One year = 113lbs DESTROYED

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Big Bald Mike

About a year ago, I was a miserable person and I was in terrible pain… my body was broken down, and had some serious issues going on internally that I was not aware of unfortunately. I got some work scrapping copper out of old air conditioners around mid-January of 2012, and one day took a load of scrap metal to the junkyard to sell, and decided to step on the big weighing scales there (my scale only goes to 500lbs), and was shocked to read that it said 571 – I was sick to think that I had gotten to be almost 600lbs!!!

I knew it was a mater of time before I was going to die, and I knew I had some serious diet issues to address. Even though I thought I was a vegan, I really wasnt – when I first made the choice to be vegan in June 2010, I started out eating lots of fruits and vegetables, but soon started giving in to my junk food addiction and was going for all the meat substitutes like Morning Star products, and hitting all the amazing vegan junk/comfort food trailers that Austin, TX has to offer, not really the best thing for a compulsive overeater like myself. Believe it or not, I went from 419lbs in June of 2010, to 571lbs in January of 2012 – I gained 152lbs of bodyfat in 1.5 years because I was STILL eating DAIRY and EGG products in the vegan junk food!!! I kicked myself in the face wondering why I was gaining so much weight, and felt even dumber knowing that I was not reading the labels on packages to make sure they were COMPLETELY animal free.

So there you have my confession in stupidity, and as a result I almost died of heart disease.

Okay, I step on the scale at 571lbs and start doing my best to eat cleaner – all I ate was apples and peanuts, salads with lots of veggies, and “healthier” vegan frozen food like Amy’s burritos. By the time I met Dr. Linda Carney in late March, I was down to 538lbs. Most of you know the story from there if you have followed my updates..

The journey from 538lbs to 491lbs was a DIFFICULT and draining process, but once I got under 500lbs, the energy surge I had was unbelieveable!! That energy has only increased now that I am down to 458lbs

571lbs to 458lbs in one year – all (mostly haha) whole food vegan cooking and my journey is just getting started

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Helping others find their strength

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

One of the coolest things I get to experience in the gym is watching people train to be their best…. during our training sessions at Bonebreaker Barbell, I have had the glory of watching small-framed men and women with hardly any weight training experience move remarkable amounts of weight. Seeing the dedication to building a stronger body in these people motivates me to achieve more… this is exactly why I have an extreme hardcore gym with heavy duty equipment, but the lifters here are mostly just average people that want to improve their lives – we grunt and growl as we force ourselves thru agony, for the high that is obtained naturally. I believe in doing so, our spirits are nutritious for other people who need to feed off of enthusiasm… lifting HARD no matter how HEAVY the weight might be is all that matters.

I encourage you to spread the goodness and nourish other people around you… we all need to be inspired

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Ladies and gentleman, meet Dr. Linda Carney, MD

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Last week I stopped by Dr. Linda Carney’s office in Buda, TX for lunch. I was anxious to get there because usually it is them (Dr. Carney and her husband Sean) who feed me lunch, but this time I did the cooking! It is always a joy to be in their office, being welcomed by the smell of fresh whole foods cooking in the kitchen, which is a unique sensation going into a doctor’s office.

I haven’t seen them much this summer, because I was driving a taxi 15-18 hours a day. But when I bumped into them at Rip Esselstyn’s potluck last week (http://engine2diet.com/), I knew I had to make some time to go see Dr. Carney and Sean. After all, they are responsible for me giving me my health back earlier this year- by completely changing my dietary habits and encouraging me to exercise. and providing an educational setting that helped build a foundation of knowledge to the reasons why I should avoid foods with oils, sugars, dairy, meat, and caffeine products.

Here is a picture of what whole-food plant nutrition looks like at Dr. Carney’s office last Friday:

The menu included brown rice, black bean/kale stew, yucca root and my signature pico de gallo. I attribute my good feelings to making this pico everyday and eating it by itself or on top of anything. Simple recipe all you need is:

5-6 roma tomatoes (chopped)

1 small red onion (chopped)

6-7 cloves of garlic (minced)

1-2 jalapeno or serrano peppers (chopped)

huge handful of cilantro (chopped)

juice from 3-4 limes

put all ingredients in bowl and mix together – eat – have a fiesta – whatever makes you happy, it is that easy!

I’m gonna be going back to their office this week, and plan on making lunch again for these two incredibly beautiful, caring people that have done so much for me physically, spiritually and emotionally. If you feel inspired please contact them at www.allmedphysicians.com

Happy healthy eating to you all!

- Big Bald Mike

 

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Mercy for Animals interview!!!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Wow! I am very fortunate to be recognized for taking a stand on animal cruelty, and as a vegan athlete!

Here is the blog post on Mercy for Animals website:

http://www.mfablog.org/2012/05/meet-big-bald-mike-the-vegan-arm-wrestler.html

Aside from the awesome news, let’s talk about today’s training sessions that took place at Bone Breaker Barbell…….

After spending all day in Austin trying to get all my paperwork to be a cab driver, I made it home in time to train my first client and kicked her butt haha…….after she left my Gina and our friend Megan wanted me to train them – but I only slept 3.5 hrs last night, so I was ready to crash! But some force inside me rose up and I ended up going out there (Bone Breaker Barbell – my home gym) in the 95 degree humid ass weather and we all blasted chest together……damn glad I went out there and shoved some iron around……..I’ll sleep good tonight!

Happy Health to you all!!!!

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Back on my regimen

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Down to 495lbs now and feeling STRONG – that’s 76lbs I’ve lost since January eating plants and lifting BIG

Well after a rough week and a half, I am very much “back on my workouts……..back on my regimen…….back on my weight loss……back on my discipline…….back to the gym again…….back on my vitamins…….back on my training…….feeling stronger than i’ve ever been” (lyrics courtesy of stic.man from the album “The Workout”)

That damn vegan pizza splurge shure did a doozy on my metabolism, mental state, everything……….NO MORE………now that I have detoxed off the processed junk (although cruelty-free), it just feels good to be back on track with dark leafy greens and black beans!

I was fired up to hit traps and arms tonight……after blasting 4 sets of dumbbell shrugs with the 143′s for so many reps I couldnt count, my traps had a good pump and it was time to blast some arms including some 123lb curls on the arm-wrestling table!

Gina tore up some iron as well doing 65lb dumbbell shrugs and 100lb stack on tricep pressdowns!!!

After a great training session we fed our bodies with black beans, garlic, tomatoes, swiss chard, cilantro, and whole grain bread……dessert was an orange

I feel jacked up, hands are throbbing and rough but damn it feels good to be back on my regimen…

Stay healthy and strong my friends.

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Gorilla Strength and Leafy Greens……training with pretty girls…….fun fun fun

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

For those of you that want to be strong, I’m living proof that you can have freaky strength from eating plants…….just like a big bad gorilla

Had a great workout tonight with my Gina and the incredible Michelle! It was a warm 95 degrees in the garage gym, but we still got our pump on……Gina and Michelle are starting to get definition and it was popping tonight on their shoulder workout!

No food today except celery and some kale, but I still went out there and lifted over 25,000lbs total on shoulders and triceps – a fun formula to use to impress your friends and show how much weight you lift in one workout is to multiply each set you do like this: number of reps x the weight used – add the sets together and BOOM — big ass weight to brag about, and motivate your thinking that our bodies are capable of handling an extreme amount of weight in a short amount of time!

I did 135lbs on shoulder presses for over 200 reps haha…….so do the math and you’ll see that gorilla strength is possible by eating leafy greens

And pretty girls like to hang around this gorilla in the gym, so it makes sense ;)

TRAIN HARD. EAT YOUR GREENS. BE WELL.

 

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Feeling tired? Depressed? Unmotivated? That’s how I felt today too……until I demanded suffering upon myself

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Yeahhhhh buddy! Having a shitty day has a prescription – EXERCISE HARD!!!

Today I woke up unmotivated, tired, depressed, lazy, heavy, gravitationally challenged, but as soon as I hit the gym I turned it all around! And now I feel relaxed, pumped, calm, happy and glad that I went to the gym and won the battle with myself…..

Didn’t feel the need to go real heavy, especially on chest days…… I have a real attitude about doing chest because my whole life all I ever hear is how much ya bench? How much ya bench? How much ya bench? How much ya bench? Etc…….if you saw me do easy REPS on barbell curls with 233lbs, rows with 455lbs, shoulder presses with 315lbs, trap bar deadlifts with 720lbs,  then maybe you would leave me alone and ask someone else how much they bench…..grrrrrrr to hell with bench press – back strength and forearm power is what gets me fired up!

But since some people are interested in what kind of weights I throw around, this is what my chest workout was like tonight:

Incline Bench in the power rack – 333lbs for 2 sets of 8-10 reps

- 229lbs for 3 sets of 17-19 reps

- 133lbs for 2 sets of 33-50 reps

Dumbbell flys on the ground – 75lbs for 3 sets of 8-13 reps

Cable chest squeezes (one arm) – 100lb stack for 3 sets of 10 reps

Why the random reps and odd drop sets? Well, I felt like crap when I got to the gym – just kinda went thru the motions with no focus, but by the time I got to cable squeezes I was feeling great! And my chest had a hell of a pump! Like I said on facebook, “Dumbbell flys on the ground haha……a painless end to a painful chest workout……I can’t even lift my arms……stay tuned, BLOG coming tonight about training chest on NO energy! Success is fucking mental chief – just DO IT”

That’s what I’m asking of you……just go out there and DO IT – you will feel better my friend

Take care all,

Big Bald Mike

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Putting an end to murder – the reason I don’t want to drive anymore

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Nature is so damn beautiful……here in central Texas the wildflowers are a bloomin’, birds and bees are singing and buzzing, and the most miraculous form of life on our planet is being murdered everyday :(

Because them beautiful butterflies are busy checking out all the flowers on the edge of our roadways, they don’t always get out of the way of our vehicles and it makes me sad……. I feel like I am in a race car game trying to dodge them, but still can’t avoid all of them dammit! >:(

I’m thinking about getting a horse and buggy and running my city errands Amish-style……… I just can’t stand the thought of disrupting the metamorphosis of a beautiful butterflies’ short life….

 

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Climbing a mountain and lifting 500lbs on an empty stomach

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

NEVER underestimate the power within your own heart to push past pain, hunger, and weather to do something like………climbing a damn mountain! We (fiancee’ and myself) started out the morning with a heavy duty back workout consisting of deadlifts, rows, and pulldowns

Gina is on a mission to lift heavy weights, and has a personal best pull of 218lbs! But today I had her do less weight and more volume, working up to pulling a single with 191lbs…… meanwhile I worked up to an easy pull of 507lbs on the trap bar deadlift……felt light and easy, but I’m lifting only two weeks off a severe back injury (sacro-iliac sprain)

Back in 2010 (when I went vegan) I was pulling over 700lbs for reps on trap bar deadlifts, haha I remember having to use a ratchet strap to hold all the weights on each side because the plate arm wasn’t long enough to fit ‘em all……..I’ll be back to those in no time ;)

After finishing up with some light rows and pulldowns, we hopped in the truck and headed to Wimberley (beautiful Texas Hill Country town) to climb the enchanted Mt Baldy……..a terraced climb of about 300ft……..last time I did it in February, it took me 22 minutes……today I got to the top in 12 minutes!!!

Things are looking and feeling good even after a weekend splurge on tasty vegan food haha, but as you can see – we are back on track!!!

 

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30 days – 42lbs lost

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Big Bald Mike

Well, I have been on Dr. Carney’s whole food, plant-based diet since 3/19/12, and weigh 498lbs now……. started at 538lbs

This eating lifestyle of beans, leafy greens, and whole grains is working wonders for my body – NO HUNGER, NO FATIGUE, and MORE energy than I know what to do with! After initially being diagnosed with diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, and a heart murmur, I am very glad to say that all of those conditions have started to reverse for the better! Pending blood work in two months, I expect to have better than average results – I just feel WAY too good

But I must confess that I ate some processed food this weekend (vegan pizza, vegan tacos) and had quite a bit of willpower to not go overboard and stuff myself to the point of popping, but nonetheless, regret breaking my 30 day championship of lean, clean eating :(

I am fallable as a human, and while I will continue to pat myself on the back for not eating 5 pizzas in one sitting, I am fucking determined to get back on track Monday morning (about 6 hours from now) – starting out the day with a heavy back and bicep workout then climbing Mt Baldy in Wimberly TX…….yeah, a 500lb vegan climbing a mountain is pretty cool haha

Adzuki beans – kale – and fresh fruit is on the breakfast menu for tomorrow yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

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