Mark Bailey is a speaker, motivator and full time chef with a culinary focus on breakfast food. He’s even penned a cookbook titled, “Cooking in Boxers with Chef Bailey: 50 Ways to Keep Your Mate In Bed.” Today he’s a champion for living a balanced life and incorporating healthy meals and exercise into his daily routine, but he admits it took years to break his bad habits.
How did Mark (Chef Bailey) go from, “chubby boy” to the guy pictured in his undies on a cookbook? This is Mark’s 65-pound true weight loss story.
“My weight struggles began when I was 12 years old,” Mark explained. “I like to say this is when my ‘fat gene’ kicked in because prior to my preteen years, I was a relatively thin kid. But by 13, I had become a chubby boy.” Mark said eating second helpings was a regular habit, especially when it came to mama’s home cooking. This pattern of overeating followed him into his adult years. In his late twenties, while visiting his parents, Mark started looking through old photos. “It was at this moment, that I came to realize I had spent the better half of my young adult life yo-yo dieting,” he said. “This eye-opener motivated me to not only make a change but approach my weight loss effort differently.”
Instead of focusing solely on losing weight, I had to figure what I needed to change permanently thereafter to keep the weight off. My workout routine was about to become a way of life instead of just a means to an end.
Chef Bailey’s 4-Step Plan:
Nutrition and Diet: Overeating is typically what leads to my weight gain so I decided to make changes to my diet that would best prevent that. First and foremost, I started eating breakfast. Breakfast was the meal I would tend to skip the most, and skipping it led to overeating the rest of the day. In addition to cutting calories/fat, I made sure to start every day with a protein (eggs, meat, fish) breakfast.
Working Out: A consistent and well-rounded workout regimen played a large role in my weight loss success. Typically one hour of cardio and weight training. Sticking to this routine helped me achieve my goal but maintaining it after is what has been key to keeping the weight off.
Emotions and Eating: I realized that whenever I experienced a significant ‘life’ change it directly impacted my diet. Being able to identify this about myself allowed me to pay more attention to what role my emotions played in my overall weight loss journey.
Importance of Balance: My diet balances my exercise and my exercise balances my diet. When the holidays roll around and I’m attending multiple parties and family dinners, I tend to consume more. During this time, I may increase my exercise regimen. On the flip side, during summer months when I tend to eat lighter and engage in more outdoor activities, I may opt to reduce my exercise routine.
His Biggest Triumph: “Achieving a level of physical fitness that allowed for taking a cookbook cover photo donned in a pair of boxers. For anyone who struggles with weight, accepting your self image sans clothing is a huge feat.”
A weightloss journey is life changing. Exercise and being active will forever be a part of your new life, even after reaching goal. The sooner you accept that, the less likely you are to relapse.
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