Day 72 Pics: 53,808 hours later...
Status: Round 7: Phase 3: Day 5
G'day,
I remember it like it was yesterday...the day was November 22, 2000. I had gone hard for 10 months on "Body For Life", working out 6 days a week with no rest. Even though I was successful in transforming my body, I was still cluless about the fundamentals of fitness.
Here's proof. These order these pictures were taken was April 1st 2000, June 22nd 2000, November 22nd 2000 and July 22 2003.
As you can see I gained, then lost a heap of muscle in the 10 month (BFL) period covering the first 3 pictures (I'll get to the 4th picture later).
There are many reasons for this, but the main one was too much HIIT cardio and a diet too low in calories. When I say I was cluless I mean it. I didn't even know you should take a rest from training.
I didn't know you should tweak and adjust your program to prevent adaption.
However, what you can see there in the 3rd picture is a slightly defined six-pack. This is because my body fat was now down to 7% on a 71 kg frame. That's a total of 5 kg's of fat on my entire body! When you get that low a six-pack will appear if you train them hard enough.
Well, that November 22nd picture is the last documented evidence I have of a six-pack. Well 53, 808 hours later I stand on the precipice of another six-pack.
Why do I count in hours not days? Well this is real-time baby! I am not kidding around, if you want to transform your body you need to change the way you mark time.
I have documented every single day of my fat loss journey so far. I take daily pictures and update my blog every day. My current success is due to the way I mark time.
Instead of thinking in months or years I now think in seconds, minutes, hours and days. This is because a successful physique transformation takes place on a second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day basis.
As I have said before, transforming your body is a 24 hour a day comittment. You must schedule your 8 hours sleep, you 16 hours of nutrition, your 1 hour of mind power and your 1 hour of exercise. Then you must put it all together with absolute precision on a daily basis. Because if you don't make gains every single day when are ever going to?
A lot of people like to make 1 year, 5 year and 10 year plans. This approach is destined to lead most people to failure because of the human condition known as procrastination. The only time you have is the present, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
Remember this, once you have mapped out your success plan the steps you have to take to acheive your goals are the same whether it takes you 12 weeks, 12 months or 12 years. Please hear me on this, I do not write this from a judgemental perspective.
I have hit rock bottom many times in my life. I have also experienced the rush you get from acheiving your goals. My life has been a rollercoaster ride. Here are just a few of the dramatic turns my life has taken.
I went from being a male model doing TV commercials in Japan to an obese, depressed, junk food obsessed nutcase in the space of 3 years (the 4th picture).
I went from living the high-life in Melbourne rubbing shoulders with some of the richest people in the world to run-down apartment in downtown Osaka in the space of 3 months.
I lost a $300,000 business deal in the space of 3 minutes.
My current 72 day journey was a snap decision I made in the space of 3 seconds. Tomorrow I will tell you all about it. You are gonna love this story.
Anyway, if you are currently facing challenges in your life there is a very good chance that I at one point or another have experienced similar emotions to you.
Even though I have uploaded my life onto this blog it is still not easy for me to talk about my past. The things I mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg. There are some things that I will never reveal because is the pain is still too great.
The good news is that these last 72 days have taught me one valuable lesson. Live your life in real-time and great things can happen.
As I have stated many times in this blog my dream is to get a "shredded six-pack" before my 33rd birthday. I am now on the verge of making this dream a reality.
Whatever your dreams are it is my fervent wish that you make them come true. The rush you get from setting and acheiving a goal will give you the confidence to set bolder and more ambitious goals the next time around. Below is a simple (not easy) 3 step action plan.
A Simple 3 Step Action Pan:
1) Define your goals.
2) Take massive action
3) Live your life in real-time.
Peace, AJ
P.S. Here are Day 72 pics for January 19, 2007.