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A little over a year ago, my husband started talking about some guy named Clarence Bass. I listened but did not pay too much attention to the whole thing. My husband was looking for a new workout program and was also interested in changing his diet. It wasn't long before books written by Clarence Bass found their way onto our coffee table and bedside tables. I could tell he was very interested in the books because they started getting dog-eared and crinkled from all the reading and rereading.
Then he decided to try the eating plan and training cycles outlined in the books. The workout part of the deal did not affect me as I am not into weight training (my thing is horses), but... I am the cook for our household so I started paying more attention when he talked about Mr. Bass. Instead of cooking separate meals for us, I decided to give the "eating plan" (I was chastised for calling it a diet) a try. It sounded fairly reasonable to me--unlike many of the fad diets floating around. I especially liked the idea of "eating large."
We officially embarked on our new eating plan during the week of September 20th, 2003, because that is when we bought a scale that measures weight and body fat. My husband is really good at keeping records and workout diaries. I am not! I did memorize my measurements for that week, on the off chance that the eating plan did lower my weight. That week I weighed 179 pounds and my body fat was 47 percent. My motivation for losing weight was, of course, horse related. I thought I would ride better and longer if I was a few pounds lighter.
This is me, at 179 and 47% fat, with Black Jack.
Over the past year, I have lost about one pound of body weight per week. On September 3rd, 2004, I weighed 129 pounds and my body fat was 23 percent. What a difference a year can make! I have more energy and stamina than I have had for years.
I won't pretend that I followed all the recipes and suggestions in the books exactly because that is not reality (I have not actually read the books--maybe this winter!). We both really like the recommended breakfast, "Old Reliable.” It is our favorite meal each day. When I talk to friends about what I eat, many freak out at the idea of black beans for breakfast but it is good and it is only a few tablespoons. I attribute a lot of my weight loss to Old Reliable, because it is easier for me to pass up French fries and donuts when I start my day with such a healthy breakfast. Another staple for me is my PBJ for lunch. I searched our small community for bread with 3 grams of fiber per slice (not an easy task in Elko, Nevada!), add a little peanut butter and fake jelly (no sugar) and I am set. Sometimes I have fruit and yogurt or cottage cheese with the sandwich and sometimes not--depends on how hungry I am that day.
But... one of the
recipes for salmon stew sounded horrible to me; I cook a salmon fillet with
veggies instead. It is just a matter of experimenting with simple, whole
foods to find something that is filling and satisfying.
Another big thing for me is, "you don't get fat from one meal.” If I really want something, I eat it (and fully enjoy every calorie). Then I go right back to our eating plan on the next meal. I just make sure I go out to eat whatever I am craving so additional servings are not readily available in our house.
About a month ago, I complained about my upper body being wimpy. My husband suggested I try adding Heavyhands to my almost daily 3-mile walk. He even ordered The Heavyhands Walking Book by Leonard Schwartz (from Clarence) for me to read. Now, I am swinging and punching for all I’m worth as my dogs chase rabbits through the sagebrush surrounding our house. I am sure the neighbors think I have lost it after eating all that "grain and black beans." BUT my upper body is starting to tone up and I feel healthier. I'm enjoying myself on these jaunts whereas a year ago, I only walked so my dogs could get out and run.
Here I am now, with JJ, at 129 and 23% fat.
Feeling healthy is
what this eating plan is all about as far as I am concerned. It is
impressive to many that I have lost 50 pounds in about 50 weeks. It is
more impressive to me that I have the energy to walk my dogs and ride a horse
3-4 hours a day and then work with another horse or volunteer for our local
handicapped riding program--all before I drive to town to run errands. I
love that I can do more "horse things" because of the weight loss and
energy gain. I plan to train my young horse to run barrels over the
winter, a goal I would not have attempted at my previous weight. Being overweight would not have been fair to the horse in a speed event
such as barrel racing.
Carla Leff,
Elko, Nevada
I've been a runner off and on since I ran my first 5-mile race at 9
or 10. I was inspired to take up the sport by my Aunt and Uncle who encouraged me to
train with them whenever I visited. I continued to
run throughout my teen years, but didn't pay any attention
to diet or training programs. Things were going well until high school when I
suffered a serious injury during a track meet.
My
doctor told me the injury resulted from over-training. I had been training
every day for two months. The track coach taught us that more
training is better. So I trained every day. I averaged about 5-10 miles
per day, not including interval training (I was a sprinter). In spite of what my
doctor said, I was convinced that I got hurt because I hadn't trained enough!
Setting training goals and allowing time to recover were concepts beyond my
16-year-old mindset. "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger" was my
motto. I didn't run on the track team anymore, but continued running on my own.
It would take me over twenty years to learn my lesson.
In
my early twenties, I started to put on some extra weight and could no longer eat the huge quantities of food that I enjoyed as a
teenager. I was never extremely overweight, but I was carrying an extra 25 or 30
pounds. I resorted to sporadic extreme exercise programs.
In college, I got into running in a huge way, running every day and racing most weekends. After college, I would go through manic periods of 50-mile-per-week running programs, along with weight training and near starvation diets. After I lost the weight, I’d get burned out and spend months doing no exercise at all. The weight I lost would always return, and then some. This pattern went on for the next decade or so.
Spring
1997, 193 pounds (age 31)
In
the spring of 2001, I was in one of my periods of inactivity tipping the scales
at over 185 pounds. Again, I decided that an extreme exercise program would make
things right. I began training for the 2001 Baltimore Marathon. I devised a
4-month training program and stuck with it. I completed the race in 5 hours and
17 minutes, hardly a noteworthy time. But I did get satisfaction in finishing.
The last few miles of the course were littered with runners who didn't make it.
I
lost only nine pounds during the four months of rigorous training. Meager considering the effort involved. What’s more, I developed a sore knee that
took almost 18 months to heal, and a sore foot that still hurts.
Baltimore
Marathon, October 20, 2001, 176 pounds (age 36)
I
decided to look for a different perspective on my training. I
found it at Clarence’s website. I bought Lean For Life and read
it enthusiastically. Eventually, I bought and read all of his books. I was
amazed he had managed to train steadily and successfully for so long.
Still,
old habits die-hard. I understood the rationale behind infrequent training, but
just couldn't believe it would work for me. I did buy into Clarence's diet
philosophy, however, and began eating better. After adopting his diet
philosophy, I saw another 10 pounds melt away.
My
weight was stable at 170-180 for about a year--an improvement. I was doing the exercises Clarence recommended,
but still wasn't allowing enough time for recuperation.
I
hadn't grasped the concept of periodization. All my workouts were maximum effort
and were really becoming a chore. Burnout set in once again, nearly sending me
into another period of inactivity. Fortunately, I read Challenge Yourself
again and decided to try Clarence’s two-day per week program.
One activity that Clarence advocates is regular walking to burn fat and speed recuperation. My first reaction was that that wasn’t for me. Walking was something novices and old people did, wasn't it? Wrong! Daily walks can add up to a substantial number of calories.
This past winter and spring, I logged almost 300 miles of walking during my lunch hour, usually 4 days a week. I did a weight session on Saturdays incorporating the principles in his books: multi-joint lifts, periodization, and one work-set per muscle group. On Sunday, I did a hard aerobics session using workouts based on the Tabata and Tremblay protocols, sometimes on a treadmill, sometimes running with a stopwatch.
July 8, 2004,
140 pounds (age 38)
After
only six months on this program, I weigh 140 pounds, have a resting heart rate
under 55--and I wear the same size pants I did when I was 18. I look forward to
working out and don’t have any symptoms of over-training. I still can't
believe how easy it was.
Most
people don't believe it when I tell them that I lost 36 pounds simply by taking
short lunchtime walks, eating healthy food, and working out less. They
assume that I was on that infamous diet that’s so popular these days, or that
I was doing another big running program.
Hard
training still keeps me strong and fit, and provides the challenge I need to
stay motivated. After years of punishing my body with insane exercise programs
and starving myself, I've finally learned to forget about the quick fix and
concentrate on long-term sensible goals.
Infrequent,
high-intensity weights and aerobics and lunchtime walks really worked for me.
And I actually enjoyed it!
Greg Nepini
California, MD
hemlock@chesapeake.net
Ripped Enterprises, P.O. Box 51236, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87181-1236 or street address: 528 Chama, N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108, Phone (505) 266-5858, e-mail: cncbass@aol.com, FAX: (505) 266-9123. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8-5, Mountain time. FAX for international orders: Please check with your local phone book and add the following: 505 266-9123
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