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Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Healthiest of Them All?
By Sue Mosebar | Executive Editor
Who: Jim Cipriani
Age: 32
Location: Danbury, CT
Occupation: Personal Trainer
Goals: Fit into his favorite jeans and like the way his muscle and fitness feels
Successes: Dropped three inches off his waist and sculpted the coveted six-pack abs—in only eight short weeks!
When you stand in front of the mirror, are you happy with what you see? Are you at least satisfied? Or, are you like Jim Cipriani, who was actually disgusted with the image that appeared before him, wondering "How did I get here?"
After all, Jim was a certified professional in the fitness industry. It was his job to not only show people how to transform their bodies but to motivate them to succeed. But the image in the mirror didn't portray that profession. At least not to Jim.
In fact, it had been a while since Jim had felt like he was in tip-top condition. Since he last competed in a bodybuilding contest... two years ago!
So what happened? Oh, Jim had excuses—for example, since he trains people for a living, he had let his priorities for himself go and spent most of his time helping others. Plus, after competing in a number of bodybuilding shows, he was just plain burned out.
"Once that was set and my motivation was there with the contest, it wasn't really that hard to stay on track."
"It was probably about two years before I got control and took an honest look at myself and knew things had gotten out of hand," explains Jim. "I had gained a little more weight than I wanted to—it had kind of crept up on me. My clothes weren't fitting. My energy was sluggish. My motivation was low for training—I didn't even like training other people at that time."
The Road to Burnout
Jim believes that much of his burnout was due to the extreme nature of bodybuilding competition. "It was a constant cycle," he says. "I'd yo-yo constantly—I'd be up in weight and then down for a show. Up and down. Up and down. It was a pattern where I'd be five or six weeks out from a show, and I'd say, 'I can hold this shape constantly.' It didn't seem like a problem. But that last month before a show, I'd get really depleted, and I'd really binge after a show—almost as long as I was dieting down for it."
Mentally as well as physically, that's a difficult cycle. Even worse for Jim, though he liked the training for the competition, the shows themselves were rather anti-climatic. So not surprisingly, after a while—ten years in fact—he didn't even want to go down that avenue any more. Plus, Jim didn't feel the results of the shows measured up. To him, they were mediocre at best.
The end result of the ten-year cycle, along with spending most of his days in the gym, left Jim feeling depleted and burned out—to the point where he didn't even want to train, much less "diet." So naturally, he started to let himself go, which actually hindered his motivation even more.
The Spark of Motivation
Understandably, Jim had decided he would not be competing in any more "bodybuilding competitions," but he did miss the extra motivation that was sparked by competing. Jim explains, "I needed a little outside motivation to kick me into gear."
Fortunately, that's about the time he read about the Best Body contest.
He was also looking for a new supplement that would give him an extra edge when he trained in the gym since the ephedra ban. "I used to use ephedra, more to jack up my workout intensity than for bodyfat losses, so I was looking for a viable alternative after they pulled ephedra products off the market," Jim says. "That's what led me to Lean System 7. I liked the product, even though it felt completely different than ephedra. I liked the energy it gave me. I liked what I read about it. That was when I took a look in the mirror and said, 'I gotta do something about this.' It all seemed to gel together. And I was ready at that time."
Staying on Track
While Jim knew the end result he wanted, he decided not to focus on numbers. Instead, he kept track of his progress by looking in the mirror and by how his clothes were fitting.
His goal, in fact, wasn't related to bodyfat percentage or weight. He simply had some jeans he hadn't been able to wear in a while, and he wanted to fit into them comfortably. "I was bordering on getting out of my 35 jeans. They were getting a little tight, and the last thing I wanted to do was get into 36's," shares Jim.
Using his goal as his guide, he then made his plans for how to get there. "Once that was set and my motivation was there with the contest, it wasn't really that hard to stay on track. I didn't encounter too many obstacles. I actually just shut everything out of my life as far as what would negatively affect me. I got rid of any bad foods. I stopped partying all the time with my friends. I wasn't a hermit, by any means, but I got things under control. Instead of my life controlling me, I guess I started to control my life," Jim explains.
Jim filled his fridge and pantry with healthy foods, like egg whites, oatmeal, a lot of vegetables, yams, chicken breast, nonfat cottage cheese, and extra lean ground beef or lean steaks. He usually would have red meat only twice a week and would normally have a piece of fruit, like an apple, a day.
"After eight short weeks, he had accomplished his major goal: being able to look in the mirror and not just be satisfied but actually like what he saw."
Jim also made sure he planned each day: he had a system for both his training and eating. Fortunately for Jim, he also is able to set his work schedule, and he found being able to schedule everything—from work to workouts to meals—prevented him from hitting any speed bumps that might have thrown him off course.
He explains, "It wasn't hard. It was just a matter of being prepared on a day-to-day basis. Every night, I would write out my schedule for the next day, and if I had to make my food, I would make it that night or the next morning and pack it to go. There would be days when I let myself enjoy whatever was going on, but they were few and far between."
A Typical Day's Eating Plan
5:30 a.m. Lean System 7 (3 capsules) with a full glass of water
6:00 a.m. (Breakfast) 6 to 8 egg whites with about 3/4 cup chopped broccoli (and some of Frank's Hot Sauce), and one serving of oatmeal or cream of wheat sweetened with one packet of Splenda
One cup of green or black tea
Multivitamin/mineral and glutamine
9:00 a.m. (Mid-Morning Snack) One whole serving of Eat-Smart MRP (usually Cookies and Cream flavor at this time)
11:30 a.m. Lean System 7 (3 capsules) with a full glass of water
12:00 p.m. (Lunch) Turkey Sandwich with four slices of turkey, two pieces of carb-reduced rye bread, mustard, and maybe some lettuce and tomato
Salad with a mixture of balsamic vinegar and Splenda (with possibly a tablespoon of flaxseed oil)
Note: Since Jim wakes up early and goes to work from 5:00 a.m. until noon and then returns from 4:00 p.m. until about 8:00 p.m., he often takes a nap from 1:30 p.m. until about 3:00 p.m.
Between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. (Pre-Workout Snack) 1 cup of nonfat or 1% cottage cheese and an apple.
One cup of coffee
glutamine
6:30 p.m.(Post-Workout Recovery) 1 serving of Meta-CEL
7:00 p.m. 8 oz of chicken or lean red meat and a large helping of steamed vegetables, and 1/2 of a yam
Glutamine, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E
9:00 p.m. (Evening Snack) 1 whole serving of Eat Smart MRP (usually Peanut Butter Cups) with 2 Tbsp of PowerButter
Multivitamin/mineral and glutamine
A Typical Day's Training
Jim demonstrates perfect form on his pullups.
Jim trains three to four days per week with cardio on his off days. He uses a typical push/pull split. During the first half of the Best Body Contest, he was performing eight to ten reps and then switched to a four- to six-rep range during the second half.
He changes exercises every four weeks, but the basic layout stays the same. Here is a typical back/biceps day during the first half of the challenge:
Rack Pulls 2 warmup sets of 10-12 reps, then 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Pullups 3 sets x 8-10 reps
Bent Rows 3 x 8-10
Barbell Curls 3 x 8-10
Preacher Curls 3 x 8-10
Cable Crunches 3-4 x 10-15
Here is a typical chest/shoulder/triceps day during the second half of the challenge:
Bench Presses Warm-ups of 12, 10, 6, and 3 (all very light), then 2-3 sets of 4-6 reps
Incline Presses 1 acclimation set of 6 reps, then 2-3 x 4-6
Seated Shoulder Presses 1 acclimation set of 6 reps, then 2-3 x 4-6
Upright Rows 1 acclimation set of 6 reps, then 2-3 x 4-6
Close-Grip Bench Presses 1 acclimation set of 6 reps, then 2-3 x 4-6
Lying Triceps Extensions 1 acclimation set of 6 reps, then 2-3 x 4-6
Reverse Crunches 3-4 x 10-15
Success!
All of Jim's planning quickly paid off. While he originally just wanted to fit into his old 34 jeans, that goal was accomplished in only four weeks. Pretty soon, they were getting baggy, and 33's fit comfortably. Jim believes after eight weeks he could probably even squeeze into 32's if he wanted to spring for a new wardrobe.
After eight short weeks, he had accomplished his major goal: being able to look in the mirror and not just be satisfied but actually like what he saw. He liked how his clothes fit. He liked being able to go to work and not just look "big" or "strong" but to really look fit and cut.
"I wanted to feel healthy and look healthy because how I look in the mirror affects how I feel. In my clothes too... depending on how my clothes fit, that really dictates how I feel. Right or wrong psychologically, that's how I operate, and I'm so much better when I feel like I'm in shape and my clothes fit comfortably," says Jim.
Though Jim lost a significant amount of weight, he was able to maintain his muscle size and strength!
While Jim didn't focus on scale weight and never actually had a bodyfat test, he does know that the numbers did change—significantly. When he started, he was over 200 lbs. Around the time the after pictures were taken, he was down to 184 lbs, so he dropped about 16 lbs over the course of the eight weeks. "I was averaging a drop of around two pounds of weight a week," says Jim. "I would step on the scale twice a week at the same time of day on a Wednesday and a Saturday just to see what kind of track I was on."
Jim knows that he was losing fat instead of muscle, however, because his strength wasn't deteriorating in the gym: it was actually increasing. Of course, that's what the mirror was indicating as well!
Jim says it's very clear that making this transformation was a three-step process for him.
1) Being disgusted with where he was.
2) Setting a motivating goal—having a specific end in mind.
3) Laying out the plan to achieve his goal, so he wouldn't be wandering all over the map, training this way or eating that way.
A Long-Term Change
In the past, after his bodybuilding contests, Jim would binge on any foods he had been craving... and then some. But this time was different—likely because he didn't have to go to such an extreme, Jim has found that this program is manageable for the long-term. No more yo-yoing!
"I've stayed lean since the contest ended in the first week of November!" exclaims Jim.
But that hasn't been enough for Jim. Just recently, he jumped on the pilot study for iSatori's newest product ISA-TEST and has been following that "Testosterone Solution" diet and exercise plan for even greater results. His motivation has stayed high. His energy is high. And he's enjoying work again.
"I'm enjoying helping other people again. Being in shape only helps my job—I'm my own walking advertisement, and I'm enjoying reaching my goals and being able to live and stay at that point," he explains. "My energy has stayed up. My confidence has stayed up. I enjoy training. I enjoy my job, which is huge. I like teaching, I like motivating others, and I like helping people achieve their goals. I honestly feel like how I eat and how I train is a livable way. It's not the bodybuilding yo-yo cycle anymore."
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