Eat Real Food

Workout 5 Days a Week

Meditate Daily

 

 

 

If you’re looking to lose weight,  get in shape or both –

• Read this
• Do this

 

The 30 Day Lifestyle Challenge

is No Quick Fix  it is a Way of Life.

30 Day Lifestyle – The Body – Challenge 1

Mark Ottobre

The Diet, Fitness and Mentality

• In 30 Days I gained 7lbs of Muscle  
• In a 60 days I lost nearly 7lbs of Fat.
• Maria lost 10lbs, lost fat and gained muscle.  
• We did it together.

There were no gimmicks just Eating Real Food and a Weight Training Plan mapped out by one of the world’s best – Mark Ottobre

• No Protein Powder,
• No Magic Shake
• No Fat Burners
• No Hacks
• No Quick Fix

Just Meat, Veggies and a few essential Vitamins and Minerals and of course the Weight Training Plan

 

Check Out Mark, and His Specific Plan for Me

30 Day Lifestyle Resource Page HERE

This is something everyone can do.  This is something You Can Do!

You can commit to it for 30 Days and see what results you get.  This was the point of this 30 Day Lifestyle Challenge.

The 30 Day Lifestyle is a movement to show you that you can make a change, and live a better life.

In this 30 Day Lifestyle Challenge by Mark Ottobre for 30 Days I took on his

• Diet Plan
• Mentality Plan
• Exercise Plan

My body weight, fat mass, and muscle mass was measured before during and after with the most accurate form of measurement – Dexa Scan – analyzed by University of Texas’ Fitness Institute and the results speak for themselves.  Click here to see what they have to offer, and schedule a Dexa Scan.

 

The PROOF – Dexa Scan Results for a 60 Day Period

What if you could open up the body and look at the exact change your body made?  How much fat did you lose, how much water weight? How much muscle did you lose or gain?  What is your bone density?

You can see by the pictures above that there was a physical change.  But what if you could look in the body and see what really changed?  It was only 30 Days and you can only change so much in that time period, but internally there was a lot of change.  This is where the Dexa Scan comes into play.

First off the Dexa Scan is far more accurate than body fat measurements via skin fold or biometric impedance – The skin fold will measure fairly accurate if the person measuring is an expert and they have quality calipers. The biometric impedance always measures me at 10% when the Dexa measures me at 20-18%.  If you live in Texas, or better yet Austin, I would recommend getting a Dexa Scan at the Fitness Institute of Texas.  They do Dexa Scans all day long and have tons of studies for you to compare to as well as their personal advice while they breakdown your scan.  Plus it is the most affordable Dexa Scan I know of.

The Chart below shows the real proof of the changes made!  Of course the pictures of a physical change are the standard, but you can only change so much in 30 days that a picture can capture.   Below you can see the internal body made major changes.

On March 22 I had my first scan –

I had been eating poorly for 6 weeks.  I went from 165 to 173.9 pounds in that 6 week period.  My body fat was 22.1%

On April 29 I had my second scan –

I changed my diet to Mark’s plan of Real Food, but no weights.  I had only been doing martial arts training.  The equivalent of 3-4 hours of cardio a week (pretty intense cardio).   I went down in weight losing over 6lbs, 4.4lbs of Fat, but also lost 1.7lbs of muscle.  I was at 20% body fat, on some of the other body fat measurements I was at 10%-14%.

On June 3, I had my third scan –

I had been doing 1 month of Mark’s Diet of Eating Real Food and a 5 Day a Week Strength Training Program.  I gained 7.3 Pounds of Muscle, I Lost 2.3lbs of Fat and went up in overall weight but went down in body fat going to 18%.   This is where the Dexa Scan is so important. I can pin point where my growth takes place.  I can see what is working and how it is working.  I can also measure my internal body fat (the most dangerous kind of fat).
As you can also see, I can look at the growth of muscle in my arms, upper body and legs, as well as where my fat diminished.   For instance of that 7.3 pounds of muscle gain, 4.1 comes from my upper body and 2.3 comes form my legs.  I also gained nearly 1 pound of muscle in my arms.

In my opinion the real change is displayed in the Dexa Scan results not the pictures above.  But of course the Pics do show some great results.

 

Continuing the Plan – I’m going for 90 Days!

I am not stopping at 30 Days.  As Mark originally told me he would need 90 Days to really see how my body reacted and changed along the way.  I’m going for at least 60 more days with his plan.  That being said it is time to make a new 30 Day Lifestyle Challenge.  We just can’t do a diet and exercise one for a few months.

I encourage you to look through the 30 Day Lifestyle Challenge Resource page and contact Mark, and try the diet out yourself.  Check out the resource page HERE –

 

Here’s a brief over view of what I did

& what Changed

 

1 – The Mentality –

Being Grateful and a Way of Life

One of the things that Mark stressed the most you might overlook and I don’t want you to do that, because it is what really got me the results I got.  Before we started anything he told me –  ‘This is not a diet or fitness plan, it is a way of life.’

What made this work was that I committed to this 100%.  In fact, as you will see there were slips I made with diet, or missing Mark’s exact instructions.  I can tell you if I wasn’t’ committed, if I hadn’t made and valued my decision to challenge myself for 30 Days with a Way of Life then I wouldn’t have been able to stay on track, and when I got off track I wouldn’t of been able to get back on track.   It became a Way of Life to eat right, workout and focus on a positive mentality, and that was hard for 1-2 weeks but I stopped having to motivate myself, I stopped having to force myself to ‘go to the gym’, or ‘eat and not eat certain foods’.  This made this less of a challenge and more of a sense of being.

If you’re reading this and you want to live a more healthy lifestyle then value your decision in that.  Make it a way of life.  If you can do that, it doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll end up on the right path.

 

2 – Exercise –

When you’re Working Out – Have a Purpose and Work Hard

This was obviously how I gained all that muscle.  7 Pounds in 1 month.  No protein shakes or anything other than Real Food and Weight training.   I will say at least 2 days a week I did some form of Marital Arts (BJJ or JKD, both are pretty intensive in terms of ‘cardio’), but I never put on muscle like I did here.

Although Mark’s plan was demanding, it wasn’t as hard as I thought.  Once I got into the habit of working out 5 days a week it was easy.  I will compare it to training intensive martial arts like BJJ or JKD.  If I were preparing for an MMA fight that would be much harder than what I did in the gym for Mark’s plan.  Plus lifting weights makes you feel better.  It changes everything in you, your mentality and physical energy levels.

Mark’s initial 30 Day Plan was to lift 5 days a week.  You can see a rough outline on the Resource Page HERE.

• Day 1 – Upper Body 1 (5-6 exercises)
• Day 2 – Lower Body 1 (5-6 exercises)
• Day 3 – Rest
• Day 4 – Arms (5-6 Exercises)
• Day 5 – Upper Body 2 (5-6 exercises)
• Day 6 – Lower Body 2 (5-6 exercises)
• Day 7 – Rest

I followed Mark’s plan and did it 100%.  There was no cheating on this.  I really was doubting about it at first.  Most guys I hear speak about weights and fitness tend to workout 2 days a week and sometimes only 1 day.  Mark had a different approach and I learned to love it.   Maria and I became gym rats and got to know the other sub-culture of gym rats.   This was great.  At first it seemed impossible but after about 2 weeks both our bodies became stronger.  We had force within us.  The exercises that once made us nearly pass out and even puke, we could do with excellent from and with power, drive and tempo.  After the 3erd week I noticed I could really push a lot of weight in comparison to before.  At first I couldn’t do a rear elevated split squat exercise with 2x15lbs dumbbells and in the last week I could do the exercise with 2x35lb dumbbells.

I have never worked out like this before and my body responded well.  Also because of Luke Leaman (a local PICP Trainer and Coach) we learned the proper form.  This kept us injury free and also allowed our muscles to properly stretch and mold into their proper form with the lifting.

After 3 weeks of heavy lifting I wanted to time myself running 1 mile.  I hadn’t run in a little over 1 month, but I have been sparring in BJJ and JKD at a pretty heavy pace and I wanted to see if I had lost any running cardio.  I clocked 1 mile at 5 mins 55 seconds.  I could still run fast.

The irony is that the mile I sprinted (that was a sprint for me at least) brought back my knee problems.  The lifting had no affect on my knees.  I wish i could say the same for the running and Martial Arts training.

 

3 – Diet –

Eat Real Food

I feel the most important aspect for this was the diet.  If there was one thing you can commit to it should be this – Eat Real Food.  Cut out Gluten, Processed Sugars and as many GMOs as possible.  You will feel a lot better.  For Maria and I we bought mostly organic food and quality meats.  This meant mostly buying grass fed Beef, and butter, free range Chickens, Lamb, Organic Pork and Wild Fish.  This gets expensive.  I mean really expensive.   If its not in your budget, then cut out the organic and grass fed, but don’t add the gluten and processed stuff.  You will feel a lot better.

Cheat days…well, there were 3 days in the 30 day period where I broke from the diet.  This was not intentional, it just happened.  For instance I ate some corn chips one day, I ate popcorn another day, and on Mother’s Day I ate a small piece of cake with Maria’s mother.  When I told Mark this he said,

“I want you to start over from the last day you broke the diet.  You’re not going to get a body composition change from having cheat days.”

Mark is right, it is a 30 Day Challenge, I have got to respect him and his plan.  However, if we are living a ‘normal life’, we might have some compensations come into play.  I do know if my diet is clean, when I put something I am not supposed to eat into my body I feel it for 2-3 days.  Eating Mark’s diet recommendation is easy, simple and functional.   Give it a try!

 

4 – Supplements –

If you can afford $50 a Month – Take some supplements

In this entire challenge I have no protein supplementation, no super charge energy drink, just a lot of meat and vegetables.  However I did have vitamin and mineral supplementation.  Mark recommended a few supplements to take and they are listed on the resource page HERE.

The supplements were one of the first things I integrated into my diet and I noticed a few changes.

1. Better rest
2. Less anxiety
3. Slight boost in energy and being alert

Eventually I ended up only taking these supplements and they seemed to work fine.

• Multi-Vitamin
• Multi- Mineral
• Fish Oil
• Vitamin D3

I have always had sleep problems.  Cutting out excess caffeine, sugar and gluten helped, but I believe that the extra B vitamins and Minerals helped.  Currently I am also experimenting with some other Minerals to see how it affects my blood pressure (a family issue the no matter how many varying diet and exercise plans I try it doesn’t seem to change).

 

5 – Rest –

Sleep enough, take breaks and let your body and mind heal

One thing that has always been tough for me is I have never been good at giving myself the proper rest.  I always thought pushing myself to the limit was the definition of success.  In this plan getting the proper rest was an absolute necessity.  If you weren’t resting mentally and physically there was no point in the progress you achieved mentally and physically.

Sleeping 8 hours a night at a consistent time and waking up a consistent time is something foreign to me.  In fact I can’t remember the last time I have done that for more than 3 days in a row.  What maybe common sense to some I don’t think any of us do enough of…

If you get the proper rest you can push yourself to limits you never thought possible.  I found that if I listened to my body and mind feeling tired or fatigued, when I took the time to allow the right rest I progressed to new levels.  As I said this goes for mentality as well as physical.

Mentally if I am feeling clouded or overwhelmed the best thing I can do is stop and take time to myself.  This has now turned into a daily habit of taking time to myself and do nothing.  That might mean a walk with my dogs, or simply taking time to meditate or nap.

Physically, sleep is important, but other than the 8 hours of sleep I need to function it also means lightly using my body in some form of enjoyment.  I find that taking a walk or sitting in the cool water of Barton Springs (Austin natural springs) or an easy bike ride around the town,  allowed my body to relax in a different way that made me feel good.  Not only was that mentally relaxing, but it was physically refreshing as well.   It added to the vitality I was looking for and added more life and flavor to the world around me.

 

Here’s the Bottom Line –

All of the above is simple. It is easy.

If you want to look more in depth check out the Resource Page HERE.  There will also be some more resources guiding you on more of the specifics of Mark’s Design.  If you want to make a change, Value your Decision.  Take the right actions, be a part of the Movement to Live a Better Life.

 

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