Reverse dieting

I’ve made countless mistakes: I overrestricted calories. I went nuts on cardio. I vowed to never allow myself to enjoy my favorite treats again. For whatever reason, I’d convinced myself that all of these things could be sustained for the remainder of my days. Boy, was I wrong.

Here’s the thing: As much fun as it may be to watch your measurements drop week after week, at some point your body stops cooperating. We’re not meant to be in a caloric deficit for long; our bodies actually have multiple mechanisms to protect against that. Dieting is also incredibly fatiguing, both on the body and on the mind.

Ironically, it wasn’t until I quit dieting and obsessing over my progress—or lack thereof—that I was finally able to maintain a lean physique throughout the year. I stopped fighting against my body and took a shot at reverse dieting, a process by which calories are slowly increased over a long period of time. The primary goal of this method is to bring your impaired metabolism back up to speed, but it also offers a host of other benefits that can help you both in and out of the gym.

WHAT REVERSE DIETING IS—AND ISN’T

Reverse dieting is a technique that physique competitors have used for years to recuperate after their shows are done. If this is your first time seeing the term, you might just think it means “eat more,” but it’s more nuanced than that.

Reverse dieting means you increase calories strategically, usually to the tune of 80-100 per day, and then slowly move upward after that.

Why is this rate important? If you’ve ever switched overnight from caloric deprivation into an extended surplus, you probably know why it’s crucial to increase calories slowly.

So does this mean that only competitors and other extremely lean people can benefit from a reverse-dieting approach? Definitely not. A reverse can work great for anyone who falls into one or more of the following categories:

• You’ve been dieting (or crash dieting) on very low calories for a very long time, and fat loss results have stalled.
• Your metabolism is wrecked to the point where no amount of calorie-cutting and exercising will elicit a response from your body.
• You train hard, but still feel low energy and fatigue during the day.
• You hate your diet, your motivation is at an all-time low, and your workouts feel like a torture session.

Reverse dieting has been found to help repair metabolisms that have been damaged from chronic dieting.

IT ALLOWED ME TO EAT MORE

This may sound simplistic, but if you’ve ever been tied to a restrictive dietary scheme, you know what a relief just a few more calories a day can bring. Suddenly, there’s no more constant worrying about when and where your next meal is going to come from. You can attend a social event that will have food or drink, rather than stay at home because it would tempt you to deviate from your airtight program.

“Living the lifestyle requires sacrifice,” you tell yourself. But after a while, living in a deficit while training hard inevitably wears you down. Once I began reverse dieting, life wasn’t about deprivation anymore. Instead, I had more freedom to relax when it came to food quantities, and that, in turn, helped me to think less about food.

By nipping a craving in the bud, even in a small way, I was then able to easily move on with the rest of my day instead of having my thoughts circulate around that one treat I was denying myself. I also didn’t have to cry about my measly portion sizes or lament the lack of full-fat cheese I could afford on my program. I could eat to the point of satisfaction and be done with it.

I HAD MORE ENERGY TO FOCUS ON OTHER AREAS OF MY LIFE

To someone who has been living and training in a deficit, more calories means more energy. All of a sudden I wasn’t dragging my feet around all day. I wasn’t distracted by hunger pangs or fatigue, and that in turn gave me the drive to approach my work—as well as my relationships, friends, family, and dogs—with extra gusto.

Mentally, the transformation was even more pronounced. More carbohydrates meant more glucose, which meant more willpower to seize the day and get tasks done. Not only that, but the very fact that I wasn’t thinking about food around the clock freed up an incredible amount of mental space to give my all new projects.

I became more patient, more open-minded, and more focused. I found myself in a better mood, and I was much more pleasant to be around. In short, I felt like myself again.

IT PULLED ME OUT OF THE DIETING MINDSET

After dieting for a long time, I was afraid to stop. I thought that, without that caloric deficit, my weight wouldn’t go down. And if my weight didn’t go down, then clearly everyone would think that I was:

• Out of control
• Getting “softer”
• Letting go
• Unlovable or unworthy of friendship and attention

Those remarks never came. They were all in my head. To the contrary, my friends and family expressed relief that I finally allowed myself to enjoy food with them. Of course, it really wasn’t about the food so much as the fact that I was able to break bread with them—literally—at the dinner table and share a common experience. That was what I had been missing.

I have since learned that the only person who truly gives two hoots about my size is … well, only me. It wasn’t until I began to truly understand this that I was able to heal my relationship with the scale.

I WAS ABLE TO TRAIN FOR MORE THAN JUST FAT LOSS

Before, my body was merely a vessel for showcasing my fat-loss efforts. I viewed it as little more than a mannequin that manifested the amount of body fat I was carrying at any given time. When I trained, my sole purpose was to burn calories—the more, the better. When I sprinted, I actually imagined my fat cells burning to a crisp.

At some point, this single-mindedness took the enjoyment out of exercise. I viewed it as merely a means to an end, and I found myself simply going through the motions.

With the boost of energy I received from reverse dieting, I realized that I hadn’t been giving my body enough credit. I saw that I had the strength, I could easily carry heavy loads, in short, I saw that I had been building strength, but not allowing myself to experience it.

Soon enough, this realization helped me switch my goals from calorie-burning to strength-building. Training for strength is way more fun—and when you’re well-fed, it can be far more effective at helping you stay lean than training solely for fat-loss. Give your body the fuel it needs, and it will reward your hard training with muscle.

Aspire to Inspire.

Best video I have found for Deadlifting

My girl

Yes, she gets her own blog post, quite deservedly. So many of you may switch off about now and quite frankly, I don’t care, this is more for her.

So why? Well because…just wow. This rather phenomenal girl has me whole heartedly astonished. In recent years, specifically any of those years past the age of 14, I managed to build an image of the perfect girl. An idea that can be a bit of a curse because who can ever live up to that dream? As far as I had been concerned for most of my life, dreams are dreams, not a hope in hell of becoming realised.

So what is my perfect girl? Short of being summarised by 5 little letters I suppose there is actually a criteria of sorts. What we look for in others tells you masses about ourselves, so don’t judge me. Between the normal replies to such a question: Beauty, sense of humour, intelligence and that damn smile, my list does continue… a fair bit. Passions, comfortability, ease in conversation, gets along with my family, an interest or at least tolerance for what I do,  equally mad about me as I would be about such a girl, eyes that distract from a conversation…. then about another hundred things.

So then there’s Holly. A description would be given, but in reality … just read that bit above. That’s her, THE dream girl. Bordering on frightening, she is all of it and so much more. I couldn’t dream of more nor want anything more. She is all in all …. nope, words won’t cut it, so it gets left there.

So thank you Holly, for being you and for being mine.

Stretch carefully.

THE DO’S

DO use static stretching to maintain flexibility, but do it after your workout, not before. Even doing a few static stretches at the end of a single workout will help with next-day muscle soreness so you won’t be moving like a corpse.

DO stretch tight muscles when training a favorite or strong body part. For instance, if your chest is strong and your calves are tight—a common scenario—stretch your calves between sets of bench presses. In order to truly increase your flexibility with stretching, you must do it often. This is one way to increase the frequency of stretching without making it a boring chore.

DO use traction when stretching to increase range of motion and reduce compression or impingement of a joint. This can be done in the gym by pulling on a resistance band attached to an immovable object like a power cage. Either grab on to the band with your hand for various upper-body stretches, or hook it onto your foot or ankle for a number of lower-body options.

DO control which area of the muscle is being stretched. To stretch the hamstrings, for example, you target the muscle belly when bending the knee, rounding the back, or plantar-flexing the ankle (i.e., pointing the foot away). If you lock your knee, keep your back straight, or dorsi-flex the ankle (i.e., flex the foot toward the shin), the target instead is the fascia, the sheath that covers the muscle.

DO stretch if you have poor posture. Muscles shorten over time and can contribute to poor posture, which can also be caused by consistently training over a limited range of motion (not doing full-range reps). For example:

• Wearing high heels causes shortening of the calves because the calves are constantly in a state of nearly full contraction.
• Look at your fingers: They’re always in flexion from typing, writing, eating, driving, training, etc., and tend to curl.
• Your hip flexors are considered the tightest muscle in the human body. Let’s face it: The average person spends up to 40 percent of his or her life in a seated position!

DO stretch the spinal column between sets of compressive exercises such as squats and overhead presses. It’s not unusual for someone to lose 20-40 millimeters of height following a weight-training session! Hanging from a chin-up bar can help a great deal with spinal decompression.

DO scan your body for tight muscles, then attack the target area by stretching. Always stretch tight muscles first as they can inhibit your ability to do full-range exercises. (Note: This is a case when dynamic stretching is done before your actual training.) During your warm-up, use general movement of all body parts to scan for tightness. Once found, use the appropriate stretching techniques to release it.

DO favor closed-chain over open-chain stretches. Most people stretch their hamstrings by throwing their heel on a bench and reaching forward to their toes, which is an open-chain stretch. Research shows closed-chain stretching results in a 5-degree increase in flexibility. Any form of stretching that exerts pressure on the soles of the feet or the palms of the hands (which closes the chain) will produce strong reflex extension, and greater range. Toe-touching stretches done in standing versus seated positions are actually different procedures to your nervous system.

DO use gentle motion for rehabilitation, but don’t push the end range. For instance, the popular “mad cat” and “camel” stretches that you see people do on their hands and knees are useful for neural flossing of the spine (by getting nerves to move, they can create their own space). If you experience back pain, 5-6 cycles of these stretches prior to training may help.

DO stretch surrounding muscles to liberate greater range of motion (ROM). For instance, the iliotibial (IT) band is a dense, fibrous band of connective tissue that runs along the outside of your thighs and is very resistant to stretch. To really get at this tissue, you need to address the muscles on either side of the IT band, such as the quadriceps and hamstrings. Rolling on a foam roller can help.

THE DON’TS

DON’T hold an intense stretch for longer than 15 seconds because of muscle hypoxia. Lack of oxygen to the muscles develops under a high degree of force/tension and can increase the development of connective tissue, which decreases strength and may actually promote inflexibility. It’s better to use multiple angles for a short duration with static stretching rather than holding one angle for a long period of time. The rule is that the more intensive the stretching, the shorter its application.

DON’T skip strength-training exercises that promote passive stretching. These movements will result in an increase in flexibility, assuming you train using a full range of motion. Here’s a list of the best choices, by body part:

• Hamstrings: Stiff-legged deadlift or good morning
• Pectorals: Flat bench dumbbell fly
• Triceps: Seated overhead triceps extension
• Biceps: Incline bench dumbbell curl
• Latissimus dorsi: Lying dumbbell pull-over
• Mid-back: Seated cable row
• Abdominals: Stability ball crunch
• Deltoids: One-arm cable lateral raise
• Gastrocnemius: Standing calf raise
• Soleus: Seated calf raise

DON’T stretch first thing in the morning, especially if you have a low back injury. Wait at least one hour after awakening. While you sleep, your spine swells with fluid, and the risk of injury is heightened if you stretch right after you wake up.

DON’T negate a stretch by contracting that muscle immediately afterward. For instance, if you grab on to an overhead bar in a power cage with one hand and sink down as far as you can by bending your knees, you’ll experience a great lat stretch. But if you pull yourself back up using the same muscles you just stretched, you’ll defeat the purpose. Use your legs instead to come back out of the stretch.

DON’T hold your breath during a stretch, as this will tense your muscles. Instead, you need to relax by exhaling longer than inhaling. Keep in mind that the opposite&mdash (hyperventilation) will excite the system. That may help before a heavy set of deadlifts, but not while you’re stretching!

Weight training will improve flexibility if you balance agonists and antagonists, and train through full range of motion. In fact, full ROM exercise tends to increase both active and passive flexibility. Flexibility is at least average or above in strength athletes such as throwers, weightlifters, gymnasts and wrestlers, which refutes the concept of being muscle-bound.

Furthermore, weightlifters can often squat deeper than other athletes, dispelling the myth that strength training and large muscles decrease flexibility! There’s plenty of research to back this up.

DON’T stretch if you’re already very flexible! There’s really no point. If you want to relax, try a warm bath and some classical music. There’s actually an inverse relationship between mobility and stability. Being extremely stiff is one thing, but going too far to the other extreme can promote joint laxity and isn’t desirable. Optimal—not maximal—static and dynamic flexibility is required for each joint.

Aspire to Inspire.

Powerlifting meet: Shared.

So you manned up and have decided to compete in your first raw powerlifting meet? Good. Here are some tips and tricks of the trade to get your ready for optimal performance. Before I start, most of your questions can be answered by going to and browsing through this site Powerlifting Watch.

• Make sure you know the rules for the federation you are competing in.
• If you need a list of federations you can go here.
• If you need the basic rules you can get them write here.
• You must wear a singlet when competing raw, no exceptions. Your singlet can be a basic wrestling singlet or a powerlifting brand name singlet. Some popular brands are Titan, Inzer, Metal and APT Prowriststraps. Singlets can run between $20 to 40$+ depending on where you get them. (Links to company’s that sell singlets and more are listed @powerliftingwatch.com)
• You should have a fully loaded gym bag. Go here if you need more details on some of the things you should be carrying: What’s In Your Gym Bag?
• Make sure you know which weight class you fall under, you don’t want to weigh 243lbs and compete in the 275lbs division because you ate a big breakfast and were clueless.
• When filling out your application be sure to fill it out correctly. If you have any questions contact the promoter, through email or call them up. They are very nice and helpful people. For the purposes of true powerlifting I am assuming you are running a full power meet (the squat, bench press and deadlift). There are also the Ironman, which is essentially a push/pull (bench/deadlift), there is bench only, etc..

Ok, now that I covered some of the basics, or have at least given you some of the resources to find out the answers for yourself, here comes the good part. I am going to dissect important things about the BIG THREE lifts and give you some good tips that may save you from bombing out. (Bombing is when a lifter fails to complete any of the three attempts in one lift, and in many cases will not be allowed to finish the meet.)

• Always choose an opener you know 100% you can do, Typically a weight you can triple or at least double in training.
• When training for a meet, practice warming up every 5 to 15 minutes, and be able to warm up effectively with around 3 to 6 sets. Also be ready to lift heavy because at most meets that is all the chances you really get. Timing it key and one should be prepared. *Keep a mental note what order of weights it takes you before you feel properly warmed up.
• It is crucial you keep your muscles warm and prepared, lifting is not the only way to do so. There are many methods of doing so based on the individual. Dynamic stretching, wearing neoprene sleeves and clothes for warmth. (Just because you can’t compete with it doesn’t mean you can’t wear it during warm ups.) Constantly moving around. *Foam rolling*.

The Squat

First off make sure you know if you have to walk the bar out of a rack or just squat out of a monolift.

• Make sure to have the height of the rack or monolift known ahead of time so you can unrack the weight with ease.
• DEEP BREATHES! on the unrack. If walking out take two deep breathes, one on the unrack and and retake it before you descend. If you are taking it from the monolift, one deep breath. HOLD YOUR BREATH throughout the whole lift, this can’t be stressed enough. You want your body to be as tight as possible and you don’t want to run out of air in the hole (bottom position). Having a stable core can make or break your lift and can make all the difference.
• Look at the head judge. You don’t want to get red lighted for not following rules. Some feds tell you when to squat down but others don’t. Either case you must have your knees fully locked before going down.
• When rising up make sure you wait for the rack command. You don’t want to throw away a good lift because you didn’t listen.
• DEPTH – make sure you hit at least legs parallel to the ground. Depending on the fed you may get away with squatting an inch higher, but in training you should always training an inch lower. You want to take 3 white lights (meaning a good lift from all 3 judges) on your opener so the judges won’t watch your depth as strictly on the next attempts. If you have trouble knowing depth, have a buddy call your depth and shout out a verbal cue one to two inches before you hit parallel so when you actually hear it and spring up you will hit it just fine. (Practice this on warm ups)
• Olympic shoes help a lot for narrow and medium stance squatters. Chuck Taylors are used commonly for wide squats but for raw squatting purposes wide squatting puts unnecessary wear and tear on the groin and knees.

The Bench Press

Everyone’s favorite lift except mine. In powerlifting you must hold the bar out when unracking for a slight pause before descending so the head judge can determine what your lockout looks like. Some federations give you a down command, some don’t but all give you an UP command. Once you lock out wait for the command, once again you don’t want to throw away a good lift.

ARCHING Tips

Having a good arch can easily add 20lbs+ to your bench press when used correctly. My biggest trick is that I wear my belt when I arch so I can be more stable and not have to worry about sliding out of position, arch higher while reducing back pain, and it helps me keep my butt on the bench.

• If your butt tends to come off the bench: wear a loose black singlet.  Chances are it will blend into the bench and if it’s loose it is harder for the judges to tell if your butt is in contact with the bench. If they don’t say anything against stickum spray (a sticky spray) – spray your singlet so it sticks to the bench.
• Have your spotter push your shoulder blades into the bench to harden your arch and make you locked tight into the bench.
• Keep your toes up and dig into you heels.

UNRACKING Tips

• Have the spotter unrack the weight for you, take it out of the rack like a triceps extension and tuck you lats.
• To utilize your lats on your bench press, grab the bar very tight and squeeze it as hard as possible, with clenched fists try to rip the bar apart as if you were ripping a phone book. This will ensure that your lats are tight and involved in the lift.
• Once again DEEP BREATH! I have my spotters hand me the bar off a count of one-two, then take a deep breath, nod my head and that is the signal. That way I am ready for the hand off and my air is locked in nice and tight. Don’t breathe out until you have finished your lift.
• Once again wait for the re-rack command

The Deadlift

In my opinion the true test of strength. I do not pull sumo and hold many grudges against it, so for my own bias I will only give your tricks on how to conventionally pull which truth be told there are not many.

• BABY POWDER on your shins and thighs to make the bar travel up smooth HOWEVER!!! – do not get it on your hands or on the equipment, unless you want the bar to slip right out.
• Warm up with chalk and keep your hands chalked throughout the entire deadlift. Having sweaty hands will lead to a high chance of you ripping a callous. If your callous rips, carry some NU-SKIN (liquid band-aid). It burns like hell and puts an artificial layer of skin on your hand and might give you another chance, but chances are unlikely. At least it will clean the wound and let you use your hand more comfortably then cotton and duct tape.
• Make sure the bar is halfway over your sneaker or foot. (Deadlift slippers, Converse and sock/barefoot pulling is highly recommended) With your triceps flexed as hard as possible grab the bar with no slack in your arm and bend your shins to the bar, keep your lats very tight, pull the slack out of the bar, DEEP BREATH, push your air into your abs and belt and commit to your lift.
• Be sure not to hitch or your lift won’t count, PUSH YOUR HIPS THROUGH be resilient and grind it out. Just don’t let the bar go down then back up and you will be fine.
• Don’t put the bar down until you’re given a down command, and be sure to lower the bar back down in a controlled manner.

Those were a mere few tips and tricks that are relevant that I could thing of at the moment. If I remember or learn anymore I will write a follow up article. Hope you found my advice and the links posted helpful.

Aspire to Inspire.

The Big 3

Becoming a better, stronger lifter takes years of practice, but you can sure speed up the process by remembering a few simple cues.

Lets begin with my favourite:

The Deadlift

Cue #1: Place Your Shoulder Blades in Your Back Pocket

In short, one of the most common mistakes I see is not setting up properly — part of which entails not getting the lats involved in the lift. As it is, getting the lats to fire helps to activate the lumbar fascia, which in turn, keeps you much more stable throughout the duration of the set.

Unfortunately, there are many folks who don’t quite get this concept, and as a result, their setup ends up looking pretty concerning. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this is far from an optimal position to pull from.

Conversely, the cue “place your shoulder blades in your back pocket,”(scapulae together and down) establishes a much more conducive setup to pull. With that simple cue, we get a few things happening:

• Upper back is tight

• Chest is tall (which prevents the shoulders from rounding)

Good deadlift set-up.

I automatically fix many common technique flaws with just that one cue. Moreover, anyone who says it’s impossible to maintain a tight upper back with heavier loads can watch my 210kgPR and suck it.

Cue #2: “Sit Back!”

Granted, I don’t have any research to back this up (other than common sense), but it may come as a surprise to some of you that the deadlift isn’t a squat.

For starters, unlike the squat, which typically starts with an eccentric motion, the deadlift is the exact opposite and starts with a concentric action.

Next, and more to the point, saying that the squat and deadlift is crap: specifically, when training with heavier loads, the “sticking point” occurs at different positions.

Put another way, the squat generally has a more linear relationship between the hip and knee angles, while the deadlift essentially has three distinct joint actions – the knees at lift off, the hips when the barbell reaches knee height, and both the hips and knees simultaneously at lockout.

Either way, one of the main flaws I see in most people’s deadlift occurs when they start to initiate the descent back to the ground. After lockout, I often see trainees trying to “squat” the bar back down to the floor; that is, they’ll break with their knees, which results in the bar having to travel around the knees, resembling more of a squat than a deadlift.

Instead, I like to use the simple, effective cue “sit back” when trying to teach the hip hinge pattern. More specifically, I tell them, “I want you to imagine I’m standing behind you with a rope around your waist. When you descend, pretend I’m pulling your hips back with the rope.”  By doing so, we place a greater emphasis on the hamstrings and glutes, which is the point of the deadlift in the first place.

If you’re not used to it, it will definitely take some practice. But if this sounds like you, it’s definitely going to be an ego check, and I highly suggest taking some weight off the bar until you’re able to groove that proper hip hinge technique. It will make all the difference in the world.

Bench Press

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard the same cues before: Arch your back!, get your air, spread the bar.

The bench press is my least favourite exercise. Admittedly, my bench numbers are nothing to brag about, which may help explain my attitude. Even so, I realize that for many the bench is what separates the men from the boys, and at the expense of losing my man-card for dissing it, I’d like to think that I’ve learned a thing or two on proper technique.

 When done correctly, the bench press incorporates the entire body to systematically lower the bar under control, pause, and hoist it off the chest. That being the case, one of the best cues I learned is “Pull the bar to the chest.”

Many just bomb the bar down to their pecs and never really learn to use their upper back to assist in the movement. Furthermore, many flare their elbows out and/or perform the movement with their feet up in the air, in some misguided effort to “isolate their pecs” more. In reality, all you’re really isolating is how retarded you look, not to mention increasing your chances of pissing your shoulder off in the long run.

Much like with the deadlift, it’s crucial to keep the upper back tight when benching. Again, the shoulders should be together and down, and you’re essentially going to “row” the bar down towards your chest.

In doing so, you’ll keep the lats activated, provide a ton more stability, and provide more of a spring effect when you push the bar off the chest. It takes some getting used to, but once you master it, I promise you’ll see your bench numbers soar.

The Squat

Cue #1: Maintain a Vertical Shin

Simply put, when most trainees squat, thy tend to push their knees forward, causing their shins to migrate forward over their toes, not necessarily a bad thing. The resulting positive shin angle places a ton more sheer force on the joint even more so when you add an external load such as a barbell on someone’s back.

Nevertheless, attempting to maintain more of a vertical shin angle (where the knees stay behind the toes) throughout the duration of a set will take much undue stress off the joint itself, and go a long way towards long-term success with the lift.

Cue #2: Sitting on Broken Glass

I think box squats are the perfect movement to teach beginners to squat with picture-perfect technique. By doing so, we cement the shin angle, engage the posterior chain to a greater degree, and more importantly, keep people honest with achieving proper depth (and I hate to be an arse here, but the vast majority of you reading this don’t even come close to proper depth on your squats.)

With the box squat, however, comes a multitude of errors and flaws in technique. Often, on the descent, I’ll see trainees just drop on the box.

Outside of the obvious (making their spine hate them), we can see how form gets sloppy when the lift is not controlled, particularly when discussing the transition between the eccentric and concentric portion of the lift. Additionally, the lifter loses all sense of “tightness” at the bottom of the lift and usually ends up “rocking” off the box.

To help use the phrase “pretend like you’re sitting on broken glass.” By doing so, learn to slow down and control the weight down to the box. At the same time, cue them to push their knees out to the left and right to open up the hips and engage the hamstrings a little more  all of which helps to maintain “stiffness” throughout the duration of the set.

 

In the end, while the cues discussed above are by no means an exhaustive list, I feel quite confident that they’ll help many of you out in the long run. Try them out today, and let me know what you think!

 

Aspire to Inspire. 

Did I mention I have a temper?

Sadly something those close to me will know.

Thankfully a rare occurrence but recently i’ve been somewhat more on edge. There is an immense amount of stress surrounding me at the moment and it leaves me somewhat stranded. I’v never engaged with massive groups of friends, i’m a quality over quantity guy. However it can leave support a little scarce, lucky me. So what is it getting to me?

Well currently I am in a state of bliss, but looking at the horizon. Ahead of me is work, I mean serious work. Granted there is plenty of irritation present at the moment, lack of support, the training, the work I do completely independently or just the people I have to deal with. But ahead of me there is so much more to come. In two weeks I’ll be back at university studying things I simply DO NOT want to be doing. On top of that I’ll have to find time for my training, cardio, travel, my girlfriend and studying, becoming a little crowded. Aside from that i’ll be budgeting while trying to eat properly (for a powerbodybuilder) which on top of fuel I simply cannot afford.

So whats the light at the end of the tunnel? Well right now there just isn’t one. I have 3 weeks until my powerlifting meet (which I am incredibly excited for), however I have yet to by the required equipment, why? That would be because I don’t have a damn penny.

Annnnnd one big breath later – Okay yes it is far from the end of the world, but without many people to turn to, stress can cause serious loneliness. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my own personality makes matters worse as I respond to the negative aspects with aggression. The result? Depression and aggression….sounds like a Déjà vu for my life. Regardless, I think I simply needed a vent, before I snap and …well..snap someone else.

Find a way to deal with your problems before they take over, for me, it’s lift incredibly heavy things and relax with my girl…and blog. Think things will be fine..of course they will.

Aspire to Inspire.

Some things we ought to discuss.

I wanted to stop. I wanted to close this blog out of a feeling that my time was being wasted. Then I got reminded.
I’ve been reminded of the value if some of my experience and the power of what I can share.
So here’s the one, the one I will never be happy discussing.
Eating disorders. We’ve all heard if them, known about them, and I can bet almost all of you have failed to understand them.
Yes it is that straight forward, either you don’t eat or you do and you ‘purge’ because of it.
Also,
No it is not that straightforward. The titles, names, descriptions are so narrow it frankly sickens me. So here are some realities. Yes I will also share my solutions.
Anorexia – isn’t just not eating, it’s an ongoing guilt with food. You eat too much and you mentally suffer for days for it, guilt, misery. You then under eat to make up for it, restrict foods that you fear, scare yourself from social eating. False body images grow from this like you wouldn’t believe, a joy from progressive weightloss while still despising that mirror.
Bulimia – yes been here too. For me this was worse, so much worse. With anorexia the effects became visibly apparent, reducing all form of mass until lethargic days took over and headaches started. With bulimia, the world didn’t have to know. But I knew. Similarly inspired by guilt, leading to the purging of food, a repetitive habbit after each meal then leading into uncontrollable reactions that I suffer from to this day. Large meals now lead to excessive bloating and illness. Imagine the mental suffering this takes, now amplify that by a hundred. It’s a depression like most will never know, thankfully.
So a tiny bit in it, I’ll be writing more. I am here to talk, to share. The only way forward is knowledge about food and health, if you aren’t getting it from me, please just read! You don’t have to be in that situation.

Aspire to inspire.

Bed ridden

So today due to illness I am stuck in bed typing in my phone, such joy!
But it’s given me time to appreciate something – this girl –

This gorgeous girl is, I am proud to say, my girlfriend. A little ray of sunshine to my constantly grumpy mood. It seems no matter what she is able to brighten my day (texts from her coming through as I type). I can’t say enough what this girl has done for me and how much she Makes me smile. I think it’s safe to say I am a little smitten.

One of the most inspirational women I know

I had an awful day, came home and watched this. Be inspired.