Guest Post from Renegade Inner Circle Member, Chad Proud
Ah, where to start?
I first started training, err, caring about my physical appearance back in 2008. I was 20, and a sophomore in college at the time.
I had always been the scrawny kid growing up, and used to be teased incessantly for it (even by my own family). So much so in fact that I actually felt proud when I weighed 206 lb.
Now, mind you this 206 lb. came from a consistent diet of popcorn chicken dipped in applesauce, Cheetos, cookies and pop (dorm cafeteria favorite). At this time, I did not think it would ever be possible to eat green vegetables on a daily basis.
I didn’t have one eureka moment, that all of the sudden made me want to change, at least none that I can remember. I do, however, remember constantly being embarrassed to walk around without a shirt on. So I decided to start to work-out.
At first, my training consisted of playing basketball at the rec center, and random strength workouts from (insert magazine name here, ahem Men’s Health, ahem). As a beginner I did make progress and lost a significant amount of weight, down to 168 pounds.
Patience is not my strong suit though, and I constantly struggled with what exactly I was trying to accomplish. One summer, I would wake up at 5 in the morning before work and do a pretty intense strength session (deadlifts, squats, etc.) and then when I got home from work I would run 4-5 miles as if I were trying to become an endurance athlete.
During this time my diet cleaned up considerably. I discovered green vegetables, but it was still too carbohydrate heavy. Also, the sources for carbohydrates were poor (bread, pasta, etc.). I also thought that since I was training and eating better that I could eat more, but my diet education was still not great so I was eating more of “bad” things.
At the start of my Senior year of college, I bought a book by Men’s Health (can’t remember the name), that had various training programs developed by respectable strength and conditioning coaches. I chose one that resembled a Renegade program (deads, squats, chins, etc.).
Training on this program really helped me fall in love with training. I found out that it is truly fun to lift heavy shit. I trained on this for a majority of my senior year, and I also discovered interval training during this time period. Despite all of this, by the time I graduated I was frustrated. I still considered myself fat, but instead of being more critical of my diet I focused on my training. So I decided to give P90X a go.
During the process of completing P90X, I found a job (I am a mechanical engineer), which was important because I was now independent to choose my own diet choices. While I was on P90X I lost fat, but other than that I didn’t enjoy the program or the style of workouts.
After I finished, I was essentially free-wheeling my workouts, mixing and mashing all of the things I had done in the previous few years. One day I discovered Jay, through Craig Ballantyne on Twitter.
When I first read Jay’s blog, I couldn’t stand him (because everything he was saying, was exactly the opposite of everything I had been doing). One day a little over a year ago, due to my frustration with my lack of progress, I did the first smart thing I had ever done training wise and purchased Muscle Gaining Secrets.
Finally, training was fun again. Like I said earlier, and Jay has said many times, lifting heavy shit is fun. The more and more I enjoyed training on MGS, the more inclined I was to read and follow Jay’s lifestyle and diet opinions. I began to buy and eat only organic foods. Though there were still things I held back on; proper warm-ups, meditation, types of carbohydrates, proper sleep, and so on.
At the beginning of 2012, my resolution or commitment to myself, was to try and live the healthiest and happiest lifestyle possible.
Part of that was fully engrossing myself in the “Renegade Method”. Instead of using the same old excuses “I don’t need to do that”, “That costs too much money”, “There’s not enough time for that”, I am now meditating, doing mobility 5-7 times a week, and performing a proper warm-up each and every time.
I have honestly never felt better in my life.
The Renegade Method has allowed me to make leaps in the gym I would have never made on my own, but more importantly thanks to the Renegade Diet and Lifestyle plan, I will be able to achieve optimal health for the rest of my life!
The only regret I have is not finding the Renegade Plan sooner, but I am just happy to be able to live a happy life by following the Renegade guidelines today, and for the rest of my life.
Sincerely,
Chad Proud
PS. Want to be featured in our weekly success stories? Email your experience with The Renegade Method to info [at] jasonferruggia.com with the subject: Success Story. We’re looking for 350-1000 words and 1-3 pics at either 615 x 346 or 270 x 345. If we use yours we’ll send you a free t-shirt.
