Thursday, October 1, 2009

Eat Less, Move More

Welcome to my blog. That would be me sporting the 70's threads and eating my brothers huge lollipop. Ahh...those were the days. You may know me from several other sites that I frequent (among many): marksdailyapple.com or fitnessblackbook.com. I'm a former fat, out-of-shape, unhealthy...you know...typical, American guy.

In 2007, I decided that I didn't want to be that guy and wanted to change my life.

And now I want to get the word out that if people will simply eat less and move more, then they can change their life. Even eating less will enable people to achieve their fat loss goals, but adding exercise will take it to another level.


The sole purpose of my blog is to help people. Through a number of resources, I've been able lose weight (80 lbs) and get in tremendous shape. I've done it the right way (no crash diets here) and I'd love to help people get there too. I'll help you get there with tried and tested methods that I've employed from the advice of experts in the field of losing body fat and performing intense, efficient exercise.

I'm a regular guy with a pretty typical life. I'm married with 4 children (soon to be 5), with a job, a mortgage, and all the responsiblities that a husband and father has in this day & age. I don't have lots of time to dedicate to working out so I've found ways to do it efficiently and effectively. I'm not a former athlete who's been lean and near-ripped my whole life; I think those guys are great to help us get in shape and look good naked. But the reality is that sometimes it's hard for 'those guys' to understand how difficult it is to get to where they are from where 'we' are.

So if you are struggling with getting to where you want to be, I understand. Feel free to reach out to me or to the Sterling Advice community as it develops. In the coming months, we'll talk about a number of topics including:

  • Calories
  • Low Carb
  • High Protein
  • Intermittent Fasting (IF)
  • Chronic Cardio
  • Vitamins
  • Six-pack Abs

...just to name a few.

Until next time.

11 comments:

  1. At just twelve short days into my "primal" journey I very happy to have discovered this blog and to hear more of what you have to offer. It's great to read such a success story and it gives me tremendous inspiration as well.

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  2. Yep. I was pretty much bed ridden and lost 5 pounds simply by cutting out all gluten, sugar, and dairy from my diet. They promote inflammation which I don't need since my nerve is inflamed as it is. It wasn't as hard to do as I thought it would be. Lots of fruits and veggies and good grains like quinoa. Also found some gluten free rolled oats so I could make home made granola still (recipe on my blog). Glad it's working out for you! Look forward to learning more in future posts. Best, Clynton

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  3. It's so great to see blogs like yours out there. I was a fat kid, but in my teens took matters into my own hands and started working out and eating right. My approaches have certainly changed since then, but I want to raise up my children to be healthy, fit and naturally healthy eaters. I'll be following!

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  4. HIIT Mama: Thanks for the kind words. I hope I can be of help to others in an encouraging and realistic way.

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  5. Johnny Grok: Let me know how I can help and any topics you might want covered. Glad to see you taking positive steps.

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  6. Clynton: Good to see you on the blog. Changing your nutrition is the single most critical part to a lifestyle change; couple that with exercise and you'll be extremely satisfied.

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  7. Congratulations. In your MDA photos, you look very thin, but since you have on a t-shirt, it was hard to see if you were buff or just skinny... looks like you've been hitting the weights or body weight exercises! (well done)
    Question though: you have both Mark Sisson and Tom Venuto on your side bar. They are both very successful at staying lean and healthy, but have almost polar opposite approaches... so what gives? Are you primal...or a 6-meal-a-day-no-fat guy??
    Marie

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  8. Marie: Those pics are about 2 weeks apart (I'm the same weight). I'm not a big guy, but people are usually surprised when I take my shirt off. :)

    Regarding Mark and Tom -- that is a great and insightful question. I wouldn't say that they are polar opposites. They might agree on more than you think. I have an interview coming up with Mark and I'll hopefully have one up with Tom soon. Both Mark and Tom know a lot about nutrition and exercise. Tom's philosphy boils down to calories. Eat less calories, lose weight. Eat more calories, gain weight. Mark's philosophy is based more around insulin. Keep insulin levels low in order to lose weight & maintain that progress effortlessly. Mark will also tell you that if you eat more calories than you need, then you will gain weight.

    As you know though, a primal way of eating helps to curb appetite by eating lots of meats, fats, fruits & veggies. But in essence, you are typically eating less calories and thus losing weight. Tom will also tell you that the most effective way to lean down is to low-carb and insulin plays a big role in that 'lean-down' period.

    Bodybuilders used to get extremely lean on an extremely high carbohydrate diet. Most get lean these days on a low-carb diet. It can be done either way. I personally believe that limiting refined carbs and grains is a healthier way to eat and live. My personal health improved dramatically from choosing to eat in a more 'primal' way. All that to say, that I probably lean more towards Mark's philosophy. But I've gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from Tom about nutrition, macronutrients, calorie partitioning, leptin, & goal setting among many things.

    As you know, I also employ intermittent fasting (IF) in my daily life and it makes life much easier. Mark's discussed IF before on MDA. I don't really know Tom's stance.

    I've come up with my own style which is what I think most people should do. I'm not totally primal, but certainly I don't eat 6 meals/day. I usually eat 2 or 3 meals/day, but often I'll just eat one meal a day if I've just completed a 24-hour or longer fast.

    Hope I've answered your question. Thanks for visiting the blog.

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  9. Hey Ster, You look great and and I'm so very proud of you for taking good care of yourself! You are an inspiration to me and many others :)

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  10. Exercise is very over rated for fat loss. It probably accounts for only 10- 20% tops. Reduced food is 90 % of it. Don't fall for the exercise myth. Exercise has other benefits, but it isn't for fat loss. It also can make you very hungry off setting any slight benefit.

    We also must remember no one understand how cells work biochemcially. All that we "know" about obesity is just hypothesis.

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