Body Fat Percentage: 10.4% Waist: 33 in Biceps: 14 in
Weight: 181.5 lbs Quads: 22 in Neck: 16 in
Men's Pant Size: 34 Forearm: 13 in
I initially set out to get under 200 lbs. I'm now at 181.5 lbs. I lost 58lbs on the contest of which 51.3 lbs was fat and only 6.7 lbs of muscle. I'm 76.5 lbs down from my maximum at 258 lbs in November of 1999.
I wanted to cut my body fat in half to under 14.6 % and shed the image of being fat and lazy. I'm at 10.4%, almost a third of my initial bodyfat. It was confirmed to me that my image of being fat and lazy was shed when I was promoted on 2/15/01 from Senior Systems Engineer to Staff Systems Engineer. I was asked to lead Sustaining Systems Engineering, a position with customer visibility.
I set out to improve my health by reducing my blood pressure and cholesterol. My blood pressure without medication is now around 110/70 with a resting pulse of 60. My cholesterol was tested at 128 (HDL-37 LDL-83 Triglycerides - 39).
I wanted to learn how to maintain my bodyweight. I believe I have all the tools to maintain my bodyweight. However, I will go on to actually increase my bodyweight. Soon I will be adding muscle to my physique. I have learned since that maintaining fat percentage and physical condition is more important than watching body weight.
I learned much about nutrition through reading books and surfing the web. My eating and exercise habits have been taken up by my family as well. My wife has gotten back in shape since having had two kids. My five year old daughter has changed many of her bad eating habits early enough to make a change for life. My one and a half year old son is growing up with sound nutritional and exercise habits and loves outdoor activities.
I also learned a lot about goal setting. Goals are fulfilled by meeting one milestone after another and making corrections along the way. I probably did not expect enough out of myself at the onset of the contest. I know now that I can and have outperformed my expectations at least once.
Now I have a new life. Many people I have not seen since I've done the MaxFormation don't recognize me at all since I have changed my entire physique and outlook on life. Aside to having regained my health, I can now do a lot of things with my family that my excess body fat was preventing me from doing.
I will continue from here to build some upper body strength and balance my physique some more. The beauty of bodybuilding is that you never really reach perfection. There are always new goals and challenges. This summer I would like to climb Pikes' Peak and learn rock climbing. My family and I will be involved in more hiking, bike riding.
I hope I can inspire others not to waste so much of their life and get them go ahead and make the change.
