Where can we get information
on how to have a strong ,lean, and healthy
body and have a calm, clear, and sharp mind?
Hey there,
I’ve literally been obsessed with everything fitness since the age of 12. I remember the very day my dad took me into a 7-11 and I first picked up an issue of FLEX magazine. I was completely amazed that someone could actually have that much muscle on their body. That very day I made it my mission to gain as much muscle as I possibly could and get as jacked as possible. I started reading every new issue of FLEX, MD(muscular development), and Mens Health, and tried every workout routine, and diet I read about trying to gain more muscle. By the time I was 14 I’d been working out for close to 2 years, had read piles of magazines and articles online and had nothing to show for it physically.
That’s when I got even more obsessed…
By the time I was in middle school I was frequenting tons of online forums and reading articles on how to gain muscle, and get leaner for at least 5 hours a day. A lot of times I would skip school and walk to the local Border’s Books and go through the books they had in the Health & Fitness section. I finally started to see results! I went from 130lbs at a height of 5’5 to 185lbs at a height of 5’6 by the time I was 16. I had been through the ropes. I literally tried it all(and then some) and I got to a relatively lean(12% body fat) 185lbs of muscle. I went from being scrawny to being the most built kid at my school. But something was still missing.
I just generally felt unhealthy
I couldn’t run very far without being completely winded. I was literally force feeding myself 6 times a day to maintain my weight. I was pushing myself incredibly hard in the gym but I didn’t feel as good as I thought I should for all the years of studying and working on my fitness. Gaining all that weight muscle had put a strain on my body and I was far from the picture of health I had envisioned for myself. At this point there were tons of kids at my school asking for workout advice so I’d charge a fee for setting up their workout routines and nutrition plans. I really felt like I knew it all when it came to fitness. It wasn’t long before I was at Border’s Books and picked up a book called Zen Mind Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.
That was the beginning of my meditation practice
It literally changed my life in ways that I can’t put in to words, and completely changed my approach to fitness and health. So I took a break from the heavy lifting and focused on my spiritual development. Many times I would meditate for hours a day. After a while I decided to get back into working out and when I did my focus was holistic. My goal was to build a body that was as strong as possible for my body weight (at this point 150lbs), to be fast, agile, lean, and in great cardiovascular shape while at the same time feeling happy, having a clear, conscious, and calm mind. What I realized was…
There are no resources to find info on a Holistic approach to Health and Fitness
I mean technically there is. But there’s really nothing I consider worth my time. A lot of the resources on holistic approaches to health were really wishy washy and new age and I just don’t buy into stuff that isn’t evidence based. Whether it be scientific proof or real world results. Even when I began studying eastern philosophy I was extremely skeptical until I read a book called Zen and the Brain by James Austin M.D. And later the benefits of meditation were proven to me by the results I personally achieved. Besides that there’s so many holistic fad products and books that its hard to find the stuff that really has worth. So after years of trying to improve my health and wellness I’ve decided to start…
The Fitness Chronicles
I wanted to create a resource where everyone from the skinny kid trying to gain muscle, from the person trying to lose 30 or even 100 lbs, and even the local yoga addict could come and learn a thing or two. I think your health is everything, but health means so much more than just building muscle and losing fat, or toning up. In my opinion health is not the absence of disease. Health is the quest to become whole. It begins with a healthy body inside and out. That’s only the first step, and a step that can always be improved. From that foundation you can attend to higher matters.
Cheers!
