| Irony
at its best: A Personal Trainer pushes Gluttony
to the Extreme! 40 lbs gained in 4 Days! |
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Let me introduce myself:
I’m Brock Picken, a graduate of Brock University
with a degree in Sports & Exercise Management,
and a successful personal trainer (and yes, I’ve
heard every Brock at Brock joke!). My life is
focused around health and nutrition, and running
my own personal training |
b usiness. I have a passion for fitness, and strive to
make a difference in many people’s lives.
My favourite radio station for years has been “102.1
The Edge”, particularly the Dean Blundell Show.
They’ve been running a contest for a few years now,
and each is based on one of the seven deadly sins. Recently,
the latest contest was “The Wheel of Gluttony”.
Believe it or not, I am known among my family and friends
as having a large appetite, and am not ashamed (nor proud)
to admit that I have been kicked out of several all-you-can-eat
restaurants (It’s a good thing I work out!). So
I decided that this was my contest to win!
The challenge I chose to enter was ‘weight gain’.
Whoever gained the most weight in one week qualified for
a chance to win $10, 000, a 2004 MazdaSpeed Miata and
a 2005 Mazda Tribute! I decided I’d have to pull
out all the stops! For the first two days I depleted myself
of water (much like I do when I prepare for a bodybuilding
show), and ate little to no carbs. Sodium was also eliminated
from my diet. I took herbal diuretics and jogged on the
treadmill for a couple hours a day to flush the remaining
fluids from my system (I actually dropped close to 15
lbs doing this). My official weight Wednesday night at
the radio station was 164 lbs. Then the eating began!
I actually had a strategy for the next four days. I must
admit, this is where my knowledge of nutrition paid off
(literally). As much as it may seem like I pigged out,
everything I did involved slowing down my metabolism as
much as possible. First of all, I stopped working out.
Exercise burns calories. Secondly, I slept very little
(probably two or three hours a night). A good night’s
sleep also boosts your metabolism. Third, I eliminated
vitamins, water, and caffeine from my diet (all of which
also boost metabolism). And fourth, I ate the most calorie-dense
foods possible (ex. 6-10 white bagels a day), mainly later
in the evening. As my regular diet usually consists of
a healthy balance between protein, complex carbs, and
healthy fats (which keeps my insulin controlled), I decided
that consuming mainly simple carbs would be the quickest
way to gain weight (by spiking my insulin, letting it
crash, then spiking it again). Alcohol was consumed at
night also in large amounts (for extra calories, naturally).
Saturated and trans fats were the next most important
components to gain weight, mainly in the form of fast
food burgers and fries (McDonalds was visited three times
a day, ordering up to six cheeseburgers at a time). 15
grams of creatine a day was also consumed to help retain
fluids. I drank chocolate milk by the litre, and loads
of juice or pop right before bed. As much fun as this
sounds, I felt horrible. However, going to Hooters for
chicken wings and beer was probably the most fun part
of this diet! After the first day, I had gained a whopping
24 lbs!
I continued this pattern for the next few days. Each day
I felt more sluggish, bloated, and wanted to do nothing
but nap. Extra weight became noticeable in my face and
stomach. My hands even became puffy due to the massive
amount of sodium my body was holding from the fast food,
and my vascularity and muscle definition disappeared completely.
My girlfriend had fun pinching my new ‘love handles’.
My mood changed as quickly as my insulin spiked (I was
not the most pleasant person to be around). Stomach aches
and headaches were present throughout my binge –
things I hardly ever experience being as healthy as I
am.
The final night before the weigh-in was Thanksgiving dinner,
which could not have worked out any better! Red wine washed
down handfuls of cheese and crackers before the main course.
Two plates of mashed potatoes and three heaping servings
of turkey was just the beginning. The next three huge
plates consisted of home-made lasagna and turkey stuffing.
Desert was six pieces of pie, which nearly made me sick.
Later that night my step-brother forced chocolate cake
down my throat, until I passed out. I awoke in my recliner
the following morning holding a bottle of coke and a half-eaten
piece of cake.
The morning of the weigh-in I did a sodium-load. This
was by far the toughest part of the diet. I poured salt
straight from the box into my mouth, and then downed a
bottle of water. Within two hours of awakening, I had
consumed almost half a box of salt and 14 bottles of water.
I thought my bladder was going to explode!
As I entered the studio I approached the morning show
guys (Dean, Jason, and Todd) and showed them a bodybuilding
picture of myself, to show what my physique normally looks
like. Then I lifted up my shirt. My stomach stuck out
so much Dean nearly fell off his chair with laughter.
Todd couldn’t believe it! I stepped on the scale,
and to my surprise was well over 200 lbs! I couldn’t
even believe it! Over the course of four days I had gained
40 lbs, or 25% of my total body weight! This qualified
me for a spot on the wheel, along with 41 other people.
The final spin to determine the Grand prize winner was
two weeks away.
Over the next two weeks I was nothing but 100% confident
that I was going to win The Wheel of Gluttony. My friends,
family, and clients were all proud of me for qualifying,
but some were very skeptical that I would win. After all,
how could my odds be better than any one else on the wheel?
On the Monday of the final week, I received a phone call
from TD Bank. It turned out that I had won a $200 gift
certificate to Canadian Tire, from a draw I had entered
a few weeks earlier. As silly as it sounds, this had to
be an omen. I decided I would start off the week winning
something, and finish off the week the same way. I maintained
this attitude all week. The night before the final spin
I told my step-brother that I would come pick him up from
work the next day in my new sports car.
As I drove to the studio the morning of the final spin,
Dean and the guys announced that the wheel was numbered
1 through 42, and each person was assigned a number. I
thought to myself that it would be great if I was number
33, as this is my lucky number. When I entered the studio
I found the board with all the names, and sure enough,
I was number 33! I had goose bumps. This was it, I was
going to win! Minutes before the spin, someone commented
that it was odd that a few people had not showed up. Todd
even said “I have a bad feeling it’s going
to land on someone who’s not here”.
Then it was time! Alan Cross (the Producer) spun the wheel,
and as it slowed down, my heart sank. It was nowhere near
my number. The wheel slowed, and then finally stopped
on number 3. After a couple seconds of silence, someone
shouted, “He’s not here!!!!!!” The studio
erupted!!! Everyone went nuts!!! Dean shouted “We’re
going to spin the son-of-a-bitch again!!!!!” And
they did. The second spin seemed like it took forever
to stop. As it finally slowed down, I couldn’t believe
my eyes! Here comes my number! And it’s……..33!!!!
I went nuts! I jumped around the studio yelling and screaming!
I won! I couldn’t believe it! When they calmed me
down and asked me how I was feeling, unfortunately all
I could manage to say was “Holy S*#T!”, which
apparently you can’t say on the air!
Was it fate? Maybe. Was it luck? Probably, but I’d
like to think that this happened for a reason. Many of
my clients have told me that good things happen to good
people. I am now debt free and able to pour more time
and energy into my personal training business (which is
called Brock’s Ultimate Fitness – B.U.F. for
short). And in case any one was wondering, it took me
one week to get back to my normal weight again! I am having
a web site made, which will be launching soon. I encourage
all of you to check it out at www.buf.ca . Also, check
out The Edge’s web site at www.edge.ca and send
the morning show guys an email. Tell them I said hi!
If there’s a moral to this story, I guess it’s
that there’s no telling what can happen when you
push your body to the limit! I don’t recommend going
the way I did though. I don’t even know if I could
ever gain 40 lbs in four days again (or if I’d even
have a reason to). I must admit, it was the grand prize
that motivated me to do it. Maybe if Guinness Book was
involved…..hmmm, that gives me an idea…
Brock is a contributing writer/athlete for World Natural
Sports Organization, the producers of the coveted FAME
World Event Series and FAME 2005 Fitness And Model Expo
www.FAME2005.com.
For more information regarding Brock or the WNSO events
coming to your area, visit www.WNSO.com
or email compete@WNSO.com.
Get qualified for FAME 2005!
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