Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Pills, Food, and Consistency)

Coming back from my 2nd Biosignature course in Phoenix, Arizona, got me thinking about a lot of things, but one thing sticks out more than most. At 1 metre 78 and 71 kilos I'm no He-Man by any stretch of the imagination and I’m also not a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach, (I’m a classical dancer and have been all my life), but I'm now at a point where I'm 6% body fat and have put on some muscle that is actually visible to the human eye and not under a microscope.

While there Charles Poliquin and Nick Mitchell asked me how I got into shape, which I couldn't believe, these guys are at the top of their field and amazingly fit and they were complimenting me! For those of you who are not familiar with Charles Poliquin he is the worlds’ most renowned strength coach and is light years ahead in his field.     Nick Mitchell runs the most successful gyms in Europe and both practice what they preach! After shaking off the shock of being asked this, I gave what I thought to be the best answer I could, but after dwelling on it for a while I thought I'd write a better answer and explain my road to recovery, health and fitness.

One year ago (although it goes a lot further back than that), I turned up at Biosignature  Modulation course a  skinny fat kid, with a lot of health issues. I had a nasty virus, by the name of Cytomegalovirus, (which in the end actually turned out to be a good thing but I'll get to that in a minute), was trying to come back from two knee operations within a year of each other and was basically… a mess!

After attending the course I took the 10% that I had managed to retain in my already overloaded head, went straight back to the doctors’, who had put me on some medication that I refused to take and asked for a food allergies test and to go and see a specialist. After having done the allergies test I cut out Gluten, (quite a parody as my wife is Italian) Dairy, (bye-bye Ben and Jerries, I shall miss you dearly!), Eggs and Nuts, as these were the things that came up, but they were also the things that were causing me all the trouble with my stomach. I believe that the virus had aggravated mild food sensitivities, which in a sense made it easier for me to find out what I could and couldn't eat because if I ate those certain foods… Ouch! Now I'm not advocating going out and catching this virus, (it was not fun by any stretch of the imagination), but what I am saying is just how food sensitivities wreck havoc on your body, although this allergies test was not an MRT food panel which is the gold standard for food sensitivities testing, it did serve as a start!

When I finally got the go ahead to see a specialist, it was to see an "allergies specialist", which was not what I wanted, so in my own way, (I have the fortune of living in a country where English is not the first language, so I played stupid!), I managed to get to see a stomach specialist, whom after having listened to the symptoms I was suffering from (severe stomach cramping, abdominal bloating and all the rest of it), diagnosed me with possible gallstones! Lovely! And there's me thinking it was an ulcer, isn’t it great the doctors always go for the jugular!

After having changed my trousers due to the staining that had occurred when being told this, off I went for an echo, and a blood test. I turned up, and as I walked in the, lady that was going to perform the echo asked me why on earth I was here. I explained, she performed the echo and said to me you don’t have them and you wouldn't, as you are not fat, fair or forty, (although I probably looked like it at the time, sorry if I offend anyone, it's not meant that way). The results of the blood test arrived and my liver enzymes were off the chart, another blood test, et voila one virus found!

I kept up with my forced paleo diet and started to enjoy it, it started to become a lifestyle, getting used to the meat and nuts breakfast, to the point that my daughter has now started to see the benefits of it, and preparing my food for the day became a habit and for me this was one of the best things as I loooove food, I am always thinking about it so when certain things were taken away from me (Ben and Jerries!), I had to find something to replace it. So I started to find out all the ways I could live without the foods (Cannelloni!), that had made me sick, and in all honesty it really wasn't so hard, it's like a smoker who's given up and can't stand the smell of smoke anymore, I couldn't stand the taste of cereal in the morning, I did try it after a while and it was empty, like chewing on toilet paper, and not even the nice soft kind that’s sensitive to your bits!

In the mean time I was trying to get fit for dance again but it seemed like such an effort, and I was constantly fighting to get into shape which just resulted in me getting injured again, lifting too heavy, or too much volume, etc etc. Frustration occurred over and over again and I was not a happy chappy.

In the end I started from scratch, and slowly. First the food, like I said I cut out all the things that where making me sick, then the supplements lots of digestive enzymes, glutamine, zinc, magnesium, fish oil, multis, b complexes, vitamin d3, (I must add when taking vitamin d3 get your levels checked, I made the mistake of going too long without getting them checked and went to high!) I literally rattled as I walked. Then the exercise, very light but it was a start, no weights just core exercises as my back and knee were not in the best shape and Barre (for the non-dancers this is the beginning of the ballet class where we stand at a bar and exercise).

And I kept going, 2 steps forward and sometimes a step back but not giving up, not hammering myself but not mollycoddling either. I love to sweat it makes me feel good you see and as I made slow but steady progress I cut back on the supplements but was still very careful with my food, I ate regularly and lots, my wife says that I'm the most expensive stomach in Amsterdam! When I got into more reasonable shape I finally got to my favorite part, picking up the weights and being able to jump in class, but, and this is the most important part I learnt, not to force anything where it wasn't necessary and I found ways to adjust and train around what I couldn't do, for example back squats hurt but front squats with my heels elevated didn't as I could hold my back nice and straight, bent over rows weren't good but standing cable rows were good, and if I too many jumps in class I paid for it the next day, and so on.

I realize also that one of the main reasons on my road to recovery was to be CONSISTENT, I was never consistent with my training, because I would go too hard and get injured and have to wait and then start over again (typical dancer behavior). If a program or exercise isn't working I change it or find an alternative but I try to be consistent. Even in Arizona I would get up at 4am, make them open up the gym in the hotel do the exercises for my back, find somewhere to hang and complete a bodyweight workout of chin-ups and dips. I would then go to my room and make a ballet class for myself. Maybe I sound like a freak, but I never want to go back to what I was and if this it what it takes, so be it!

So for anyone wanting my plain and simple answer on how to get into shape, it's simple, well not that simple but it's not blood, sweat and tears, instead, pills (the right supplements), food (a paleo lifestyle), and consistency (in training, as my father says "slow and steady, wins the race!”, force, but in the right way).

And you know the best thing, I'm not even fully fit yet and that's what will keep me going!

 
This photo is not for vain reasons,

It's just to show that I also practice what I preach!



The other photo's are as follows:

Top Right: Charles Poliquin and myself.


Middle Left: Nick Mitchell and Charles Poliquin.