About
Right now, you’re catching me in the midst of my weight loss and body transformation. I have two mentors helping me along: Philip McCluskey of LovingRaw.com who has turned me on to the wonderful world of the raw food lifestyle, and Adam Waters and his RTP (Real Time Physique) system. Although I have never met either of them in person (yet), they have been instrumental getting and keeping me motivated to transform my body and my life. EDIT: I am happy to say that I have met both Adam and Philip, in person, on separate occasions in August 2009! 
Let me tell you how all of this started. Over the years I have gained and lost and of course gained back lots of weight. But I never really knew how to lose all of it, or keep it off. There was always something missing. Back in late March and early April 2009, I went on a vacation to the Domican Republic, despite my obesity and a nasty pinched nerve injury – which was no doubt made worse by my weight.
This holiday was filled with embarrassment, from not being able to fit into the airplane seat, to needing a seatbelt extender for the first time in my life. And that was before we even got there! While there, I broke a molded plastic chair when I sat in it. Later, i found I was so heavy that the golf cart I was a passenger in bottomed out on speed bumps, struggled to go up hills and the driver had trouble steering until I centered myself on the rear bench seat. Not to mention I was easily the most obese person on the beach. And as usual, I would be gasping for breath and need a rest after going up a flight of stairs. It was then that I realized I really was morbidly obese and out of control. Every year I gained more and more weight and knew that it had to stop.
Even the friend I was with would make little digs and comments about my weight. It was probably an indirect way to try and motivate me to lose weight. Well, I finally had it. We were at an all-inclusive resort and half way through the vacation, I decided to give up the free alcohol, desserts and any other food that was not in line with healthy eating. Of course, I had not yet seriously looked at the raw food lifestyle, but it was a start.
I was always embarrassed to admit that I was a vegetarian (in fact, near vegan) for the last eight years becuase people couldn’t believe that I would be so obese. Well, let me tell you, it is possible! There’s plenty of junk food, and even healthy, and especially cooked food that make you gain weight.
When I got back home, I weighed myself and was mortified to see that I had ballooned up to 371 pounds (168 kilograms or 26.5 stone). I immediately went through the audiobook “The Body Fat Solution” by Tom Venuto and was able to shed 13 pounds in a couple of weeks. But, I don’t carry my weight well. A well meaning employee at a health food store thought I weighed 400 pounds, when in fact I was at 358 pounds.
Then by chance, I got an email from Tom Venuto, since I was on his mailing list. It was about Adam Waters’ RTP (Real Time Physique) contest. The deadline to join was fast approaching, so I joined on the last day. Now, I had seen Adam’s amazing video on YouTube at least a year before, but never took action. This time I did, and joined his body transformation contest, even though it was not recommended for obese people. There was a lot of reading involved. The section on nutrition was geared to the general public with lots of chicken and fish, and a small section on vegetarian eating. I hadn’t yet decided to swear off cooked food, but knew that I would have to modify that part of the program. But how?
At first, I simply made the healthiest possible choices and aimed to eat something every three hours. Then I stumbled across Philip McCluskey’s awe inspiring video of his weight loss journey on raw foods. A few months prior, I had seen and read a bit on raw foods vegan diets and weight loss, but never took it seriously. This time, I did. Philip went 100% raw overnight. Since I had plenty of good quality, arguably heathy vegetarian and vegan cooked foods, I decided to finish those gradually as I transitioned to a raw food vegan diet. After about a month, I bought a juicer and started juicing. That’s when the weight really started coming off – the cardio and resistance training with daily blogging and pictures on Adam’s website shreddersphere.com (the RTP contest member’s website) coupled with the the raw food vegan diet and Philip’s awesome videos on YouTube.
Also on Philip’s recommendation, I bought The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe. This is the bible on the raw food lifestyle and I highly recommend it. It’s a bit pricey, but worth every cent. Everything you ever wanted to know about being or become a raw food vegan is covered in this awesome book.
People began taking an interest in me – perhaps partly becuase of my immense size and the journey that lay ahead of me. But, with the regular and friendly support I got there, along with the requirement to post daily pictures of myself (which I still do), that kept the momentum going. I also emailed Philip a few times and even shared some of my pictures with him. I knew he could relate, beucase he’s close in age to me and weighed only a bit more than I did at his heaviest weight (400 pounds). He’s now down to a svelte 200 pounds. I should also note that Adam is a really great guy and very supportive. Both these guys, despite being busy and having tons of fans, took the time to reply to my emails. And for that I am forever grateful. Thanks guys! You helped me get my life back! Of course, I’m still on the journey to my goal weight of 200 pounds (give or take a bit, depending how much lean muscle mass I will have). When you have this much weight to lose, it takes a while. My estimate is at least a year.
But so far, I’m down 64 pounds in just over three months. EDIT: Make that 100+ pounds in 5 months! Now that so much weight has come off, I can easily walk practically as much as I need to and easily cover 3 miles (4.5 kilometers) and do so almost every day now. Back in early May, I could only stand or walk for 5 to 10 minutes due to the pinched nerve, and probably the weight. Walking any more than that would also induce serious lower back pain. Despite being paranoid of going to the gym, I did anyways (although it took a couple of weeks to gather up the courage). I’m still very self-conscious about being seen working out in public but that will improve as more weight comes off.
Today I am almost 100% raw most days. In fact, the only things I have which are not totally raw are some store-bought juices. It’s just not practical to bring a juicer to work so I sometimes rely on the best quality fruit and vegetable juices as a substitute. Otherwise I had rid my refrigerator and cupboards of all non-raw foods. No more cooked foods for me! I should also mention that I take one or two teaspoons of coconut oil on a daily basis, as it has many good health and weight loss benefits. I’m also working on buying only organic fruits and vegetables.
As time goes on, I will update this page. I encourage others to go raw and take control of your health. Of course, we need to cover the legal disclaimers, so it should go without saying that you should consult your doctor before starting any weight loss or training program.
Make sure you watch my videos on YouTube as well!
