Underweight, Say WhaTTT?

So, I've been kind of stuck on how to really get my blogs going.  Luckily for me someone posted on my Facebook page and gave me a jumping off point.  Let's get to it shall we.

Basically they posted on one of my photos saying I look like I have an eating disorder.  Let me just say this is one of the reasons MILLIONS of people the world over are overweight.  When you begin dieting and training to get your body into the best shape of your life, people are going to see the results (maybe easier than you can see them).  They will also realize that you have something they don't.  You know something they don't.  There is some reason your weight is going down while your energy levels are going up and theirs isn't.  There is some reason you are accomplishing your goals while they still look the same.

This simple fact will trouble them because they don't have the will to do the same.  So what will they do?  They will try to drag you back to their level.  Why is this?  It is simple really, it is easier in most cases to bring someone back to your level than to surpass someone.  You see it all the time in movies.  Someone in a race where they are clearly outclassed will sabotage the other racers equipment or do something else that will keep him from finishing.  This is what is going to happen to you.  People will begin telling you how you are too thin, or how you don't eat enough, or how having that little fat can't possibly be healthy.

Well guess what people, they are wrong.  I have not dropped my calories to 600 a day.  I have not been throwing up my meals.  I have not been dehydrating myself, skipping meals, or over exercising.  I eat 5 - 7 times a day and lose weight. 

Let's take a look at some of these common accusations so we can understand why they are mistaken.  I eat 5 - 7 times a day with an intake of between 2100 - 3000 calories depending on what kind of work out I do that day.  Obviously I am well within the limits for both my resting metabolic rate as well as active metabolic rate.  I don't throw up meals because that would be a waste of all of the vitamins and nutrients which were the reason I was eating healthy in the first place.  I don't skip meals because that would simply make my body hungry and once your body goes into starvation mode (which doesn't take much skipping meals) you will want to eat a lot more junk food and you will.  I eat nutrient dense WHOLE foods that provide my body with the fuel it needs to keep my metabolism going throughout the day.  My metabolism has become such a well oiled machine that I can pretty much eat as much WHOLE food as I want without gaining weight.  So that covers the accusations on eating disorders I think.

Now for that other comment about having such a low amount of fat being unhealthy.  This is another misconception.  What people don't understand is that there are different kinds of fats and I get plenty of what I need.  The difference is that the kind of fat I take in is healthy fat and doesn't simply stick to my body adding weight.  It is used by my body as fuel instead of being stored.  It is easier for my body to digest and thus my overall body fat percentage is very low.  What I'm talking about are fats known as Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats.  In my organic peanut butter there is something like 8 grams of Monounsaturated and 4 grams of Polyunsaturated fat as opposed to the unhealthy Saturated fat of which it contains only 2.5 grams.  Most of what the people around you are consuming is a high amount of Trans fats (the worst kind of fat) and Saturated fats.  These fats clog your arteries and cause weight gain.  Poly and Monounsaturated fats cause weight loss due to helping your metabolism function properly.  So as you can see I take in plenty of fat.  It just doesn't make me fat like everyone else out there.

One thing most people fail to realize is that I actually don't look underweight or anorexic.  Most people are just so used to seeing fat all around them that they actually have deluded theirselves into thinking it is the natural weight one should be at.  Well... I've got news for you.  Those crap foods you are eating were never made for your body and you are the weight you are for a reason.  They are manufactured cheap and carry little to no nutritious value.  They WILL KILL YOU in the long run.  This is a huge problem in the United States.  Take a trip to France or Germany or many of the European countries and you will see that the average size of an American is not the average size of a human being.  We have more junk food and therefore a lot more weight issues.  So I'm sorry to say it, but I am not anorexic, and when you scoff at the numbers that tell you you are overweight even though you don't think so, you are wrong... You very likely just don't have anyone who is within their healthy weight range to compare to.  Just food for thought...

I hope you learned a little something from this discussion.  Don't let everyone around you drag you down to their level.  I promise you they will try.  This goes much deeper than just your dieting unfortunately.  Once you begin showing signs of success in any area of your life, others will start trying to belittle you or make fun of you.  Recently someone called me an "Over achiever"; however, I don't like to think of it like that.  The reality is that I am simply achieving a normal amount while everyone else achieves very little to nothing in their own lives.  Just remember, once you have achieved your goals you will be in a much better state of being than others and you will be very happy.  Your life will have completely changed while theirs continues down the same path which eventually ends with an early death in most cases.  Don't be a slave to the junk food.  Don't be a slave to your weight.  You have to break those chains if you want to achieve a Life Health Machine! 

Until Next Time...

A few things.

Before I get going too far, I want everyone to understand that I have not finished any kind of degree and I do not currently hold any formal credentials.  I am not a certified health care professional.  I am simply a guy who reads everything he can get his hands on and then tests it to find out if it works or not.  I am working toward a degree in Dietetics and will achieve this goal at some point, but for now I am just a really healthy guy.  That said, test at your own risk.  I will not be held liable for anything you try that I have suggested.  Only you can know your limits.

Now, lets get started.

Since the purpose of my blog is to help you learn and test, I won't spend a lot of time going into the what's and how's of how I got to where I am.

My basic history goes like this - I started weight training in highschool because I was fat.  I gained a ton of muscle and got really strong but was still fat.  I then joined the Army where I did very little weight training and a lot more cardio.  Here I shed a ton of fat during basic training but quickly gained it back afterwards due to eating the same old crap.  About 2 years later I started trying some different programs and using their suggested diet and exercise ideas.  I started running a lot more which showed results and then I paired it with a week long fruit fast followed by a diet filled with "healthy foods".  Little did I know, most of these foods actually weren't all that healthy.  Within the last year I have really stepped it up a notch, reading and learning and testing as much as I can and what has resulted is a diet rich in good foods with an exercise plan that almost perfectly accents it!  Check out my pictures... You can see abs!

So, now you are wondering...  Can I teach you how to achieve that?  The answer is yes, BUT it will require two things from you.

1.  You MUST be open-minded.
If you don't come into this with an open mind, you won't be willing to try the ideas here that have PROVEN results.  Therefore, I simply ask that you TEST everything before deciding whether or not it works.  You cannot prove something doesn't work for you until you have tested it.

2.  You MUST be willing to continue testing for a reasonable amount of time instead of giving up after the first day.  If you aren't willing to keep going for a while until you see some kind of results, you won't get results.  This is why the majority of people you see (take a look around you right now...) are fat.  Whether your goal is to lose weight, or to lose weight while living healthy, you won't reach it unless you are willing to stick with your program long enough to see results.

I won't lie... this won't be easy.  Most things in life worth having usually aren't.  But if you will simply listen and test what I say, you WILL see results and you WILL feel a lot better than you currently do.  And trust me on this one, you have no idea how bad you feel until you actually understand what it is to feel good.

Here is a link to my photos showing my progress. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30560059@N03/sets/72157625316767319/with/5234359263/

In The Beginning...

This post will simply be an introduction to what I am here for and a little bit about who I am.  I want all of you to understand the purpose of this blog so that you may have a reason to continue reading.

To start off... A little background info.  My  name is Nick and  I worked for 1-10th Special Forces Group as a Property Book Sergeant / Paratrooper until last year.  During this time I lived in Germany where my life took some major turns.  I am working toward a degree in Biomedical Science so I can become a Registered Dietition.  For now I can only teach what I have learned through constant reading and research of my own (which by the way has worked pretty well.  Just check out my pics for results).  I am not yet a medical expert in the field of total health, however I know what is working for me.  Aside from that, I love everything fast paced and anything that involves my adrenaline pumping.  I want to live a very long life.

I wasn't always as healthy as I am now, and I am not as healthy now as I will be in the future.  My health is a direct result of reading, learning, and constant testing to find out what works and what doesn't for my body and mind.  I don't feel that all people are created equal and thus your body will have different requirements than mine.  Despite this, I feel there are many basic health ideas that can be used across the board to help get you started down the path to a long life.

The purpose of this blog is to not only share my experience and knowledge in the areas of diet and exercise, but to also give tips and ideas on other aspects of life that you will benefit from!  I'm not suggesting that my ideas are 100% the correct way, but if you at least put them to the test you will find yourself getting the results you desire even if you have to make some changes of your own along the way!

For now, stick around until I write again and we will start down the path to building the ultimate Life Health Machine!