Sometimes in life events flow together to bring about a change that’s not only deeply profound, but life altering.
That’s what happened to Jody Subotin, an individual seriously concerned about his health. Just in his thirty’s, he was hitting the scale at almost 350 pounds, at a height of five foot eight. His biggest concern: His doctor said "change your lifestyle or die!"
So he decided to seek the services of a professional trainer. Multiple choices were available, but a friend of his had lost about 60 pounds after hiring the services of local fitness expert Jorg Mardian, so he decided to contact him at Three60Fitness in Osoyoos.
“I wanted a personal experience – a one-on one-environment – which included a nutritional component and an effective training package,” said Subotin. “I didn’t want to get involved in some crazy diet experience; I wanted proper eating and training.”
It just wasn’t in the cards to be with a trainer daily, but he figured even after a 9-12 hour workday, he could still put in time at home to change his physique. So after his initial consultation with Mardian, he did a combination of personal training and home workouts 4-5 times a week.
“Look,” he said, “I simply had no willpower, but that’s why I came to Three60Fitness. Having to face a trainer weekly made me not want to disappoint him or myself. His constant reassurances were like a little voice in my head telling me to get off the couch and get fit. He simply gave me the tools I needed, and all I had to do was use them.”
And use them Subotin did. After two months something extraordinary happened – he managed to lose about 55 pounds, 10% body fat and 7 inches off his waist. It wasn’t easy and Mardian figured it occurred for one reason: through sheer, concentrated, dogged determined work and optimism.
“This guy has a killer work ethic, and I respect that. Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for our bad health, and that just perpetuates the cycle.” said Mardian. “But the world responds to us as we respond to it.”
In other words, Mardian hints strongly at willpower being a key to continued success. But his state of the art 2200 square foot training facility helps out tremendously as well. It's a unique training environment unlike anything else in the South Okanagan and he supplies his clients need – from private training, nutrition counseling, advanced training principles for all fitness levels and even therapeutic exercises for injury. It’s a formula that has led to incredible success and a loyal client following.
“I usually want results even more than my clients do,” said Mardian, “and with Jody it was no different. His expectations were to lose about a hundred pounds, but I knew that this would still not achieve an objective of overall good health. I convinced him that we would have to drop him to 180 pounds to be truly healthy – a 170-pound overall loss.”
Subotin bought into the formula willingly and changes continued rapid and profound. His home workouts were short and effective, continually changing so that his body would not get used to them.
“As I kept working out I saw so many changes every week, which was inspiring to no end,” said Subotin. “I always had one thousand opportunities to cheat, but why ruin a beautiful thing? Working out eventually got easier as I got off my rear end,” he added.
For Subotin, it also got easier to get off the couch as the weight came off, and it kept coming off. Now 15 weeks later, he was seventy-five pounds lighter, had dropped 11.3% body fat and his waist was down 11.6 inches.
“With all these bodily changes, I was also undergoing a mental change as well,” he said with emphasis. “I was more patient, energetic, outgoing and didn’t feel like taking naps anymore. After a night’s sleep, getting out of bed was also 200 times easier than before.”
“I never expected to lose weight so rapidly,” said Subotin. I was pleasantly surprised and I had absolutely no reason to stop. Jorg’s 170 pound weight loss goal for me now didn’t seem like such a distant dream; in my mind it was entirely within reach.”
Now just over six months later, Subotin has reached a milestone weight loss of 100 pounds. He stands at 248 pounds, with 14.5% body fat lost and 17.7 inches off his waist. It’s not yet svelte, but what a difference.
To put this all into perspective, he has lost an incredible 4.1 pounds a week on average. Considering that a two pounds weekly loss is pretty good, it shows just how out of balance his body was.
“Hey, my kids can now, for the first time in their life, put their hands around my waist,” he added. “I would definitely recommend Jorg Mardian’s professional services to anyone looking to get fit, lose weight or better their health.”
Subotin doesn’t think the “no time” excuse holds water since he also works long days. He simply goes home to his small workout room where he has a yoga mat, 3 sets of weights and a ball, and works out. Then he heads off on Tuesday evenings to meet his trainer where he receives renewed instructions, counsel, and continued affirmations to make sure he keeps succeeding.
“I never felt that the workouts were complicated,” he said, “but they kicked butt and were effective. I follow Jorg’s simple formula: Eat this way, eat this much, work out this often with these exercises. It works and I couldn’t be happier.”
At this time, Subotin is sweating through more workouts as he heads towards his final goal of 170 total pounds lost. He remains extremely optimistic, which is no surprise seeing his current results. He also follows Mardian’s three mottos: (1) No excuses (2) Never say impossible (3) Adjust your attitude for continued success.
Mardian strongly believes that most of us, whether knowingly or unknowingly, are responsible for our current health situation. And even if that’s not the case, he empowers clients with all the tools necessary to make changes with the most up to date and scientific information available on nutrition and training.
Still, he also uses methods that have stood the test of time and seems to perfectly mash everything together for a potent combination leading to better strength and overall health.
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60 Pound Weight Loss Motivates
Osoyoos Woman to Encourages Others
Osoyoos Times, May 11, 2011
By Paul Everest – Editor
For the first time in her life, Osoyoos’s Alison Laranjo is really looking forward to the summer.
Having struggled with her weight and being tired all the time for most of her life, the 27-year-old decided to do something about her health and fitness last October.
After approaching Jorg Mardian, a local personal trainer and nutritionist, for help with her goal of losing 30 pounds and feeling better, Laranjo began a program of working out five days a week and adjusted her diet to cut out foods that are high in fat and sugar.
“After an initial assessment, I told her that though she was young, she was also at risk for cardiovascular disease due to high body fat content,” Mardian said. “At this point, it was crucial to help her understand that the best way to proceed was not with the latest fad diet or weight loss pill, but with sensible, whole food eating and a vigorous exercise regimen.”
He added that since Laranjo has a busy schedule at the salon she owns, Beyond Beauty Hair Studio, he had to “fit this new lifestyle into her busy schedule.”
So, Mardian designed a program of “faster aerobic type movements coupled with functional weight training” as well as a diet regimen of “frequent, yet small” portions of whole foods.
“We now employ short and intense exercise sessions designed to stimulate the metabolism, lose fat and build muscle,” he said.
For Laranjo, the results have been “amazing.” In seven months she has lost 60 pounds, decreased her body fat by 14 per cent and decreased her waist size by 10 inches.
Laranjo said that since she began working with Mardian, she has more energy and her mindset for life has become more positive. She added that she can run for longer periods of time and now craves any opportunity to exercise.
Her success has inspired her to encourage other women to take steps to live healthier lifestyles.
“I have so much more energy and overall my whole outlook on life is more positive,” Laranjo said. “I wanted to share my story with others to encourage people to get motivated and live a healthier lifestyle.
“If I can do it, anyone can.”
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Lose It 4 Life
Oliver Biggest Loser Final 2014
An exciting program that hit Osoyoos is the “Fit 4 Life” challenge — a weight loss/fitness program using the two best tools of all: a whole food diet and effective exercise.
This was a program designed to implement a complete and healthy change of life, to feel better, look better and do it within a group challenge.
The program encompassed increased fitness, weight loss, improved nutrition and the social aspect of meeting new people. It was also about changing small daily habits, moving with determination, being empowered by new-found beliefs and ending up with a healthier lifestyle to become a “new” person.
Twenty five people signed up in 2014, and no matter the difficulties, no one was turned away. Even if someone had been previously told there was little they can do, we changed that.
On Monday, January 13, we began with a nutrition seminar and getting participant vitals – body fat, weight and waists measurements. The entire schedule for the 3 month contest was also handed to each participant who signed up.
The “Eat to Lose Diet” (given at the nutrition seminar) was easy to follow, with no calorie counting, weighing of food or points to collect. Everyone ate lots of food, but in different portions and of better quality, eliminating foods that previously harmed them.
The eating plan included a higher content of lean protein and numerous varieties of fresh vegetables and fruits. It contained no processed foods, only good fats and a high fibre, high nutrient intake for overall reduction of weight and inches, as well as increased good health without deprivation or loss of energy.
The Fit 4 Life exercise plan was a 12 week cardio, strength and conditioning phase through classes at Three60Fitness Athletics– Cross Fit, and Bootcamp, which assisted the eating plan with a fat blasting boost.
All participants were asked to keep in touch over the three months to track their progress. Then on April 2, after a good amount of sweat and effort, everyone met for final measurements and fitness testing.
Although individual goals were set and met, this was also be a chance to celebrate the collective success of all participants. By then, all understood the “secret” to eating well, exercising efficiently, and staying the course to better health through dogged determination.
Most importantly, they learned to enjoy life with renewed purpose and focus each day, as their bodies transformed and their energy increased on this journey.
The 2014 winner was Austin Harrison who lost 32 pounds. Congratulations on a great effort.
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Lose It 4 Life
Oliver Biggest Loser Final 2012
The Oliver Lose it 4 Life Fitness Challenge wrapped up on Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at the Community Centre for the Finale and weigh-in, a repeat of measurements and tests including Body Fat %, Blood Pressure, Cardio, Strength Fitness Tests and a final weigh in. Results were recorded and differences from the baseline numbers calculated.
All participants had attended information sessions over 12 weeks with Trainer/Nutritionist Jorg Mardian and Program Manager Carol Sheridan to assist with nutrition choices, burning more calories and goal setting.
The 25 people who came to the Finale lost a total of 355.4 pounds, an average of 14 lbs per person. 5 contestants lost more than 20 lbs, 2 lost over 30 lbs and one participant reached a 45 pound loss in 12 weeks.
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Lose It 4 Life
Oliver Biggest Loser Final 2011
65 registered participants started and 32 diehards ended the Oliver Biggest Loser Finale on Wed, April 6, 2011, coming for final fitness testing and measurements. The results were very impressive.
Those 32 people lost a total of 424 pounds in just 12 weeks! That is an average of 13.25 lbs per person, not to mention the incredible losses in body fat % and inches. The average loss of body fat among the participants was 4.72 %.
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