Gary - Before and After......from burgers to marathons!
INSPIRING SOUL: GARY ALBRECHT
Gary has the same last name as me........well, because he's my brother! His before and after pictures and story is rather incredible and I just HAVE to share it with you - they say that pictures speak a thousand words but I want you to click on each one for yourselves to observe and witness his historical transformation!! He is not one of my clients but has undergone an unbelievable physical and mental transformation through his own focus and determination and it is absolutely breathtaking. I felt compelled to interview Gary about his motivations, his training and diet and his reason why his amazing life changes occurred........so go ahead.......click on the pictures and read the story at the bottom and be truly inspired!
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GARY'S STORY - (taken from interview on 29 October 2006):
Gary lives in the heart of Tokyo Japan in a place called Fuchu City. He has been living there since November 2000 and has been teaching English since he arrived. Currently Gary teaches at the local English Village School and he absolutely loves his job!
Gary's story began in NZ. Having lived there all of his life, leaving school and working in various jobs, he eventually met an incredibly gorgeous and adorable girl called Tomoko who was a Japanese girl on exchange. It was a case of love at first sight and the two of them were married on July 1, 1999. Gary and Tomoko left for Japan in November 2000 to start fresh careers and a brand new life - obviously one that was vastly different to the one Gary had always been familiar with in New Zealand, but luckily he had the love and direction of Tomoko and her family to lead the way. Prior to this time, he was working in a full time job at NZ Steel and Tube doing around 60 hours a week and life was just 'cruising' day to day, but to be honest, Gary wasn't fulfilled in the way that he wished to be.
Life in NZ as a young kid for Gary revolved a lot around rugby. He was really keen on the sport and our Dad was a rugby coach too, so that was the main sport he was involved in for many years. Working hours soon took over though making it difficult to play rugby and after many years of playing he also soon wanted a change. He was also sick of playing sport so looked to fill his spare time with another hobby that he had always wanted to do. Gary had played the guitar a fair bit in his younger years but he also really loved the drums. So, being the musical fan he is, he took up the drums and joined a band!
The band stayed together and did various gigs for around 4 years - and they were fantastic! Yet the love of a beautiful woman and working endless hours found that Gary's priorities were evolving.........
At 26 years old, Gary weighed 117 kilos. He was eating fast food and takeaways around 3-5 times a week and doing no exercise. He had no energy and no enthusiasm. But that underlying drive to succeed in life has always been bubbling in Gary - and one day it stopped laying dormant and came out to flourish! Tomoko naturally had introduced Gary to the Japanese way of eating and he thoroughly enjoyed their food and staple diet! The takeaways were cut right down and were replaced with lots of fish, a whole lot less fried food, and he began to eat more fresh vegetables, rice and drink lots of water and Jasmine tea. He began to feel the effects of a healthier lifestyle, so he started to do some running. The running was mainly for fitness as well as to lose weight - he started running around 3 times a week doing distances of around 4-8 kilometres/run. Within 3 months of regular running, Gary lost 5 kilos and by the time he arrived to start his new life in Japan, he had reduced to 112 kilos on the scales. What a great start!
One thing I have not mentioned yet though was Gary's addiction to cigarettes. Gary took up smoking at around the age of 16 and 10 years later at the age of 26 he was consuming 20-25 cigarettes a day. Surprisingly, he continued to smoke during his 'initial' running stages! The running distances were increasing but the cigarettes were still being smoked in the high volume that Gary was used to. The weight was still decreasing though and by the start of 2002, Gary had got down to 103 kilos and was running 25-30km/week. This running regime became a consistent routine as did the weight loss as he suddenly found he was 97 kilos during the year of 2003. This is when the running REALLY became a serious vice in Gary's life and he decided to take it that one step further, give up smoking to improve his running and get competitive!
Just as well too........it's funny how the body reacts after years of neglect - even though by this stage, Gary's diet and exercise habits were well into changing - as in April 2004 Gary was hospitalised with incredibly painful gall stones and had to undergo a very painful and unexpected operation. This was probably the immense turning point that changed his life. The doctors discovered that Gary had an irregular heart beat and were concerned about giving him the anaesthetic he needed to undergo the operation, and Gary explained to me that the focus of doing competitive running would be the one reason he really believed could help him to give up the cigarettes as by having a goal, it would force him to have a reason to stay off them - and stay off them for good! He loved running that much that eventually, the focus and fitness that he needed to run competitively outdid his addiction to nicotine.
May 11 2004 became a date to remember...........it's the last time Gary has ever had a cigarette and he intends for it to remain that way! He began entering running competitions in August of 2004 once he had recovered from his surgery and underwent a lot of training for the event. He turned to the internet as his main source of inspiration and information and stumbled across the teachings and advice from world renowned Arthur Lydiard. Gary introduced all of Arthur's strategies into his running training and devised a program using Lydiard's principles and couldn't believe the difference in his timings! Having given up smoking and by adopting a professional approach to running competions and it's preparations, Gary excelled in every way...........in mind, body, health and in his timings! His progress was rather astounding. After intense research and reading everything he could lay his hands on, Lydiard became almost gospel for Gary, and by the point of beginning his new program he was now sitting at 95 kilos........yet, after just 6 weeks of following Lydiard's way, he was able to run 100 miles a week and within this 6 weeks, his weight dropped to 86 kilos - WOW!
For the next 5 months Gary stayed committed and focused on his goals (and kept his promise to himself by remaining smoke free!) and continued these long endurance running sessions to get ready for a marathon. The training program to sum up comprised of 3 separate parts to condition the athlete - firstly, ways to work on improving times to run faster, secondly to increase health and indurance and thirdly, to consume a diet that was based around 60% protein and 40% carbohydrates. Five months later, he was fitter than ever and just 79 kilos in bodyweight. Following the completion of this program came the speed work and sharpening aspect - the diet ratios changed as well. Suddenly Gary's diet comprised of 60% carbohydrates and 40% protein in order to prepare him to get ready to run a marathon. And then during competition, he explained to me that the body 'peaks' beautifully for a competition on a ratio of 50/50 of carbs and protein. Of course, like the Atkins diet, a lot of people find the workings and teachings of Lydiard rather controversial, but they worked well for Gary. So, he continued using these principles. And Lydiard's teachings proved testament to Gary as he eventually managed to prepare and train hard for, and complete a milestone of a run.........a 52km marathon!!!!!!!!
These days, Gary still lives by these principles and varies his training and routine depending on whether he is in competition season or off-training season. His personal best is a 10km run that he completed in 37mins and 31 secs and his top time for a 5km run is 17 mins and 57 secs. He is suffering slightly though from a plantar injury at present so has had to alternate cycling with running to prepare for the 2007 competition season. But anyone can see (and Gary knows himself) that he is at his fittest ever at the age of 35........and as a result of his application and devotion to his sport, he's now sitting at between 76-78 kilos in body weight after consistent hard training, sheer personal determination and perseverance beyond all else. He has dropped a total of 41 kilos in weight (that's 90 lbs!!!!!) and he has said to me that he has never felt or looked better in his life! And everyone who knows Gary totally agrees and is utterly blown away with his determination and spice for life, as well as his massive amount of weight loss.
His new goal is to be able to train for and complete some competitions next year of a challenging distance: up to 60km runs! What a goal to work towards. And, he is doing all of this training whilst being a husband and a successful English teacher working many long hours. Funnily enough though, despite living in a country vastly different from Western culture, Gary is the happiest he's ever been. He may be living away from 'home' in NZ but he knows he is lucky to have a loving wife and marriage, a great job and his focus on competitive running which has completely changed his life beyond all recognition. So, as for these 60km running competitions next year? After the determination you have already shown Gary, we all know you can do it!
And just a note from your little sister........good luck my big brother - I am SO proud of you, of what you have achieved personally and professionally, I really admire the life you and your gorgeous wife Tomoko have built for yourselves.......I love you so very much and just know one thing - you will always be a big inspiration to me!
Anita.x