Tag: success story

  • Straight Q&A: Losing 50 Pounds While on a Work and Travel Visa

    Straight Q&A: Losing 50 Pounds While on a Work and Travel Visa

    Milos Planic (@milos_the_raspberries_farmer) moved to NYC from Serbia on a work and travel visa. He had a few goals for himself during his time in the US—live in the moment, travel more, and lose the weight he had gained during college.

    His transformation plan wasn’t loaded with weight training and HIIT workouts—his new job actually played a major role.

    This is our straight Q&A with Milos about how he fell out of shape and successfully got himself back on track.

    How did you fall out of shape?

    I started gaining weight during college. In total, I put on about 50 extra pounds while I was at college. I attributed the weight gain to late night studying, falling prey to fattening foods choices in college cafeterias and a lack of physical activity.

    You might also like: 6 ways you’re making weight loss even harder

    When did you realize it was a serious problem?

    At my heaviest I weighed about 210 pounds. I stepped on the scale and was shocked – it was a really painful experience weighing myself and seeing that I had put on 50 pounds, seemingly out of nowhere. This weight gain could have put me at risk for obesity-related health issues, so I knew I needed to make a change.

    What were the first things you changed about your lifestyle?

    I started with changing my diet, I reduced sugars and carbohydrates as much as I could and based my diet on proteins, fats and vegetables. This was the same time that I started working at Dumbo Moving, and moving is a very physical job, so this extra physical activity really added to my lifestyle change. After moving jobs, I practiced exercises every day and ran on the nearby field. I began my weightless journey during the summertime, so I also swam on Brighton Beach almost three times a week.

    You might also like: The 20 best ways to lose weight for good

    What specifically about the moving company helped you with this transformation?

    With moving, tasks usually require complex movements — you’re not just simply lifting something up and down like you do in the gym because you’re constantly in motion – so moving allows you to incorporate cardio while lifting. Majority of the job is carrying items to and from the truck, and because Dumbo is based in NYC, we had to carry a ton of items up many flights of stairs in order to move people into apartments.

    When did you begin your transformation and how long did it take you?

    After 45 days I checked my weight and I was stunned, seeing that I had lost 10 pounds, which motivated me to keep going further. A huge part of losing weight is believing you can do it, and realizing it’s not going to happen overnight. The only way you can see results is if you stay consistent. All in all it took me about five months to shed the 50 pounds I had gained in college. I know my “transformation” is never really complete, however. I’m healthier than I have ever been before, but I know that there is always room for improvement. I continue to exercise almost every day and I continue to eat clean, because healthiness really starts from within.

    You might also like: 3 inspiring weight loss stories from men that lost over 100 pounds

    What has this transformation taught you?

    I learned so much about myself during this transformation and I’ve never felt more confident, happy or healthy. I realized the true strength of self-motivation and consistency, and surprised my own self with my ability to stay on track with this transformation. All of the effort and sacrifice I put in was so worth it because I was just so proud of how far I had come all on my own.

    I did this whole transformation while visiting the US on a work and travel visa from Serbia. Those six total months in the US were truly memorable and were a huge test to my independence, survival skills, endurance and patience.

    What’s your best piece of advice for anyone struggling with their weight?

    Eat less, exercise more. Consume foods with high fat and protein to feel full longer and then you will eat less frequently.

    Rely on your supporters—share your plans to lose weight with any one close to you. This will make you accountable, and you will be motivated as they cheer you on.

    Take on a part time job that requires movement, you will make more money and reap the health benefits.

    Take a photo before you start. If your scale fails to show weight loss, compare your photos. You could be dropping fat but adding muscle, causing the scale to not really move. Many people who eat right and exercise quit when they don’t initially see that they are dropping weight – this could help keep you motivated.

    You might also like: Intuitive eating for lean muscle

  • The History of HUMANFITPROJECT

    The History of HUMANFITPROJECT

    If you asked me what I wanted to do for a living while in college, I would have never been able to answer. And I certainly would have never thought I’d be in the position I am today—a director of a brand’s website and the social media channels that I’ve loved since I was a teenager. #HumbleBrag… although I must say, I am very, very grateful.

    SUCCESS IN JOURNALISM WAS A PIPE DREAM…

    I’d always been a hard worker, could be focused when I wanted to be—but never really had a clearly defined path to follow.

    But, what I did know was that I loved my sports, traveling, bodyboarding—and of course—hitting the gym. Plus, I wanted to do something big.

    I was a Communication Major in college and took loads of classes about media literacy, debate, persuasion, and production. One class in particular—TV/radio production—actually irritated me. I constantly thought to myself, “OK, we’re talking about… things. Trending topics, celebrities, sports, Facebook… but how the hell does this all make money?! How do you actually make a living like this?!” It was something that drove me nuts. I’d always come to the conclusion that there’s no way all of this “creative stuff” can have you living happy and comfortable. I didn’t get it.

    CLARITY? THINK AGAIN.

    After shifting a bit more towards “business side” courses like marketing, advertising, and management, the whole “career thing” and making money actually started to make sense. Well, I thought. Long story short—I started seeing newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and the internet strictly as a business. Solely an opportunity to sell a product to an audience. (Yeah, yeah. I know all that hard editorial work is what builds those audiences, but let me finish the story).

    At the end of college I decided I want to be an advertising executive. Easy. All I need to do is sell the brand, its reach, and all the great things about it. (Yeah, yeah, I know… again that comes back to how good of an editorial product it is.)

    In 2007, I went out there and helped a friend with ad selling for a start up website. And in 2008, I graduated and landed myself a great entry level sales job for an incredible brand. Everything was amazing, until I realized that banging out phone calls all day, getting hung up on, and dealing with the ups and downs of a sales roller coaster wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. All of that complaining about “creative stuff” was driving me to be more… well… creative.

    SMALL SPARKS OF CREATIVITY EMERGE. 

    In 2009 or so, I was one year into doing the sales thing, feeling beat up and that everything was just about making money… and less about helping people. I wasn’t feeling so great about how I was living my life.

    Even though I worked in a cubicle, I had always been so into working out, I decided to casually start blogging on Facebook using the “Notes” function about the things I learned over the years training, my own fitness goals and aspirations, and BOOM! After seeing some of the diverse responses, commentary, and generally positive feedback to what I was doing, my true calling and vision became much clearer. I was going to be some type of media influencer in the fitness and active-lifestyle space.

    THE BABY WAS BORN.

    Things were all starting to make sense. Fitness as a category was becoming more of a trending topic, social media—more specifically—Facebook was really starting to take off,  and everyone was creating websites about fitness. There were tons of individuals pushing their own brands, their own programs and philosophies, but I wanted to do something larger than a workout program or diet. Something far bigger than me.

    I decided I wanted to compete with the big boys (and big girls) and create an overarching brand—an authority that housed and curated everything health, fitness, and well-being. The concept of HUMANFITPROJECT was born in a small cubicle at 500 7th ave on the 9th floor (I think) in New York City.

    THE FIRST STEPS.

    In the very beginning a couple friends from high school and college liked the idea and wanted to contribute. It began as some small meetings, a photo shoot or two, and the creation of the first logo, along with a very simplistic blog.

    COMING SOON: The growing pains of building a business

    THE FIRST REDESIGN, EXPANSION, AND MOBILIZATION.

    Being a blog with a large overarching concept, you need more space, and you need more contributors. In 2010 my current business partner, Ron Parham officially came onboard. Ron and I worked diligently to create roles, responsibilities, and work flows for production. We also reworked the logo, completely built out a site inclusive of a home page, about us page, section fronts, article pages, all of this while trying to maintain my own writing, and keeping up with our social media presence as best as possible. HUMANFITPROJECT version 2.0 published four complete months of content with between 20-30 pieces of content across four main sections each roll out.

    COMING SOON: The sacrifices entrepreneurs need to accept

    A STUNT IN GROWTH.

    In late 2011, I had been pushing along as much as possible and was fortunate enough to laid a position working for American Media, Inc. to help build out mensfitness.com. Considering I was in a tough position—being unemployed for 6 months after leaving my ad sales job and transitioning over to another failed startup in the beverage industry—I needed a job that actually paid the bills, allowed me to be creative, and was right in my interest area. I opted to take the position with AMI. However,  HUMANFITPROJECT would temporarily cease production due to the magnitude of the project at mensfitness.com. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I had no other choice but to halt editorial operations.

    COMING SOON: Untold stories of fear, struggle, depression, and learning from failure

    HFP BECOMES A MARKETING/PRODUCTION AND MEDIA PARTNER.

    Lucky for me, I’ve been well-positioned and able to work with new comers and contributors to HUMANFITPROJECT for many of the stories and productions that mensfitness.com needed to maintain our incredible growth trajectory. (I came into Men’s in 2011 with 300k unique visitors, finished just under 10 million in August 2014, and hit an all-time high of 14.7 million in January 2016.)

    TAKING FLIGHT: THE NEXT STAGES

    The HUMANFITPROJECT brand, network, and family of contributors will be expanded through 2014, 2015, and now into 2016. Our editorial channels populated to provide the most important material for living a fit and healthy active lifestyle.

    Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

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  • Taking Back My Life From Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

    Taking Back My Life From Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

    This inspiring success story submission is by Tonie Browne and his battle with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The Main image of Browne was captured by Tony Hazell Photography.

    I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2008 and suffered with countless flare ups. However, the biggest flare up came when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2014. I was 10 weeks into a 14 week diet for a UKBFF physique show and I was rushed into hospital in agonising pain. Little did I know how much of an impact this would have on my life in the next coming months. The large amount of turkey I was eating (which is a dry meat) had caused a very big abscess in my back passage, this meant I couldn’t walk or sit down, and an operation was my only option.

    Following more tests, the doctors had found Crohn’s disease at the bottom of my intestine, one doctor even said, “this is one of the worst inflamed areas of the intestine I have seen in some time.” Reassuring as you can imagine.

    However, while still in the hospital I continued practicing my posing for the competition and refusing to accept defeat. Unfortunately, this didn’t last long as I regrettably caught what is known as the CMV virus. And that was what almost put me into intensive care.

    Some 4 weeks later, in isolation and almost 3 stone lighter, I was sat deep in my own thoughts. What was the point in training/dieting, when every time I had tried I would have a flare up and get ill? I even said to my training partner, “I don’t think I’m going to train much anymore, what’s the point?” I had hit rock bottom. Then it hit me. Habit, the same routine… I had managed to make the same mistakes and not learn from them.

    Related: How to save yourself from a negative thought pattern

    Wanting to learn more about Crohn’s disease and colitis, I found a survey that Crohns & Colitis UK had conducted on how Crohns and colitis affects people taking part in sports and fitness, and the statistics inspired me to make a difference.

    Of the nearly 1,000 respondents surveyed, 80% stated that they had given-up or reduced their participation in sport either temporarily or permanently as a result of their symptoms of uncontrollable diarrhea, fatigue, joint problems, and severe pain.

    I was one of the 80%. I was a statistic. But I refused to accept this.

    As human beings we are one of the most adaptable creatures on earth. We are smart, we always find a way to survive.

    image Upon realizing this and re-motivating myself, I decided to change my diet and learn which foods affected my Crohns. I chose not to ignore the symptoms, but to adapt and to learn from them. Accept that it’s a part of me, and to live with it. With help from the doctors I was finally put on the right medication and, more importantly, I learned to respect Crohn’s disease and rebuild myself in order to avoid another flare up.

    Once released from hospital I couldn’t walk up the stairs to my flat, but I still dragged myself to the gym the next day to start rebuilding my body and life. Everyone thought I was stupid, but I knew what I had to do and how I was going to go about it. One year later, I returned to the same show and won. I became North West physique champion with an invite to the British finals in October 2015.

    More educated on Crohns Disease and it’s affects on everyday life, I realized my workouts were too long. People with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease — in some cases — suffer from chronic fatigue. If you didn’t know this, ever wonder why you feel the need to nap at random times in the day? Do you consume 3 times the recommended daily allowance of coffee? Yep, that’s chronic fatigue. I chose to shorten my workouts to 30/40 mins high intensity to accommodate this.

    I have devised a workout for what was one of my weakest body parts and now, from what I am told, is one of my strongest areas, my back.

    I’ve trained back for 10 years and only learned in the last year how to train and switch on my back muscles in the most effective way to get that symmetry and detail. One thing you will have noticed when training your back, is your biceps burn out and often fail before your back does. This is because the biceps are a secondary muscle helping you perform this exercise. So what do we do? We take your biceps out of the equation, and we pre-exhaust the back.

    Performing a set of cable pullovers, not only helps keep tension on the lats but also takes your biceps out of the equation. Leaving your back full of blood, pumped and on fire for the rest of the workout.

    Follow my back blast workout twice a week and watch your back grow!

    image

    Keep in mind before you start this workout, you can’t see your back while you’re training it. Legs are the same depending on what you wear to the gym, and it’s one of the reasons some people are so unmotivated to train legs.

    You have to connect with the muscle MMC (mind and muscle connection). Holding a squeezing every rep so you can feel the back muscles fully contract. You should be squeezing hard enough so that you feel as if you are going to get cramp. Not switching on your back with MMC is like trying to start an engine with no key, it just won’t happen. So now that’s out of the way.

    Here’s the workout you will be doing twice a week:

    1. Single-arm cable pullovers; 3 sets of 10 reps

    Ensure that your lats muscles are contracted before performing the movement. Make sure your elbow is as far back as you can get it when contracting the lats. The key with this exercise is to hold and squeeze the back without involving your triceps. Keep the arm slightly bent, once the lats have reached failure don’t be tempted to recruit other muscles to help you perform the exercise.

    2. Weight-assisted wide grip pull ups; 3 sets of 10 reps (with 3 second holds)

    Leave your ego at home when it comes to this exercise. It’s all about getting that detail in your back, not throwing yourself up for as many reps as you can. As I say to my clients, “I’d rather you do 3 perfect reps to positive failure, then 10 that didn’t even involve the muscle your are trying to train.”

    3. T-bar rows; 3 sets of 10 reps (utilizing the rest-pause method)

    Perform 10 reps, then stand up for a rest pause of 10 secs. Squeeze out a few more reps then again stand up for a second time (this time just 5 seconds) then continue till you can’t hold the bar any longer. Remember, heavy weight is not the key here, squeezing as hard a you can is.

    4/5. DB pullovers; 3 sets of 10 reps + DB single arm rows; 3 sets of 8 reps

    By now your back should be on fire! This is the finisher!

    image Keep your arms as straight as you can when laid down performing the pullovers. Don’t come all the way to the top with the DB, keep the tension in the lats. Make sure you reach forward and stretch when performing the DB rows, holding and squeezing the DB at the top of the movement. Keep your elbow tight and close to the body. Remember, the negative part of the movement is essential. Don’t just lower the DB as fast as you can. Keep the tension in your lats when lowering the DB, all the way through the movement. This is the key to training your back. Learning to switch on your back muscles and keep them on.

    Lifting Tempo: 3:2:4 (3 seconds lift, 2 seconds hold, 4 seconds down)
    Rest 1-minute in between all sets

    What you should feel…

    Pumped and wide, and that you feel like you might just take off in the wind outside. Also, remember your body learns to adapt, so change the rep range of this workout along with the weight to keep your body guessing. Then after a few weeks change the workout.