A Whole New Game
Eric Aiu Started on the Court, Jumped into the Gym, and Finally Achieved the Good-Looking, Athletic Body He Wanted and Deserved
By Sue Mosebar, Executive Editor
Name: Eric Aiu
Age: 28
Profession: Entrepreneur, Business Owner in Identity Thief Protection
From: Phoenix, Arizona
Goals: Lose 20 lbs of bodyfat, seriously reduce his waistline, and improve his energy and stamina to play better on the court, field, or wherever...
To play basketball, you have to be in shape. There's no doubt about it. Intense sprinting across the court. Ballistic jumps. Quick movements in every direction. A hardcore workout for sure.
So why then, though he played basketball three days a week for a full hour, was Eric Aiu not in top physical condition?
Well, as it turns out, he was missing something. A key element to success—hitting the weights, not just performing cardiovascular sporting activities. Just as important, Eric was missing another key success factor called intensity. But when he found his way back to the weight room to compete for his chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the Casa del Mar Spa in Mexico, he learned the true meaning of the word.
And the lessons he learned have not only made all the difference in his basketball game. They've made all the difference in his body and in his life.
But wait. Let's back up to the beginning...
Improving His Game
Three days a week, Eric would climb out of bed at 5:00 in the morning to hit the courts with his buddies. He loves sports of all kinds and plays just about everything. But he was just working on his basketball game for a while.
The funny thing was, though, that although he played regularly, he would still huff and puff. He would have to stop frequently. He just didn't have the energy and stamina he wanted and needed to play his best game.
He wondered, fleetingly, if it was because he had stopped finding the time to go to the gym for a more "routine" weight-training workout. But he let that pass.
"…when he looked in the mirror, he still had to wonder why his body didn't look 'athletic.' In fact, it looked kind of soft."
You see, Eric had hit the weight room once upon a time. Back when he lived in Hawaii. There, he had free and easy access to a weight room. For one, his buddy let him come over to his house to lift any time he wanted—his friend had a fully equipped home gym.
And for a change of pace, Eric could always run to his former high-school weight room and grab a quick workout there. So he had hit the weights on and off for years.
He had also gotten his fair share of cardio exercise—in the way of hiking and biking all over the island.
But Eric didn't live in Hawaii any more. He had moved to Phoenix, AZ. And he thought there were better ways to spend his hard-earned money than to join a gym. Plus, he wasn't familiar with the area, so he no longer ventured out on hikes and bike rides like he used to.
Instead, Eric got his workouts on the court. Three days a week. He sprinted. He jumped. And, he got a pretty good workout. Or at least he thought he did.
But when he looked in the mirror, he still had to wonder why his body didn't look "athletic." In fact, it looked kind of soft.
"They would each put $100 into a pot, and whoever made the greatest transformation would take the pot."
A Family Challenge
One evening, Eric joined together with some family members. It was late December, and they all were talking about how they had gained a few pounds over the holidays, and it was time to take the extra weight off.
Eric's brothers and sisters asked Eric to referee their family contest. They would each put $100 into a pot, and whoever made the greatest transformation would take the pot.
Eric, however, had other ideas. He didn't just want to watch from the sidelines. He thought this was just the motivation he needed to get into top condition and make some serious changes in his physical appearance.
His family thought otherwise. "You're already in shape!" they exclaimed. And, relatively speaking, that was probably true. But Eric knew he was a long way from where he wanted to be.
Eric hadn't noticed how much bodyfat had crept around his waistline over the years until he saw this picture.
In fact, just the previous week, his wife had taken a picture of Eric standing in the bathroom shaving with his young son beside him. (She thought it was cute.) But when Eric saw the photo, he didn't think it was cute at all. Yes, his son was adorable. But those love handles? Did he really look like that? Eric hadn't noticed how much bodyfat had crept around his waistline over the years.
Eric tried to explain to his family that it's not about where they were all starting but where they were all heading. He thought it would be fun and motivating to join together with all of them.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later, the idea had been dropped. No family contest. And though Eric was annoyed, he wasn't quite ready to give up on the idea of a competition...
Competing Against Strangers
Eric was no stranger to ISATORI and had seen some pretty amazing, inspiring before and after photos. He had been reading Real SOLUTIONS, both the printed and online versions, and appreciated the quality information. Now he realized it was finally time to quit reading and start putting all he had learned into action.
He decided he would follow the Maximum Growth, Volume II, plan. It was laid out so everything was easy to follow. So, excited to get started, Eric called ISATORI to order some supplements, but when he spoke with the friendly and knowledgeable staff, he discovered that Maximum Growth may not be the right program for him. At least not yet.
You see, his main interest was in losing bodyfat. He had plenty of mass for now. But he really wanted to slim down and sculpt his body.
So Linda O'Byrne, an ISATORI Customer Solutions Expert, certified in Sports Nutrition, recommended the Lean System Success Plan instead. In addition, she just happened to mention the ISATORI/Real SOLUTIONS Best Body contest that was just getting started.
The contest immediately got Eric's attention. Okay, so he couldn't compete against his family. They'd all dropped out. But maybe he could compete against complete strangers. And the prize package was even better than a few hundred dollars and family bragging rights. It was an all-expenses-paid trip to the beaches in Mexico and a story in Real SOLUTIONS!
"Now we're talking," thought Eric. "I'm taking my wife on a dream vacation to a spa in Mexico! And I've always wanted to be in a magazine."
That was just the incentive Eric was looking for.
"And he realized, if they could do it, he could too."
This Time, It Would Be Different...
This wasn't the first time Eric had been inspired to compete... A few years back, he had read Body-for-LIFE and started that program. But he never finished it. A few weeks in, he didn't think his gains were enough to win, so he just gave up.
He's not sure what was different this time around. Was it because the Best Body Contest was only eight weeks instead of 12? Maybe. Was it because there was less competition—after all, ISATORI is a young, growing company. Not a big corporation like EAS—so maybe he would have a shot at winning? Perhaps it was because all Eric really needed was to believe in himself. To believe, this time, that it was possible.
He was a bit skeptical, he admits. But he pulled out a couple back issues of Real SOLUTIONS and went online to RealSOLUTIONSmag.com and looked at the before and after photos of some of the people who had competed in previous rounds. And he realized, if they could do it, he could too. He was ready to prove to himself and to his family that he could make some big changes to his physique... and maybe even win.
He also realized the importance of perseverance. He now understood that results don't happen overnight, but if you stick with the program, they do come!
An Individual Event
Though Eric prefers team sports like basketball, since his family backed out, he took on his transformation challenge alone. His wife works out. But she's more into yoga and stretching and less into the weights, though she does some light lifting a couple times a week at home.
So Eric put his head down and took on the challenge alone. Just him against himself in the weight room and on the treadmill.
Instead of getting up at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he got up every single morning to hit the gym.
Strangely, Eric found it wasn't hard for him to get up and get to the gym after the first week. He didn't even have to think twice. He would just get out of bed and go. "I had a goal, and I knew I had only two months to accomplish that goal. So that really gave me laser sharp focus," he explains.
Eric also found that visualizing the reward as well as the results he would be accomplishing helped him stay on track. He spent a lot of time visualizing himself on the beach in Mexico with his wife. He imagined what his body would look like. How he would feel. He would visualize before his workout and during his workout. And then throughout the day, he would find himself almost daydreaming about his success at the end of the eight weeks. He would look at the pictures in Real SOLUTIONS, especially those of Stephen Adele, whom he admired, and would see his physique looking more like those in the pictures. Maybe not exactly, but getting into that kind of shape. Then he would imagine his own photos on the pages of the magazine.
"No matter where I was or what time of day it was—I would be at work, at home, in the car... and in my mind, I could see the results. The contest was always on my mind," Eric says.
Eric also adds that he had this strong mental game for one reason: because he had to. "I had failed so many times before. I had to force the mental game on myself," he laughs.
Before when he's been on a fairly regular exercise program, he didn't believe a dramatic transformation was even possible, which prevented him from really pushing himself.
"He lost 25 lbs (from 225 lbs down to a cool 200) and an amazing 10% bodyfat! His waist dropped from 39 inches to a lean, muscular 34."
Eric's other obstacle was a four-letter word: Food. Eric comes from Hawaii, and he lives in an area around a lot of his friends and family who also moved over from the islands. It was a wonderful place to grow up. And Eric continues to enjoy tight relationships. But unfortunately, one of those tight relationships is with Hawaiian food. Eric shares, "We have a lot of bad but good-tasting foods! And when we hang out with our good friends here, they're always cooking up some concoction from home. It's so hard to resist..."
But Eric was able to transform the way he looked at the food just by looking at how his friends who were eating it looked. "I would basically look around the table and think, 'Okay, they're eating that and they look like that. There's a reason they look a certain way—because of what they eat. I want to look lean and fit, so I don't want to eat like that! So in a strange sort of way, I used that as my motivation."
To help him overcome his challenges, Eric turned to his strong support system to help him achieve his goals. His wife.
Eric, in fact, gives his wife full credit for being his main motivator. She would always cheer him on. And on the occasions when he was tempted to skip a workout or eat something that wasn't going to take him in the right direction, she would ask him if that was the right decision. So she was both inspirational and helpful to him.
At the Final Buzzer
Eric's number one goal wasn't actually about transforming his body. He wanted to win the trip to Mexico. He wanted to see his story in Real SOLUTIONS. But to get there, he knew he also had to set some goals for his physique. So, he decided, in eight weeks, he would lose 15 to 20 lbs of fat. He also wanted to reduce his waist size and start looking better in his clothes. And, he wouldn't mind having a bit more strength and some better stamina for the basketball court.
Needless to say, within eight weeks, Eric not only reached his lofty goals but surpassed them. He lost 25 lbs (from 225 lbs down to a cool 200) and an amazing 10% bodyfat! His waist dropped from 39 inches to a lean, muscular 34. His chest, arms, and legs, on the other hand, increased in both size and muscle definition. He added an inch and a half to both his biceps and calves. His thighs and chest went up over two inches. And strength? Well, that went up drastically on every single lift.
Yes, he admits, he was weak when he started from his lack of training. But he was still amazed by how quickly his strength shot up. With his bench press, for example, when he started, he could barely do eight reps with 135 lbs. By the end of the contest, he was able to push up 280 lbs for five reps.
For squatting, due to a previous knee injury, Eric started with just 135 lbs. And though he was a bit scared he might re-injure his knee, he pushed past the fear and was able to squat 315 for about five reps at the end of the contest. He also notes that running every other day helped improve the strength of both his knees and his legs.
In fact, Eric made dramatic increases in every lift.
In addition, he also enjoyed better cardio conditioning and stamina than he ever had before. He had never run on a treadmill before but decided to give it a try because it would make keeping track of the intervals a bit easier for his HIIT (high intensity interval training).
The first few times were a bit awkward. It was really hard for him at first, and he would stop a lot. But by the end of the eight weeks, he was able to easily complete the 20-minute Metabolic PEAK Cardio Solution™ found in Stephen's Lean System Success Plan. Well, maybe not easily, as he continued to increase his intensity. But he was able to complete the workout without too much of a struggle.
"The reason I could complete it was because it's such a short period of time with really high intervals, so just when you're thinking you're about ready to die, you get to go back down," says Eric, laughing.
A Whole New Game
The question remains. Has Eric's new exercise and nutrition program had any effect on his basketball game?
Oh yeah.
Eric's picked up a lot of speed. But not only has he gotten faster, but because he's lighter, he can jump higher. And the huffing and puffing that used to be part of the game? Gone. He plays for the full hour and a half and never gets tired. The other guys on the court can't believe his energy level.
"It's like I never need to stop," says Eric. And he credits his new program with that. "I'm always running back and forth, playing, but let me tell you, doing the HIIT workout is a lot harder than playing basketball! So now, I'm able to run up and down, both offense and defense, without any problem at all!"
 "Eric's gained confidence to take on new games of all types. Including starting his own business." Of course, his gains have transferred to the rest of his life as well. Before, Eric thought he felt pretty good. But today, he enthusiastically says, "I feel great!" He's physically and mentally stronger than he's ever been before. He's gained confidence to take on new games of all types. Including starting his own business.
And now, after seeing the results that Eric was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time, his family has finally started to get on the program too.
Not surprisingly, they also ask Eric for advice. "How did you do it?" He always smiles and just hands them Real SOLUTIONS or the Lean System Success Plan and says, "If you want results, all you have to do is follow the plan. That's all I did."
Eric explains, "It's not like it's a 'secret' or anything. It's just simple stuff. And if you do it, it will work. But if you don't do it, it won't. It's simple." And once you see the results, you never get tired of hearing "good job!" and congratulations.
For a copy of Erics personal nutrition plan, please email us at Editors@realsolutionsmag.com and we'll be sure to send you a copy.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you'd like to learn more about how you too can transform your physique, or make positive improvements, using ISATORI's quality supplements and integrated diet/exercise plans, please CLICK HERE>>
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