BODY & MIND
Ask Billy Bean: Wanting a Perfect Body
Welcome to a new edition of RealJock.com's "Ask Billy" column with sports and life advice from Billy Bean, former professional athlete and author of "Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life in and Out of Major League Baseball." Do you have a question for Billy? Send him an email at billy@realjock.com.
Dear Billy,
I have been working out at a gym five times a week with a trainer. Additionally, I run every morning three times a week for about an hour, [and] I play tennis half afternoons a week (usually for about five hours - eight sets of tennis).
I have always wanted arms like tree trunks, a chest that you could crack walnuts on, abs that well ... let's not go there!
I have been taking supplements (I avoid steroids), my diet is good, [and] I cut out the vino (don't drink beer). So my question is—why don't I have a great body?
My trainer says that I have come along way since we started—I have noticed that yes I have improved my fitness level and have some sort of a shape. But after doing this for almost a year—why don't I have the body of a Greek Adonis?
I need your help and advice. Greatly appreciate your assistance.
Cheers mate,
Rob
Dear Rob,
First of all, let me say that I think your workout regimen is incredible. If you are able to continue such a diverse, thorough routine, I am sure your body will respond tremendously.
I have met many people in the gym over the years, and your question is a common one. Impatience often creeps in after the first initially quick results, and we all want to be perfect and look like the images we see on TV, the movies, or in sporting events.
Retraining your body is not as easy as it sounds. Almost every athlete starts competing very young (I started at age seven), so by the time we are adults our bodies have become used to the extreme workouts while our metabolisms have learned how to function at a very high rate. You need to think long term. Long-term consistency is the key to doing anything well, and diet and exercise are no exception. For example, I always tell my friends that if you want to run 10 miles a week, it's much better to run two miles five times per week than 10 miles once a week.
It sounds to me like you have high goals, and are probably a perfectionist. You have to remember that you have no control over your genes, and that all people are not the same (thankfully!). So accepting both your strengths and limitations will help you stay strong mentally, and help you also keep a positive attitude.
You have started taking your exercise seriously. Remember that your age and what you eat will have a huge impact on the way your body looks as well. Most fitness experts will tell you that if you are exercising at least three days a week, then it becomes all about your diet. Note that doesn't mean "dieting"; it means what types of food you are eating, how much of those foods, and how often.
My first dietary advice is always the same (and easy to remember): Eat the same things you always do, but drink water instead of everything else. I guarantee you will lose significant weight or your body will become much leaner and your skin will look better than it ever has. The reason your body will respond to replacing other fluids with water is because so much of what people drink has tons of sugar in it. Sugar is the main reason so many people carry excess weight. I believe it is a drug, just like nicotine or alcohol. Keeping your sugar intake to a minimum will help you achieve gains much faster than killing yourself in the gym, on the tennis court, or jogging.
Set small goals in shorter periods of time, and feel really great about reaching them. Expecting to have six percent body fat and a six pack under your shirt immediately is not fair to you, and most likely impossible. It's all about being the best you can be. Your determination is inspiring, and I find myself attracted to people like that.
So share the wealth, stay motivated, and keep it up! We're all in this together.
Billy Bean
Miami Beach
Dear Billy,
I have been working out at a gym five times a week with a trainer. Additionally, I run every morning three times a week for about an hour, [and] I play tennis half afternoons a week (usually for about five hours - eight sets of tennis).
I have always wanted arms like tree trunks, a chest that you could crack walnuts on, abs that well ... let's not go there!
I have been taking supplements (I avoid steroids), my diet is good, [and] I cut out the vino (don't drink beer). So my question is—why don't I have a great body?
My trainer says that I have come along way since we started—I have noticed that yes I have improved my fitness level and have some sort of a shape. But after doing this for almost a year—why don't I have the body of a Greek Adonis?
I need your help and advice. Greatly appreciate your assistance.
Cheers mate,
Rob
Dear Rob,
First of all, let me say that I think your workout regimen is incredible. If you are able to continue such a diverse, thorough routine, I am sure your body will respond tremendously.
I have met many people in the gym over the years, and your question is a common one. Impatience often creeps in after the first initially quick results, and we all want to be perfect and look like the images we see on TV, the movies, or in sporting events.
Retraining your body is not as easy as it sounds. Almost every athlete starts competing very young (I started at age seven), so by the time we are adults our bodies have become used to the extreme workouts while our metabolisms have learned how to function at a very high rate. You need to think long term. Long-term consistency is the key to doing anything well, and diet and exercise are no exception. For example, I always tell my friends that if you want to run 10 miles a week, it's much better to run two miles five times per week than 10 miles once a week.
It sounds to me like you have high goals, and are probably a perfectionist. You have to remember that you have no control over your genes, and that all people are not the same (thankfully!). So accepting both your strengths and limitations will help you stay strong mentally, and help you also keep a positive attitude.
You have started taking your exercise seriously. Remember that your age and what you eat will have a huge impact on the way your body looks as well. Most fitness experts will tell you that if you are exercising at least three days a week, then it becomes all about your diet. Note that doesn't mean "dieting"; it means what types of food you are eating, how much of those foods, and how often.
My first dietary advice is always the same (and easy to remember): Eat the same things you always do, but drink water instead of everything else. I guarantee you will lose significant weight or your body will become much leaner and your skin will look better than it ever has. The reason your body will respond to replacing other fluids with water is because so much of what people drink has tons of sugar in it. Sugar is the main reason so many people carry excess weight. I believe it is a drug, just like nicotine or alcohol. Keeping your sugar intake to a minimum will help you achieve gains much faster than killing yourself in the gym, on the tennis court, or jogging.
Set small goals in shorter periods of time, and feel really great about reaching them. Expecting to have six percent body fat and a six pack under your shirt immediately is not fair to you, and most likely impossible. It's all about being the best you can be. Your determination is inspiring, and I find myself attracted to people like that.
So share the wealth, stay motivated, and keep it up! We're all in this together.
Billy Bean
Miami Beach
orestes wrote:
Carbs, sugar - it's all about the glycemic response of the body to what you eat, and insulin is the key. Eat more food that your body converts to glucose (sucrose, fructose and simple carbs, think starch, convert fastest) than what your body requires immediately, and your body stores the excess as fat. So, what you eat and WHEN you eat it are both important. I maintain 5% or less body fat, and this is what I've learned. Just say "adios" to sweets, processed foods with sugar (read the labels: high fructose corn syrup is in just about everything), white flour, white rice, white potatoes, beer, most fruit other than berries. Eat high protein foods (meat, fish, eggs, cheese), complex carbs (sprouted grain breads, brown rice), low sugar fruits like blueberries, raspberries, vegetables other than most root vegetables. Eat balanced meals and try to keep carb intake highest before you workout. On the calorie side, find out how many you take in now, and cut it by about 15%. Use protein shakes, take CLA and alpha lipoic acid as directed. Keep up the cardio. You WILL get lean.
Aug 01 5:46 PM
Gonzo wrote:
All carbs are the enemy , to loose weight you have to watch your carbs keep them to a minimum,the fat on the body is mainly carbohydrate converted to body fat,the only way to loose weight is low carb intake thats why low fat diets dont work,and loads of steady cardio,we need fat for the gall bladder to function properly other wise you get cholestasis a very painfull condition indeed needing in many cases surgery.
Aug 01 2:38 PM
tomtaz1 wrote:
HOW DO YOU GET RED OF YOUR BELLYFAT AND KEEP IT OFF.i WORK ALL THE TIME BUT I CANT' LOSE THE FAT PLEASE HELP.iTRYED TO GET MUSCLE TO PUT THE HARD I TRY I JUST CANT' GET ANY
Jul 29 1:35 AM
Navyguy wrote:
hmmm...last i read, sugar has calories...lots of it. to say cutting calories without including sugar into the equation is erroneous in itself. perhaps you are generalizing the advice from billy, but i think you're splitting hairs, here.
Jul 28 3:24 AM
DiverScience wrote:
Excess of *anything* causes you to get fat (well except water). Saying, "only drink water" will cut your calories, but so will cutting *anything* out of your diet. So, like I said, it's good advice (cut calories) but the reasoning (cutting sugar will make you lose weight) is not. Cutting *calories* will make you lose weight, not sugar.
Jul 27 1:35 PM
Navyguy wrote:
Well duh, diver. Yes, the body produces sugars, and requires it; but that was never in question from Billy. Sugar may not be of the devil, as you exaggerated, but excessive amounts of it certainly doesn't do a body good. And I read that loud and clear from Billy's advice AND reasoning. Common sense tells us that what we put into our bodies is as important as exercise. Poor eating habits and a troubling pattern in the American diet is all that needs to be said about the state of today's youth. Just walk by a playground and see the number of fat kids gathered around school-sponsored candy and soda vending machines.
Jul 27 12:30 PM
DiverScience wrote:
The advice itself is fine. But the reasoning? Completely erroneous.
Sugar is not the devil, if it was we'd all be dead. Our bodies *run* on sugar. Glucose. What are carbs? Complex sugars, big strings of them. What does your body make protein into when it needs fuel? Sugar. Fat? Yep body turns it into... sugar.
The only reason reducing your sugar intake will cause you to lose weight is if you're not calculating that sugar into your daily calorie intake. It's dietary sugar just like your piece of toast is.
Jul 26 7:51 PM