Standing Tall
How Marty Reddy Lost 70 lbs and Regained a Great LIFE!

Out of shape and overweight for many years, fire captain Marty Reddy was finally able to make an astonishing turnaround when he discovered the two essential ingredients for long-term success in any lifestyle transformation: the right motivation and the right program

By Matt Fitzgerald

If the lean, chiseled body in the photographs accompanying this article look familiar, you're probably not imagining it. Forty-one-year-old Martin "Marty" Reddy was recently chosen by Stephen Adele to give a heartfelt testimonial about his amazing body transformation in a Lean System 7 television commercial. A shy, self-described "average guy" who heads a family and works as a fire captain in Westland, Michigan, Marty never thought he would find himself shirtless in front of a TV camera. But then again, he never thought he would lose 75 lbs of fat and lower his bodyfat from more than 20% to less than six percent in a year!

Marty's incredible transformation deserves more than a quick sound bite. His case stands out even among the many amazing physique makeovers Stephen Adele sees in men and women who follow his exercise, nutrition, and supplementation programs. As a 16-year veteran firefighter and paramedic, Marty Reddy saves lives almost every day. Recently we called him at the fire station and asked him to tell us more about how he reclaimed his own life.

Real SOLUTIONS: First of all, Marty, describe for us the state your body was in when you finally committed to do something about it.

Marty Reddy: I was 220 lbs, and I wasn't as active as I needed to be, and I certainly wasn't fit. I was tired and just didn't feel as good as I should have felt. I had concerns about my health, especially as I was getting older. When my daughter was born, I started to become really concerned about my long-term health. [Marisa is now three years old. Marty also has a son, Brett, who's 14.]

RS: Had you made previous efforts to lose bodyfat and get in better shape?

MR: Prior to joining the fire service, I had put on weight and was heavier than I should have been. I started exercising and getting in shape to be prepared to do the job. I mainly ran. I also followed the Pritikin diet (higher carbs, low protein, low fat). It helped me lose weight initially, but I found it was difficult to stay on. It was just too restrictive. And after five or six years of being on the fire department, I started putting on weight again.

RS: What were your eating habits like before your transformation?

MR: I wasn't eating in the morning. I would just get up, go to work, and have a big lunch and then not eat for the rest of the day. Usually I wouldn't even eat dinner; I would just have some cocktails and a late snack. I was eating once or at most twice a day. Obviously, that's a pretty bad plan.

Skipping meals and skipping workouts took a toll on Marty's energy levels and left him unhappy with his phyique.

RS: So, when did you commit to changing your lifestyle for good?

MR: September 29, 2003, was the date I began my transformation. That's when I first started going to the gym, and I actually started on the Body-for-LIFE program. I did Body-for-LIFE for the first three months. I followed the structure of the program and didn't deviate from it, except that I used iSatori's supplements. Since then, I've gone through Stephen Adele's MAXIMUM GROWTH Program a couple of times. Every four months, I'll go through that for two months. I've also gone through his Lean System Success Plan and had good benefits from that. So I switch up my workouts, but my nutrition stays pretty much the same, with at least six meals a day and a protein and a carb at each meal. And I take the supplements: Lean System 7 to help with fat loss and energy and Meta-CEL to increase my strength and muscularity.

RS: What were your results?

MR: When I took an "after" picture for the Lean System 7 commercial, I weighed 150 lbs, which was 70 lbs less than where I began, and my bodyfat was below six percent. I definitely put on lean body mass, too. One of my goals now is to increase my lean body mass—just put on a couple of pounds of muscle a year. Right now I'm maintaining a bodyweight of around 160 lbs because I've increased my calories to put on lean body mass. But I still take Lean System 7 and Meta-CEL.

RS: What was the biggest challenge you faced along the way?

MR: Early on, it was difficult to find a way to eat six times a day, especially with a schedule like mine. It takes planning, and it takes getting used to. It's a very simple program; it just isn't necessarily easy. There's nothing complicated about it. You need to commit to it, but if you do, it is certainly extremely effective.

RS: Isn't it amazing that you can go from eating one meal a day to eating six times a day and lose 70 lbs?

MR: Eating six meals a day is so much better than eating once or twice. And the supplements also make a big difference. I have 10 times the energy I had prior to changing my lifestyle. I went from having little energy and not feeling good to having energy throughout the day and feeling very good.

RS: How about the exercise side of the equation—any challenges there?

MR: When I first started, I had never trained six days a week, and I had never trained with any kind of intensity with weights. It was all new to me, so I had to learn how to train with weights, and I had to learn about intensity. To be honest, it was difficult for me. I got a lot of information from reading. And I got some help early on from a guy who was inspirational to me, Shaun Hadsall. He was a friend of a friend. Seeing his picture and testimonial was one of the things that inspired me to try the program. Since that time, he became a trainer and owns his own studio gym called Fitness Together. He helped me out a lot, and as a matter of fact, he's the one who recommended iSatori's products to me.

RS: You've said you got great results from iSatori's supplements. What is it you like about their products and Stephen Adele's workout programs?

MR: For me, one thing that really helps is the structure. It's all laid out for you, so you don't have to think about it. I think that makes it easier to stick with it. Right now I'm finishing up MAXIMUM GROWTH, Volume II, so I'm training with weights four days a week and doing cardio two days a week. I follow the book to the letter. Whatever the workout is for that day, I follow the reps, and I follow the rest times. I have a watch, and I time my rest. Another big key to my success is that I don't spend hours in the gym. If I'm doing cardio, it's either 12-minute Guerilla Cardio or following Stephen's Metabolic Peak Cardio Solution for 20 or 30 minutes. I like high-intensity interval cardio. I don't do any cardio workouts at a constant pace. It's always intervals with changing intensity. Every time I'm on the treadmill or a StairMaster or another machine, I'm constantly changing the speed or intensity because I've found I get the best results that way, and it keeps it interesting.

On my cardio days, I'm at the gym for 30 minutes at the most. And on weight-training days, I'm never there more than 50 minutes. So my total time at the gym per week is around three hours. I don't care how busy you are: you can find three hours in your week to exercise. Just get up a little earlier. It certainly isn't going to take away your energy, because you're going to gain so much energy as a result of the exercise.

RS: That's a great point about gaining energy as a result of working out, Marty. I think people tend to forget it and instead believe they don't have enough energy to work out, when in fact if they did work out, they would have more energy.

Earlier you alluded to the fact that you like to change up your training routine and set new fitness goals to pursue. What is the rationale for that approach?

MR: It's important to enjoy going to the gym. My ultimate goal is always long-term health. The way to reach that goal is to exercise every day and eat smart. Well, how do you manage to exercise every day? You find something that keeps you interested. Having short-term goals helps you stick to the program, so you can achieve your long-term goal. So I'll do a MAXIMUM GROWTH program and follow that with a Lean System Success Plan program, and sometimes I'll just do a Body-for-LIFE routine for a month.

The thing you want to avoid is waking up in the morning and not knowing what you're going to do in the gym that day. If you wake up in the morning and you don't know what kind of training you're going to do, it's not going to be nearly as effective, and you might even skip your workout altogether.

RS: Where did you find the motivation to stick with your new diet and exercise habits?

MR: I thought of sticking around for my daughter. I didn't want my daughter to grow to be an adult and have me be a health burden on her. It was easy for me to justify not going to the gym every day and not eating six times a day and not taking all that time for myself because I felt like I was taking care of my family. I was working hard, I was earning an income, and I was paying my bills, and that was my main concern. But if you think about it, ultimately the best way to take care of your family is to take care of your health, so you don't saddle your family with your long-term health problems that you may develop as a result of a poor lifestyle. Regardless of what your reasons for being out of shape are, your family is best served if you don't saddle them with those things. So I figured the best thing I could do for my newborn daughter was to take care of myself, so she didn't have to take care of me when she was a young adult. And it's also about setting an example for your family.

RS: Do you ever feel tempted to go back to eating the way you used to?

MR: In truth, I still get cravings. One of the things I crave now that I never used to crave is sugar. I don't know why! I still take a free day, and when I take a free day, I make sure I eat whatever I want. That way during the week I'm not thinking, "Boy, I really feel like eating this; I wish I had had it on my free day." So I plan for my free days as much as I plan for the rest of the week. I think free days are important for helping you stay on the program. There are still times when I eat meals that are not planned out and are not necessarily appropriate for the type of training I'm doing. Sometimes you just can't help it—either you made a bad choice or you didn't have a choice. Most of the time those instances are based on bad planning. But you can't let those minor setbacks alter your routine or your outcome. You just have to stay on the program. It's the long term that's important.

RS: Were you surprised by anything you learned in making your transformation?

MR: One thing I learned that I never thought about beforehand is that where you work out is important, because it will have an impact on whether you stay with it. I very much enjoy the gym I go to now. When I started I was a member of Bally Total Fitness. One day I went there at 6:00 in the morning and found it was closed because it was Sunday. I was really upset. But I remembered hearing about a gym around the corner that was open 24 hours—Lifetime Fitness. I went over there and paid for a day, and I ended up joining that day and have stayed there ever since. I've had much better success there because it's a much better equipped gym.

RS: How has your family reacted to your transformation?

MR: It's really turned into a family thing. Since the time I started, my father has also had a major transformation. He's lost between 60 and 70 lbs. He hasn't missed a day in the gym since he started one year ago. He's really improved his overall health. My sister Angel had a major transformation. She had poor muscle tone before, so she's had really good results with amazing before and after pictures. My brother, Mike, lost about 30 lbs. My other sisters, Michelle and Ginger, have also embraced the program. And my wife goes to the gym regularly now, so she feels much better and is in fantastic shape! The whole family has embraced the lifestyle change.

RS: How has your transformation affected your work?

MR: It's a heck of a lot easier to run upstairs with an air pack on being 60 lbs lighter than it was being 60 lbs heavier! Having strength from the weightlifting has also helped me. We do a lot of patient lifting and things like that so it helps in that area. It just helps all around.

RS: Finally, Marty, how did a shy fellow like you wind up in a TV commercial for Lean System 7?

MR: I sent my before and after pictures to Stephen Adele, and he liked them, so he asked me to come out to Golden, Colorado, and give a testimonial. It was difficult. It's hard to talk in front of the camera about personal things, and to me health and fitness are very personal. But I also found in my experience there that it's important to try and inspire other people to get in shape. So to me it was well worth it, even though it wasn't exactly comfortable for me.

RS: Marty, I have to say, this interview has been really enjoyable. Your story is truly inspiring. Do you have any last words you'd like to leave with us?

MR: I would recommend to anyone who is thinking about starting a transformation to just do it. Pick a plan. Set your course, and start taking action now. Don't wait until it's too late or life has passed you by. There's so much more joy in life when you are physically fit and living healthy. And who knows, if you send your pictures in to Stephen Adele and the team at iSatori, maybe you too will be featured in a TV commercial. Better yet, you'll be a great inspiration to your family, friends, and the people you work with. That, in my opinion, is the greatest reward of all.

Thank you for spending time with me today and for the opportunity to share my story.

A Day in the Life of Marty Reddy

Marty Reddy's new lifestyle represents the perfect balance of time-efficient exercise, healthy eating, and smart supplementation.

6:15 a.m. 1 glass of water with 2 Lean System 7's and 1 Energize energy pill.

6:30 a.m. Cup of coffee

7:00 a.m. Workout (30 minutes cardio or 50 minutes weightlifting)

8:00 a.m. Eat-Smart Nutrition Shake mixed with Meta-CEL

10:00 a.m. Oatmeal and egg white omelet

12:00 p.m. Spinach salad, grilled chicken breasts, apple
2 Lean System 7's, 1 Energize energy pill

3:00 p.m. Eat-Smart Nutrition Shake (Banana Cream Pie is a favorite!)

6:00 p.m. Steak with a sweet potato and a salad

8:00 p.m. Eat-Smart Shake mixed with Meta-CEL

Training by the Book

Now, Marty has energy to spare and loves the way he looks and feels!

Here's an example of a typical one-week exercise schedule for Marty Reddy when he's following Stephen Adele's MAXIMUM GROWTH plan.

Monday
Body Parts Trained: chest, shoulders, triceps

Tuesday
Body Parts Trained: back, triceps, abs

Wednesday
Cardio: high-intensity intervals

Thursday
Body Parts Trained: legs, calves

Friday
Cardio: high-intensity intervals

Saturday
Body Parts Trained: chest, shoulders, triceps

Sunday
Off. No training and eat whatever I want (within reason, of course!)

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