Will They Recognize You In Your New Body?
You’ve probably seen your share of before and after success stories and fat loss transformations lately. In my position, I get to see a lot of them. Every once in a while though, a “before and after” success story really reaches out and grabs me by the eyeballs because a person transforms their body and there is a unique and inspiring twist to the story. This is one of them. This one you’ve gotta see and read… “From Fat to Fit to IRONFIT”…
FROM FAT TO FIT TO IRONFITArkady Hagopian of Los Angeles California had just finished running the Desert Triathalon, near Palm Springs. An International distance event, it was a “quick jaunt” as these things go, 3/4 mile swim, 24 mile bike ride and a 6 mile run (although if I tried that, I don’t think I would make it out of the water, haha, but hey, gimme a break, muscle sinks right, LOL!)
Anyway, the event went fairly un-eventfully, and afterwards, Arkady stopped off at a diner to re-fuel his body and then pulled into a gas station to re-fuel his car.
After staring in astonishment at the pump ($60 to fill up a Camry), Arkady tried to pay the lady at the register, but there was a bit of a problem.
It’s standard to ask for ID when you pay with a credit card in some places, but this cashier lady kept looking up at Arkady, then down at his driver’s license (which he had provided for ID)… and then up at his face… and then down at the license again. Then she said, “I’m sorry sir, but do you have a second form of ID?” Very perplexed, Arkady asked what the problem was. He was not trying to pull a fast one… it was a valid credit card in his name, and it was indeed his driver’s license, with his mug shot. The cashier responded, “Well, sir this doesn’t look like you at all.” This, more or less, is what the cashier was looking up and down at:
You see, Arkady had lost “a bit” of weight since that driver’s license photo was taken. Not only did he look like a different person facially, his body, his health and his life had ALL completely transformed.
See for yourself:
BEFORE
weight: 240 lbs
body fat: 38%
resting heart rate: 100
Blood pressure: 140/90
energy: none
fitness: gasping for air after one flight of stairs
goals: get through the day
AFTER
weight: 160 lbs
body fat: 10%
resting heart rate: 45
Blood pressure: 120/80
energy: boundless
fitness: 4 marathons & 4 triathalons completed
goals: full ironman triathalon
There’s such a sweet irony to this story when you think about it: Arkady was on his way home FROM RUNNING A TRIATHALON, and on that day, someone did not even recognize him compared to his old self of less than two years earlier. He was literally a new person.
This is not just a body transformation either. This is a man who has transformed from the inside out. When you hear him speak, you hear an electric enthusiasm that is nothing short of contagious and truly inspiring. Arkady is now setting his goals even higher and doing his best to motivate others and support good causes.
Arkady used the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program to drop all those pounds initially when he first began his transformation in the summer of 2006.
Since then, as you might imagine, he has modified his nutrition to accomodate his new “hobby” of running marathons and triathalons, which in most cases, requires a very high intake of calories and carbohydrates for fuel.
Find Your Passion as You Find Your New Body
If you look at Arkady’s running photo above, you’ll notice that he is not just lean, he is quite muscular too.
On that note, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but I’ve noticed a lot of anti-aerobics and anti-endurance sentiments on the internet over the past few years. In fact, I think it has reached utterly preposterous proportions - and keep in mind, this observation is coming from a bodybuilder (me).
For sure, bodybuilding and strength training on their own have incredible virtues, but participants in and even coaches for the strength sports often make it sound like running, aerobics or endurance training will do everything short of kill you… actually, they often say that too, as they seem to like rehashing rare incidents from decades ago like the death of Jim Fixx, the runner with the family history of heart disease.
Nonsense. If you like to run, swim and bike, then stop listening to other people’s “expert opinions” about “the perfect workout” and go do what your heart tells you to do! Find your passion, as Arkady did, because passion is one of the keys to health and body transformation!
I realize I’m off on a slight tangent, but Arkady’s success really made me think. The stereotypes of runners being “skinny” or “overtrained” - or whatever - are every bit as untrue and unfair as stereotypes of bodybuilders and weight lifters being “dumb muscle-heads” that are “all on roids.” And by the way, when endurance athletes fuel themselves with proper nutrition and continue with weight training as Arkady has done, they can develop bodies that are surprisingly muscular as well as lean.
What I’m trying to say is that not everyone has the same passions and there is more than one path to transformation. Find YOURS and follow it.
Read or hear more from Arkady…
Just a few weeks ago, we recorded a 45 minute audio interview with Arkady. It’s too long to run the whole thing on this blog, but I’m having it transcribed and I will post some of the best highlights for you next week here on this webpage.If you’re a member of my Burn The Fat Inner Circle, you can access the audio and listen on line or download the MP3.
Arkady’s audio interview is located here: (members only)
www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/login.cfm?hpage=442.cfm
And be sure to visit arkady’s blog and tell him what you think (and if it is in line with your personal values, please consider donating to the charitable cause he supports when he competes):
http://ironcut.blogspot.com
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
————————————————————————
:: TESTIMONIAL::
————————————————————————-
“This man was directly responsible for saving my life… If you have never heard of him, his name is Tom Venuto. Upon purchasing and reading his popular ebook, “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”, I began my journey.
He made me realize the importance of commitment, dedication, courage, all while making fitness and nutrition fun, informative, and enlightening. He is and will always be my mentor every step of the way.
His ebook provided me with a step by step, down to earth approach to losing body fat, getting lean, and being healthy. I can not emphasize on how simple it was. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even know where to begin, but his ebook provided me with all the guidance I needed to change.
Thank you for everything Tom.”
The fat burning nutrition program that Arkady used can be found at:
www.BurnTheFat.com
09 May, 2008 posted in Transformations
Comments
Wow! thats awesome. I am on the same track but only a little behind you. Started at 238 lbs and 30% BF and now at 190 lbs and 16.5% BF. I run 5k's and 10k's now and I am doing a sprint triathlon next month and two half marathons in the fall with 5 and 10 k's along the way. My goal is a marathon in the spring of next year. I feel great and feel great about myself.
Other than your awesome accomplishments I really admire your resting heart rate of 45. I had a physical for a life insurance today and mine was 60 so I now have a new goal. BTW being healthy really helps your health insurance rates.
Keep up the great work! Good luck on the iron man!
Posted by: Ben | May 9, 2008 3:00 PM
Thanks for the kind words Ben. Let me know if you have any questions or need help training for the marathon or your sprint triathlon. My contact info is on my blog.
Posted by: Arkady | May 9, 2008 3:13 PM
Great Job Arkady!! You look good and feel good. I am happy to hear about your health improvements. Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Eric | May 9, 2008 4:11 PM
Okay...first off, congratulations Arkady!!! I've been in the triathlon gig here in Canada for 6 years now - and have attempted Ironman Canada 3 times (first time, too fat - second time ran out of time 6 miles from the finish, and third time had my nutrition give out on me). Not to be daunted, I'm now training for Ironman attempt #4 in Western Australia (my two favorite words, flat and fast). Problem is that now I've been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both knees and have been banned from running. Simple solution - get smokin' fast in the water and on the bike - problem solved (I hope). I'm still tipping the scales at 238 lbs and even with all the training, I can't seem to convince my body to lose the fat (and I'm currently investigating this with a naturopath). I also hold down two jobs, have two dogs, a full life and still have time to train. It's kind of extreme, but hey, like Tom says, if you have a passion for it - then go for it!!! I'm hoping that the BFFM program is going to work for me in getting to a weight where I'm ready to finish come December.
Kudos and congratulations to you, Arkady!!! Job well done!!!
Posted by: Kirsten Baumber | May 9, 2008 4:36 PM
Kristen, a friend of mine did Ironman Australia and had a blast... She had a lot of fun (only crazy triathletes would consider covering a distance of 140.6 miles fun). A big misconception among endurance athletes is a variation of, "because all the training I do, I can eat all I want and not gain weight". This is dangerous thinking at best and it's simply not true. Tom's BFFM concentrates heavily on energy balance... calories in vs out.. Your calorie expendature may be a much higher than of an "average" person, but you'd be surprised at how quickly those calories can be consumed back. Now, by no means I am advocating that you should count calories while you train for an Ironman, you should NEVER do that, rather concentrate on carbs, electrolytes, and hydration. However, the times that you're not training, feel free to count calories and make sure your deficit is not enormous. Sorry to hear about the osteoarthritis... I think it'll be less of a nuisance once the weight goes down a bit. My mom has it, at first, it was a big issue for her.. but now that I helped her lose some weight, she's able to jog and jump rope with very little pain. Good luck with Ironman Australia... maybe I'll see you there. Cudos to you as well... it's not easy to train for an Ironman when you have thousands of other commitments.
Posted by: Arkady | May 9, 2008 5:46 PM
Arkady, Tom - Brilliant story... I love personal success stories like this, especially where the story counters almost any possible reason (excuse) someone has for not getting started. I was severely injured a lot of years ago, pelvis, chest, neck, shoulder. If I'd listened to doctors, I would be on painkiller medication, and no doubt, subjected to operations, and disability service care. I opted for exercise... and nearly crippled myself because the extent of the injury/scar tissue was never diagnosed properly. I didn't know what I was doing to my body just by wanting to exercise. Next I chanced it with chiropractors, and after a few less smart ones, I found several brilliant ones over the last 3 years, one of which (in Sydney Australia) literally changed my life. I was able to return to the gym after 6 months of his care (having never been able to sustain longer than 3 months of any exercise), and now, after 18 mths of regular chiro and gym, I am slowly beginning to incorporate a few kms of cycling and walking into my workouts...
I may never run, however I can always find a way to get out there and do some kind of exercise. Well done, Arkady, for your inspiration… and how nice not to be recognized from your old photo!!!!!
Posted by: Terri | May 9, 2008 9:08 PM
Tom,
Great article!!
My experience with that is not so drastic but still amusing.
First off I have not and did not need to loses as much weight as Arkady did. His transformation is amazing. Not only losing weight but becaoming the athlete he has becaome!! I was 189 and now I am down to 165. My heart rate,BP and cholesterol counts are all great. I guess the reaction I was getting is partly because of my age. I am 42. There were many people, even close relatives, who thought I lost the weight because I was sick!!! They would say."did you loses the weight on purpose or.....". I am not a skinny guy either. I have good muscle tone and size. I am 5'6: 165. So I am in no way "skinny". My wife says it's because I lost my pudgy face. Since I appear to be "Gaunt"!! Anyway most people think I look good and did not think I was sick. I was surprised though at that reaction.
Thanks again for your articles and insight. I use your info often in my work outs and eating habits.
Regards,
Vinny
Posted by: vinny | May 10, 2008 9:42 AM
Great story Tom. I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for your awesome program as well. I am always a little leary about purchasing "programs" from the internet, but your program made so much sense to me, I had to take a chance. Buying your program was the best money I ever spent! When I started your program, I weighed 293 lbs.. I used to be very athletic and fit, but time went by with all the excuses and there I was, out of shape, unhealthy and depressed. I really bought into your chapter about goal setting, and started from there. To date, I have reached and exceeded every goal (except for one) I set. In almost a year, I lost a total of 82 lbs. Today I weighed in at 213 lbs., 22% body fat. It's amazing, I am a totally new person. I can do everything I used to do when I was young and more. I feel so alive and healthy and confident that I can do whatever I set out to do! Everyone asks me how I did it, looking for the "magic pill". I tell everyone about your program and te
ll them it takes discipline and hard work, but if I can do it, so can they. Just wanted to say thank you for helping me get my life back. I am your greatest fan. Oh, the only goal that I haven't reached yet is - Cover Model. But i'm getting closer everyday!
Daron
Posted by: Daron | May 10, 2008 10:43 AM
hi tom/arkady:
very, very inspirational!!!
i bought/started on your program early jan 2008 at 295lbs. due to problems with the knees, started with brisk walking every day. after losing about 20lbs, started swimming and very recently cycling too.
now in a week, i'm alternating between walking 7-9km, cycling 20-35km, swimming 30 lengths plus some badminton(doubles). my weight is now at 260lbs and many inches have gone off all over. body fat from 52.5% down to 38.5%.
still a long way to go.....but i'm having fun and really feeling good! also looking different and having many people asking for which 'magic pill' i'm on ;-)
my goal is to go below 200lbs before the year is out. thank you tom for making it easy for me to change to a healthy lifestyle and thanks arkady for the inspiration!
Bilal
Posted by: Bilal | May 11, 2008 11:01 AM
Congratulations on your success! After years of avoiding the wisdom of people like Tom and Mike Metzler, I changed my eating habits and lost 60 lbs. over the last year. Have you all noticed how many people try to get you to fail so that they will feel better about their decisions? A big thanks to Tom for forums like this and all of you that contribute to keep us all motivated and on track.
Posted by: Jeff | May 12, 2008 12:51 PM
Hey Tom,
It was an AWESOME experience interviewing Arkady for this Inner Circle Success Story!
He had some great tips to share in this interview and I hope that everyone out there benefits from his personal history.
Train with purpose,
Kyle Battis CSCS, NSCA-CPT
www.FatLossLunchBreak.com
Posted by: Kyle Battis | May 13, 2008 3:51 PM