I’m originally from Massachusetts but now live in Arizona. I grew up playing hockey, racing dirt bikes, and studying martial arts. I was in pretty good shape most of my life but I always gain fat fairly easily.

In 2000, I moved to London. I had been getting a bit heavy before I moved but I really gained weight living in the UK. By the time I moved back to the US at 42 years of age, I was 240 lbs with 30% of that weight in body fat. I had to do something.

2) What were your initial motivations for transforming your body?

My father had died shortly before I made my transformation. He died of his second heart attack at age 65. I had high blood pressure and many of the other symptoms my dad had experienced. I was following in his footsteps.

Around the same time my wife (at the time) and I were planning to adopt a child. We had chosen Kazakhstan for the adoption. We knew we’d have to spend about 8 weeks in Kaz sometime around the end of the summer of 2005. I couldn’t walk from one end of the house to the other without breathing heavy. I decided I wanted to be around a while to raise my future son so I set a goal to drop the fat before the trip overseas.

3) How long have you been on your program for and what kind of success have you experienced so far?

I’ve been training for 3.5+ years now and I’ve had pretty good success. The first 11 weeks I was able to drop all the fat. I spend 1 hour each day in the weight room and 2 to 3 hours each day doing cardio. My cardio of choice was mountain biking. At the time I lived in Sedona; a city with over 100 miles of single track - a paradise for mountain bikers.

Currently I try to maintain a single digit body fat percentage while lifting heavy and trying to add muscle mass. I tend to be able to add a couple of pounds of muscle each year.

4) How has this success changed your day-to-day life for the better?

Wow, this is a huge question that I could take a chapter in a book to answer. But the short answer is it has changed every aspect of my life for the better. Blood pressure is down, energy levels are up, confidence is up, depression is gone, etc. You name it and I’m sure becoming fit has improved that portion of my life.

5) Did you experience any setbacks along the way? If so, what were they and how did you get past them?

Yes, of course. I tried to get in shape a few times, and failed, before I actually did it. I just kept trying again and again until I stayed with it. I also had a few eating binges when I initially dropped all the fat. But instead of quitting the program, I shook it off and went right back to my nutrition program.

I also had mornings where I just felt like staying in bed. I was probably overtraining. But I got up every single day and made it to the gym and out on the mountain bike. I guess I just really wanted this change.

6) What type of training plan has worked best for you?

I did a 4-day split routine.

Day 1 – Chest/Triceps
Day 2 – Back/Biceps
Day 3 – Off
Day 4 – Shoulders/Calves
Day 5 – Legs
Day 6 – Off

Then I’d repeat this cycle every 6 days.

7) What type of nutrition plan has worked best for you?

I used a carb cycling plan where I ate 3 days of low carbs (about 150 to 170g) followed by 1 day of high carbs (400 to 500g). Each day I ate 2g of protein per pound of body weight. On low carb days I ate about 30% of my calories from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. On high-carb or re-feed days, I kept my fat intake as low as possible.

8) What muscle building and/or fat loss supplements have you used? Which ones worked for you and which ones didn’t?

I tried fat burners but hated the jittery feeling so I stopped taking those. I used micronized creatine but that was about it. I guess water was and still is my favorite supplement even though it’s not really a supplement. But 1 to 2 gallons of water each day seemed to make me stronger in the gym even when I was glycogen depleted.

9) What are your future fitness goals?

Just to add a couple of pounds of muscle each year while staying lean as I approach my 50s. I’ll continue to compete as getting ready for a competition always makes me strive for perfection.


10) What are the top 3 tips you would give to others who are interested in beginning a muscle building and/or fat burning program?

Never give up. If you miss a workout, don’t worry about it. Just continue on your program the following day.

If you overeat, don’t get depressed. Just get back on track and focus on your goals.

Try to find a reason to put yourself through this change. It’s best if both the carrot and the stick are represented. For me, I have a pic of Tom Venuto next to a pic of me when I was fat on my refrigerator. That saved me from overeating many times.