Life can change in an instant. You might not be able to hit your goal weight in a night or build up your biceps to epic proportions in a week, but it only takes one second to radically alter your methods and mindset. Need an example? Look no further than Mehrbod Mohammadi.
In our first Fitness Feature with Mehrbod, 6 Pack Fitness and The Biggest Loser star talked about his journey to weight loss and his experiences on national TV. During this chat, Mehrbod talks about how he dealt with his struggle to kick his bad habits and, ultimately, created a schedule that involved people depending on him for support. Read on to find out how he has continued to have success and live a healthy lifestyle.
Throughout your journey you struggled a bit with your weight fluctuating. What happened?
I was just comfortable. When I got comfortable I went back to my old ways since I was away from the show and traveling. I realized I was doing the same stuff as before. Once I realized what I was doing wrong, I got back to it and finished it out strong. In the two months I had almost lost 70 pounds and in the history of the show they have never had anyone lose that much weight. It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. I exercised four to six hours per day, my life just became all about that. It's been a year since the show and the beauty of it is that I know I won't gain the weight back this time.
A lot of people are in similar yo-yo situations when it comes to their weight. What kind of things did you implement into your lifestyle? How are you monitoring yourself and what are the techniques you are using?
A lot of the people on the show ended up gaining the weight back. There are a few reasons why the show is important. One is because there are weigh-ins and this keeps you accountable. Another reason is that you are around these people that invested a lot of time and money into this show so you don't want to let anybody down. Once there is no trainer people tend to go back to their old ways.
If I didn't set myself up for after the show that would happen to me too. I was doing Crossfit and we made a transformation program there for people that are 50 or more pounds overweight. I have numerous amounts of people that have joined to be able to do what I did. It makes me go every week because it holds me accountable for these people. It's such a motivation for me to watch these people that I was able to help in some way or form. There is one member that lost over 80 pounds.
I love sports. I play all types of sports. I went back to playing basketball. I try to keep active. I go skiing. It's awesome. It used to be that an amazing time would be going out to eat and watch a movie. Now I barely watch any movies and I sure as hell don't eat out as much. Now a fun weekend for me is going hiking or doing some physical activity. I was given my life back. All the things I used to enjoy doing.
How should people like this start getting back into exercising and moving their bodies?
From a fitness standpoint, the best thing I could say is one step at a time. Make a goal and promise and keep it. The problem with obese people is that we make promises to everyone else but we never make one for ourselves. If you say you are going to walk five minutes per day then do the five minutes. When you do that five-minute walk it's going to feel so good and it's going to turn into ten minutes then twenty, then thirty, and hour. Then you will eventually able to jog. You will feel so good about what you're able to accomplish.
Set a goal, make a promise to yourself and don't ever break that promise. Once you keep the promises it builds confidence. Many of them within the first month come up with excuses and that's how I used to do it. The number one priority in your life should be your health. If you don't have your health who cares about anything else?
You've radically changed the way you eat. What's the biggest piece of advice in terms of nutrition and training can you give someone?
The number one thing I can tell you is that when it comes to nutrition is that it's 80% of your weight loss. You can lose weight and not do much physical activity. It's all about the intake of what you put into your body and the best thing I could tell you is try to eat clean. Eating clean means eat whole foods, fruits, vegetables and meats. Try to eat things that are not processed. Processed foods are killing America and that's what was killing me. That's what's killing all the people around me that are morbidly obese – the pizza and the burgers. If the food is cheap and easy to get then it's probably processed.
I used to eat massive amounts of food. Not only was it large portions, it was horrible food too. I still eat a lot. I eat like six to seven times per day. Now I have a high intake of veggies, salad, chicken, fish and different types of things. I just don't eat crap. People need to understand that a diet isn't a diet€¦ It's a way of life. Some obese people think they can eat healthy and then go back to eating normal food. You will never be able to maintain a fit body if you eat processed foods on a daily basis. You will never be able to get to your goal.
