Day 9: MY BROTHER DID IT! 9 Things He Changed In His Life

Day 9

"My Brother Did It!"

WOD 130409

Rest Day

Let's review:

• Is there dust collecting anywhere? Maintaining a clean living space by regularly cleaning up keeps you moving, keeps your mind clear, and prevents friends thinking you're not a slob. If they were true friends they would tell you to your face, but they're probably thinking it and just not telling you if you haven't cleaned in awhile haha
• What's a new recipe you've tried? There are a few sites I gave in the earlier posts for simple, easy-to-do recipes for paleo. If not, try to make something new this week. One step at a time!
• Have you made any affirmations? I write down my goals on my desktop text file so every time I open my computer I see my goals. Where have you put your goals? See them, so you can think of them and do something about it.
• Share your experience with a friend. Have you posted your progress and changes at a place where people can see you working towards your goal? Friends that are doing this with you keep you accountable and motivated. If not, be the motivator. Posting on social media can possibly give someone that push and inspiration they need.
• How do you feel? Were you sore from Fight Gone Bad (FGB)? Try investing in a piece of gym equipment that helps stretch and roll out your muscles

____

My Brother Did It

The exact text from our Line chat was:

Dek: (in caps) STARTED AT THE BOTTOM IM FUCKING 199

haha I almost swerved and crashed my car after class reading this text this morning. Not because of his terrible english and accurate Drake lyrics, but because I was so ecstatic! I turned the volume up on the music I was listening to, which was Rick Ross BMF (fitting), and just celebrated in my car. This was amazing. This is Project Sexy Summer. This was UvU Academy. This was truly turning IMpossible to I'Mpossible.

If you don't know the reason behind this entire Project Sexy Summer was to motivate my brother and share our experiences to our friends and family... now you know. I made this for him. I remember signing up at Lifetime finess and the lady signing us up asked my brother, "so why are you at the gym?", and my brother answered back, "well, I want to be just like my brother and workout with him". Well damn. Who straight up says that? Not only did it make me feel like, 'damn right bitch, cause I'm your Kuya', but it also motivated ME to make sure I don't ever mess up and keep this fitness journey going. If was going to be a role model, I'm going to do it the right way. This was in December. 

In December, my brother's strength stats were:

Bench: 205

Deadlift: 185

Shoulder Press: 95

Clean: 105

Pull Ups: ZERO

Toe 2 bar: ZERO

Thruster: Non-existent

Back Squat: 185

Front Squat: Never tried it

Handstand Push Up: IMPOSSIBLE

Dek was 226lbs

As of TODAY, Dek's strength stats are

Bench: 245

Deadlift: 355

Shoulder Press: 165

Clean: 185

Pull Ups: 18

Toe 2 bar: 15

Thruster: 135

Back Squat: 245

Front Squat: 215

Handstand Push Up: 8

Dek weighed himself today at 199lbs. He hasn't been under 200lbs for 3 years... and the goal is 190lbs by May 1st. PROJECT SEXY SUMMER.

If this isn't an indicator that impossible is just a perception, you have never dreamed big in your life. If anyone were to ask my brother back in December if he could do pull ups his immediate reaction would've been "hell no" and walk to the treadmill and sweat for an hour. Today, he's repping out pull ups with the boys at the CrossFit gym and putting up more weight that me.

These are 9 things my brother did differently to change his mindset, lifestyle, and body. Get hungry. Get ready. Get motivated.

1. Fast foods and alcohol... NO REP
• Cutting out Filli-B's, Jack in the Crack, and all the other fast foods was the key thing to the weight loss. He's lost weight before by just cutting out alcohol, but this time while cutting out fast foods and the 'quick fix' meals helped avoid unecessary sodium, fats, and calories. 
2. Eat smaller portions, but more frequently
• Instead of filling his plate with tons of food, keeping portions to the size of a smaller plate helped limit his calorie intake. Eating more frequently boosted his metabolism into eating more (healthy foods of course).
3. Exercise more. No excuse.
• Instead of being okay with going to the gym once or twice a week, Dek stepped it up and making sure he worked out 4-5 times a week. Two-a-days made up for the days he missed the gym. Going out for a 5k run in the morning then hitting heavy WODs at the gym got him to this point.
4. Exercise better. CrossFit.
• After constant nagging on how useless his hour long session on the elliptical and treadmill was, he finally gave in to my programming of CrossFit. Constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity is the key to improve ALL aspects of fitness. When people spend an hour on a treadmill, they can improve cardiovascular endurance but there is no strength, power, balance, accuracy, intensity, or stamina improvement. Working harder in a shorter time helped save time, lose weight, and feel stronger.
5. Sleep more
• What he means is by sleeping right. Sleeping more gave my brother a chance to rest his body and heal from working out. Sleeping the same time every night and waking up around the same time everyday, giving him more energy and the chance to be more productive.
6. Go primal. Paleo diet. 
• DIET IS 80% and EXERCISE 20%. This was the game changer next to the switch to CrossFit. Paleo gave my brother fuel to do better at the workouts and at the same time feed his body with the right foods with no substitute on quality. It wasn't until Paleo where he say the most changes. The most weight lost was 10lbs in one week with strict Paleo and 5 high intensity workouts that week. Check out Days 2 and 7 for information on his diet as well as mine.
7. Do it for no one but yourself
• Even though it still rings in my head his voice telling the sales lady "he wants to be like me", I know my brother just wants to look healthier and perform better. If I was the example he wanted to be like, then so be it. I gave him all the tools to build his house, but he's the one that put in the work and had the discipline to build this project from the ground up (or if you think about it, from the weight, down haha). No one's going to be there every second of the day to remind you to wake up, workout, eat this, eat that, do this, do that. You have go and get it yourself. People can help along the way, but at the end of the day, it's all on you.
8. Be positive
• I would always remind Dek, saying shit like "I'll never" or "I don't think" or "I can't" should be out of his vocabulary when he's around me talking his health/fitness goals. You cannot even fathom how powerful your mind is if your just believe you can do it. Your own thoughts are so powerful that it can make you start to speak them. Your words are so moving that they become actions. At this point, your mind and body should be powerful altogether to take on challenges. Problems are not problems. Problems are now challenges. Can'ts turned into maybe. Maybe's turned into can. Can's turned into will. Will's turned into did. Now it's I AM. I'Mpossible.
9. Surround yourself with people that will push you
• I really give it to Dek because of how blessed he is to be surrounded by strong figures and motivators. My Kuya Don and I have been working hard at working out and we are always there to give exercise tips when he was ready to ask for them. His best friend is on the same program, losing just as much weight, working just as hard, and being there to always push him to the max every time they see each other. It's a beautiful thing when you can manifest your dreams and visions into reality just by focusing your mind and surrounding yourself with positivity and productivity. Our core friends keep each other accountable for our diets and workouts. We even all study together to make sure we get our homework done. YOU BECOME THE 5 PEOPLE YOU ARE AROUND THE MOST.

It makes me super emotional when I see my brother achieve anything because I know how great he is. If anything he will be greater than me, achieve more than me, and inspiring more than I ever will. He doesn't know just how powerful his own transformation motivates his friends, his coworkers, his family, and most importantly, me. The tables have turned and now I want to say "I want to be like MY brother" because of how dedicated he's become, how focused he has been, and how much he's grown mentally, emotionally, and (shrunk, not grown haha) physically. Dek, you are a true inspiration to me. Period. I'll do my best Kuya impression and stick with the program because we're in it together.