I am going to be honest with you, I have been tempted to post a progress photo of myself for the last three months or so. However, I just don’t like doing that. That really isn’t me. However, this time, it was different. I didn’t have a great transformation or anything along the lines of that, I just had REALLY good success with my training and nutrition over the last month. Which got me out of a slump from the holidays. Was I perfect during that timeframe? Heck no. Quite frankly, I had OKAY nutritional intake throughout the last month.  Here is a summary of my five weekdays and weekends in terms of nutrition by each week.

Here is a summary of my five weekdays and weekends in terms of nutrition by each week:

Week 1: A
Week 2: C+
Week 3: A
Week 4: B-

So with those grades, I would probably sit at an average of a 3.0. A solid B grade. Not too shabby. What made my grades go down during weeks two and four? Here is a short summary of what brought my grades down in terms of nutrition during week two and four.

Week 2: During this week I drank alcohol on Saturday and ate VERY poorly on Sunday. When I say I drank alcohol, I mean it in a consumption of ten or more beers. #RollScots

Is that smart on the body? Of course, it isn’t. My friends and I like to have fun, simple as that. Then on Sunday, I had a McDonalds breakfast and Papa Johns Pizza. Boy, that was good while watching playoff football. Even though I was not perfect by any means, I absolutely crushed my exercise every day of the week. I also ate near perfect five out of the seven days.

Five Days Of Consistency > 2 Days Of Inconsistency

Week 4: This week was similar to week 2 but my nutrition was just a bit better. I think.

On Saturday, I had a bar & grill meal with about 5 beers. Then that night, my friends and I drank until about 2AM. It was another fun night out. Also, don’t let me forget the fact that I had Steak N’ Shake at 2:30AM. That Frisco Melt tasted pretty dang good at that point in the night.

With all of that being said, you must ask, “how or why is this guy a personal trainer?” To answer that question, wait a few more paragraphs.

As I was making my way through college, I experimented with my body. During my Freshman and Sophmore years, I was anywhere from 185lbs to 200lbs. I undoubtedly gained the Freshman Fifteen through food and drinking alcohol. During the spring of my Sophmore year, I decided I wanted to get ‘ripped’, ‘shredded’, and ‘yolked’, Bro.

True short story: I wanted to be on the cover of Muscle & Fitness. During my college years, I made that a life goal of mine. In a sense, that is still a goal. However, I do not try to make covers of magazines with my shirt off. I am a personal trainer and in the fitness industry for hundreds of other reasons.

So to sum up everything I did from April through July of 2012, I followed the Intermittent Fasting protocol which was followed by John Romaniello’s Fat Loss Forever training program. I went from 197lb to 169lb in under 3 months. My goal to be ripped was a success. However, I was not happy with how small I was. I walked around with a body fat percentage below six percent. Yet I was not happy with my strength and size. So from there, I took the college life approach and just coasted my way through college while staying pretty fit while having a lot of fun and not worrying about my appearance. At one point during my Junior year, I actually stepped on the scale at 214lbs. That won’t happen again.

Back to the question above – “How or why is this guy a personal trainer?”

I won’t lie or say I don’t know my fair share of exercise and nutrition knowledge when I know I do. I have confidence in what I do. Also, people like honesty.

“I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take a butcher’s word for it.” – Tommy Boy

No matter how much one knows, it doesn’t matter if he or she does not follow the science of exercise and nutrition to achieve his or her goals. Especially if you are the one preaching it. So with that being said, I took some progress photos.

I have hit deadlift and squat personal bests while decreasing body fat percent & overall body weight. The photo on the left is January 10th and the photo on the right is January 29th.

Let’s be real, these are not my first ever ‘selfie’ photos. However, they are my very first ‘selfie’ photos I have revealed online. Congrats, Patrick. – Thanks, Patrick.

So what is the point of all of this?

To show you that you can take a real-life approach to your health and fitness.

No matter where you are at in your health and fitness, you are going to have your ups and downs. There is no possible way for me to stay as lean as the photo on the right. It may be possible, but I am not going to stress over staying that lean. I am a normal person just like you. I love my Budweiser and 312 beers. I love my Double A’s Pizza and Buffalo Wild Wings. I am not going to stress over my food and liquid intake to achieve a daily appearance of someone that is seen on some of the corny Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter profiles. The lives those people live are not like yours or mine.

Achieving a certain physical appearance or action oriented goal can be done with the right planning. When putting the mind to work and really focusing on what is envisioned, it is truely extraordinary of what the mind and body can accomplish together. Today the skies may not be blue and the sun might not be shining. However, you are not alone and you can achieve any goal(s) you put your mind to.

Crush Your Day
– PT