week 1, Day 1. I am 5' 11" tall (71" or 21.6408 Meters). I weighed in today at in at 208lbs (94.55Kg). As you can see from pix #3, my gut measures around at 42" (106.7cm). That's a very unhealthy weight. Lastly, I'm 35 years old (no conversion necessary, since the world actually agrees on one type of measurement. Not knocking the metric system...I think the US needs to move to it.)

Front Week 1

Side Week 1

42" Around! Good God!

Ok, there I am in all my disgusting glory. Here's the kicker, I have high cholesterol (wonder why) and GERD (look it up), both which are maybe side effects of being overweight. Me? I believe the docs who state this...and hopefully...after 12 weeks of this workout, I will have this crap under control.

If you're curious on how this is going to turn out, come back each week and see my progress. I'll try to get them posted each Monday before I hit the sack.

Peace!
Phil M.

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