Hello, my name is Vitor Lucas.
A little background about myself, was when I was a kid my dad put me to do judo lessons and swimming classes so I was very active. Once I moved to the US at age of 10 my activities had stopped, and wouldn't go back to it for another 10 years. (I also remember watching my mom do TV workouts which were essentially calisthenic exercises on a regular basis while I waited to use the TV and I believe that watching her as a child steered me psychologically to follow the same behavior of exercising.)
I always prided myself for how I was one of the strongest kids in my grade during high school. I lifted a little weights with my buddy when I was in middle school and did a little Jiu Jitzu classes for a little, before I went back to Brazil. During my sophomore year of high school I decided to go back to Brazil. During that time I had complete freedom on what I wanted to eat, not knowing good diet I would eat countless pizzas and drink lots of sodas (something my mom would never allow). With that I gained lots of weight and my family would tell me I was fat but I didn't take mind. While I was there i joined a Gym and had a personal trainer and I was there for 3-6 months? I saw some results but then i moved back to the US.
Once I was back I still had my sister constantly saying how fat I was, but i didn't take mind.. I tried working out at home but i just didn't have the motivation for it. But I ALWAYS told myself I'd get back in shape. I'd tell my sister "I'm gonna workout. I got a plan and I'm gonna do it" only to fail. Multiple times. My sister would even say "you say your gonna workout everyday but you never go trough with it. EVERYDAY you say your gonna workout and that your gonna get fit but you never do!" (at this point she was getting sick of hearing the same thing over and over.)
Then one day I was moving into the house I'm currently living in and i was having the hardest time carrying stuff into my house and my uncle said "ta fraco" which means "your weak" but not in like a mean or diminishing way but more like "its weak" facts. THAT, right there TRIGGERED me. It was shameful. At least that't what I thought in my head, and i told myself this has to change. Now. (Another reason I started working out is I had this philosophy in my head that said "If I want to date a hot fit girl, then I myself have to be fit." How can i date someone who's really fit if I am not fit? I kept telling myself "lucky is the girl that dates me 'cuz she's gonna have a super fit bf!") My journey to become fit started about 2 1/2 year ago, I had gotten out of shape and I knew I had to go back to working out. I finally got some money and I had 2 choices, either join a gym and get HUGE, or do martial arts and get trim and know how to use my body. I decided to go with the martial arts and it was going good, but as time went on I noticed that I wasn't getting stronger and I couldn't afford both martial arts and the gym. I kept thinking to myself there's gotta be a way for me to become stronger without a gym. Then I came across this BuffDudes video on youtube *Punisher - Prison Workout* and it was a full body workout only using bodyweight! So then I got started, it was Halloween of 2016 and I did it for about a month and a half but my sister told that that I needed to change up the workout or else I wouldn't get the best results. I thought the idea of super hero workouts was so cool and I wanted more so I Googled *super hero workouts* and all these workout routines showed up and I was like "JACKPOT!". I started doing them but then I noticed that they all had this Neila Rey/Darebee logo to it, then I started going on Darebee and noticed that a lot of the super hero workouts weren't there, I assume it had something to do with legal issues. But then another fork on my road came where I came across this app called Freeletics where you had to pay money but results were GUARANTEED. so then I was like I could guaranteed get those results but follow some cookie cutter workout and just follow instead of learning, OR do Darebee which is free but results aren't guaranteed but I feel like I'd be my own personal trainer and I'd be learning more if I did Darebee. So I stuck to Darebee and have been to this day.
I am so thankful for this site. It has changed my life and never has it asked for money, subscription, sign up based thing or anything. It has been there for me when I was so broke and had no money but still wanted to get ripped. I donated because Darebee has been there for me when all these months when I had no money, and for that it has earned my respect. Thank you so much Neila Rey for making this wonderful site available to all, when you could easily make this a subscription based program. It shows that you truly care about the well-being of people more than money. Darebee.com
Kuk Sool Won (martial arts) played a key role in my fitness goal. Not only did I loose weight, gain flexibility and learned fighting moves, but more importantly I gained DISCIPLINE.
My father always told me, "if your gonna pay for something you better do that something every chance u can, or else its a waste of money." and indeed I did. I put my everything into Kuk Sool Won. I'd be there every class. I would not miss a day. ( it also really helped me mentally because I was going trough a very depressing lonely time, so I'd be the only thing I looked forward to in my week.) I'm also very happy I chose martial arts over the gym just because there's a sense of camaraderie. Which I don't think I would have gotten to where I am now by being alone at the gym with no one. The people, the group, really motivates you and just makes things better. At the gym you can make like a friend but they aren't gonna train with you, they're busy doing their own thing. At a martial arts there's a group of people who are there to train with you and it makes working out for someone who isn't into working out a lot more pleasant then being alone with only your willpower to get fit.
Now, once I had martial arts down, and I was going there for a few months, It was lacking the strength aspect of it. We'd go in stretch, do forms, techniques and that was it, it wasn't enough, I wanted more. At this point i wanted to supplement my marital arts with strength conditioning, How? I couldn't afford the gym. I was like "well hey people in prison are like jacked. There's gotta be a way for me to get ripped at home and with out equipment". Then I came across Darebee. That was a life changer. I cannot praise how much good her website has done to me. The results in the before and after pics are all thanks to her website. Most of her workouts are calisthenics based so there was no reason for me not to workout. i started doing 3 times a week workouts but then I moved to 30 day programs (taking a rest day every Saturday). I'd workout in my basement, once it got nice out I'd workout at parks such as central park, the dam in Clinton, George hill in Lancaster or even at my own backyard! I loved how I had the freedom to do my workouts anywhere anytime. To do my workout outdoors and take deep breaths of fresh air while under the sun listening to the birds was something I've grown to appreciate. As time went on I fell in love with calisthenics exercises, even preferring over weight lifting. I sweat and feel way more connected with my body with calisthenics over weight lifting. I also developed a very nice lean balanced body from it, which ended up being the perfect body for me since I'm a fighter, and a fighters physique is what I got from it.
Back to back to back i'd do programs. 6 days a week workouts for more than a year. I started to find myself to be addicted to working out! I needed that boost of dopamine that i got from working out. If i didn't workout I'd be upset with myself. At first the motivation would sway, I'd think "is this worth it?" "just give it up" but i kept telling myself "I gotta do this for my future wife! I'm gonna give her an awesome body!" which is what pushed me at first, but then after a year passed and not girlfriend in sight I thought, well should i keep working out? my answer was "yeah, durr. I'd be stupid to stop now" but then I needed another reason to workout, and I did it mainly for my mental well being. It wasn't even about my body anymore it was more of a mental thing. It relaxed me, it gave me dopamine, and it made me harder to kill. Which brings me to now where I'm still working out, i had to put a hold on my martial arts aspect of my life due to my job but i never stopped doing my Darebee exercises.
Another thing I wanted to touch on is sleep and diet since you need 3 things: Workout, Food & sleep to get the best fitness. You NEED these 3 to be in balance or else it falls apart. I know everyone struggles with one thing, like mine is sleep, but the workout we got it on lockdown with Darebee, Just gotta make sure to go to bed early and eat healthy.
Ill go over sleep really quickly: Make sure to go to bed early. before 12, 10 preferably. this is the time your body regenerates and its key to fitness. Sleep isn't all made equal, the time matters. Just know sleeping before 12 o clock will yield best results. Even if you get 8 hours of sleep but you go to bed at 3, it won't be as good as sleep before 12. Your body produces hormones and it stops producing after 12 so if you miss out on that sleep your missing out on gains.
Diet: Now here's what i want to really touch on, food. Food is very important for your body development, especially if you are working out. A lot of people go on "diets" but I don't believe in diets, I believe in healthy eating. Diets are good if your a model or if your a bodybuilder going to perform in front of people and you need to look a certain way for that 1 weekend. Other then that for the average person it's not necessary. I don't understand how people say "im going on a diet" eats right for a month or so just to get out of the diet and go back to eating junk.
Just like how your doing a healthy exercise lifestyle, you also need to do a healthy eating lifestyle. Now, what is healthy eating? Instead of going on a diet and getting off, you make your diet your regular eating habits. So instead of having a burger and fry, have rice chicken and a salad on a more consistent basis. I'm not saying don't eat the burger and fries but just limit yourself. For example, on a weekday have healthy meals prepared at home, on the weekend your out with your buddies and that burger looks good, that's okay! eat it, enjoy it. Once the week comes again just go back to eating healthy again. Want that candy bar? go ahead and enjoy yourself, just do it in moderation, for example: "this week i had a candy bar, I wont have another one till the weekend". Over time your tongue pallet will adjust to the healthy foods and you wont crave junk food that much anymore.
Now, there are the obvious like soda, candy, junk food. Which you should avoid, but there's something else that no one, and I mean NO ONE talks about, which is, dairy.
I eat kosher due to my religion (I'm not Jewish) and I eat meat, what I don't eat is Dairy.
Dairy will fatten you up very quickly. It's a food designed to get a baby calf, big and fat in as little time as possible. When you ingest dairy you are just adding crazy extra amount of fat into your diet. Cheese actually gives little to no nutritional value to you, but you get this satisfied feeling from it since your stomach is non stop trying to break it down.
Dairy believe it or not is actually not good for you!
For more information about dairy please refer to the video called "Udderly Amazing" on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9XuYRoqo1A
Just remember eat healthy and avoid junk food. now you may say "but I don't know what to eat" don't worry ill give you the 3 things you need on your plate. #1 Protein, #2 Carbs #3 Veggies.
Protein is the building blocks and is whats gonna repair your body, carbs is what fuels your body to have energy trough the the day, and veggies is to keep you nice and pretty. Here are some examples of some plate of food you could have: #1 Steak #2 Potatoes #3 Green beans, /
Those are just some examples of balanced meals. Just make sure you have those 3 things every time you eat for a balanced meal. Remember its all about creativity!
Also don't skip out on breakfast. I like to start my day with 2 warm cups of water, a fruit, then I'll have breakfast, anything from cereal/granola with dairy free milk such as soy milk or pea milk, to bread with egg or peanut butter. Just make sure to have a fruit because the sugar from the fruit will give you energy for the whole day. Also when you wake up you're actually dehydrated so it's critical to hydrate yourself as fast as possible.
Try not to eat a huge dinner at night since your body won't need all those calories to go to sleep with. Instead try eating on the lighter side.
That's about it for Diet. I'm sure I could go on but I'll leave a link that talks more about diet down below. https://darebee.com/nutrition.html & https://darebee.com/recipes.html
Oh yeah, don't forget to record all your progress. Writing on a calendar greatly helped me stay on track.
Also here's some fitness advice: https://darebee.com/fitness.html
Well that's about it.
Thank you so much if you've read this whole essay I wrote. I hope it helps you in your journey to fitness!
I'd like to thank my mom for helping me eat as healthy as I do, thank Darebee, Kuk sool Won, Ciccone Fitness, and above all thank Yahweh, for blessing me with the talents of fitness and the wisdom I've achieved.
May this information bless you as much as it has blessed me.
Praise Elohim! Amen.
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