I was heavily involved in the bodybuilding community in Vancouver and Victoria and eventually created a forum called westcoastfitness.ca where we shared stories, tips, and discussed our different training methods, supplements, and diets. I had seen great success in growth from many different programs by Chad Waterbury  and I had managed to pack over 50lbs on myself, but I was by no means healthy.

In 2007 a close friend of mine that I had originally introduced to bodybuilding started a high intensity training program called CrossFit. Everything I had spent the last 5 years learning about training was considered BS according to this program. The idea was ‘constantly varied, functional movements, performed at high intensity’. All the movements were compound movements (always using more than 1 muscle at a time) and you were typically working almost your entire body everyday. He could be in and out of the gym in 20min when I was there for 1.5 hours on average. I called BS on the whole program.

Cut to 6 months later. My friend had been following the CrossFit program pretty avidly and I had continued to make fun of him and stuck to my typical training of back bis and chest tris (usually skipping leg days out of fear of hurting myself sqautting, its dangerous you know??? :S ) we decided to do a 1 rep max deadlift together. At 165lbs bodyweight my CrossFit friend managed to pickup 465lbs almost with ease, at 245lbs bodyweight I barely got it off the ground. I immediately turned to him and said “alright… wtf is this program, I want in”.

CrossFit Changed my Life

I’m not going to sit here and rant and rave about how amazing CrossFit is and what it has done for me, anyone who knows me is probably already tired of hearing about it. The results speak for themselves.

Many clients and friends I deal with comment that they ‘cant do CrossFit’ because it’s ‘too intense’ or ‘too hard’ when they see videos and photos of me doing it. Something I constantly point out that people need to keep in mind is I do CrossFit Competitively. To me it is a sport. I train at a level that might not even be considered healthy by many as during competition season (months prior to the CrossFit Games) I put my body through all kinds of ridiculous abuse in order to be as strong and fast as possible. This is not the norm in CrossFit. Most people who do Crossfit (including my mother who is 50+) do it to stay in shape. Why go to the gym and spend 30min on the elliptical when you can get better results in a community environment where it’s FUN to exercise and different everytime you walk in the door. You don’t need to be ‘fit’ to do CrossFit, because that’s what it is used for. Checkout this post by CrossFit Maximum about common misconceptions. 

Whether you come join me in training at CrossFit BC or you want me to put together a program for you to follow at your own gym. I have years of experience in the field and I have both gotten results and given them to many clients. Let me help you transform your body to be healthier, stronger, and faster, because trust me… it makes all aspects of life that much easier.

My Diet Story

I’m not going to get too heavily into the details of WHY the diets I discuss here work. For more information on that keep your eyes on the blogs health category. Instead I will tell you about what I’ve done, why it works for me, and why we can make it work for you. What people don’ t seem to understand is training alone will NOT get you the results you are looking for. As a matter of fact many would argue (myself included) that your results will come from your diet before your training routine. What does that mean? It means I don’t care how hard you train or what you do, if you’re not eating well you might as well stop.

The Paleolithic Diet

Paleo is one of those things  (like CrossFit) if you know me, you’re probably tired of hearing about it. CrossFit alone did not help me get from 250lbs to 200lbs while increasing my strength and stamina. Yes CrossFit is magical, but it’s a good solid clean diet that will get you to your health and wellness (and aesthetic) goals.

Rather than wasting your time writing pages and pages about the paleolithic diet I’m going to show you two videos that explain it all. The first on the left is Robb Wolf, auther of The Paleolithic solution aka the diet bible. If you really want to understand the Diet in order to make your own decisions about what to eat and not to eat I highly suggest picking up a copy of this book and giving it a read. Learn how and why our diets control our bodies including autoimmune diseases, fat, energy levels, brain function, and general physical performance. The other video I have included here is a very quick rundown of the Paleolithic Diet and how it works.

 Visalus

I believe the Paleolithic Diet is without question your best option for health. Over the years that I have preached and used this diet though I have come up against a number of complaints from clients. One being “it’s too hard” or “I don’t understand”. Although these are pathetic excuses I have heard them enough times that I decided it was time to look into other options to help people get off on the right foot. Enter Visalus and the Vi-Shake.

Why Visalus?

Although the Paleolithic diet does not promote liquid meals (aka shakes) I have personally found there are many times throughout the day where it’s just too difficult to find a good wholesome meal, and I’m starving. The Visalus Shakes are a healthy alternative to many of the other terrible options that are out there. It cal also be used as a meal replacement shake to help assist in weightloss or healthy weight gain.

Weight Loss

The Vi-Shakes primary goal is to end this ridiculous obesity epidemic we seem to be facing. By replacing 1 or 2 meals a day with Vi-Shakes you can lower your caloric intake while still consuming all the nutrients needed for a healthy and balanced meal. I have dealt with many clients from a plethora of background (diabetic, lactose intolerant, obese, athletic, etc) who have seen amazing results from the product. I watched many close friends get amazing results which is why I eventually decided to investigate the product further.

Performance/Weight Gain

Weight Loss is not on my list of to-dos right now. As mentioned before I compete in CrossFit and my goals are purely performance based. For that reason I supplement Vi-Shakes into my Paleolithic diet in order to add some extra calories and nutrients to an already nutrient dense daily diet. I have seen great results and I find the shakes to be an awesome alternative to many of the cheap protein supplements I was taking before. Plus since I referred 3 people I get protein, Fish oil, and daily multi vitamins for FREE! (Contact me to find out how you can get yours free too).

For more information about the Visalus product line check click here.  Contact Me  through this website or My Visalus Page for any other questions or concerns about the product line.

For information on the Paleolithic Diet checkout Robb Wolf’s page.

 The blog will get regular updates on Diet, Fitness, and training so make sure you checkout or subscribe to the Health Category.