It took just three months for Ballardite Adam Davis to change his lifestyle and daily routine to become the winner of the inaugural Ballard Fitness Fest.
“I’ve struggled with losing weight my entire life,” Davis says, “Mostly with keeping up the motivation and the drive to continue whatever exercise plan or diet I was doing at the time. The fitness fest just seemed doable. Even if I didn’t win, I would have proved something to myself.”
Davis says he needs new clothes after winning the Ballard Fitness Fest.
During the competition, Davis lost 18 pounds of weight and nearly 12 percent of his body fat for a total loss of 29.5 pounds of body fat. “I actually did much better than I thought I would, considering I ate eggs and bacon on a regular basis and didn’t give up my near-daily beer consumption,” Davis says.
Here’s how he did it:
I followed a pretty strict (except the beer, noted above) primal diet from Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, while deriving most of my energy from fats and proteins. I cut out all pasta, bread, processed foods, etc. I did not feel deprived at all really, except for pizza, burgers, and macaroni and cheese. Other than that I felt very healthy, and not like I was “dieting.” As far as exercise goes, I went to the gym 2-3 days a week. Most of what I did was with natural resistance, doing pushups, pullups, chinups, etc. I didn’t get on a weight machine once the whole time. I didn’t do a single minute of running or stationary cycling.
As the winner of the Fitness Fest, Davis earned himself a $250 gift certificate to any shop in Ballard. He chose to spend the money at Kitchen N’ Things, on the corner of 24th and Market. “Considering most of my weight loss was due to changing my eating habits–mostly by cooking and eating at home, I think that giving myself more tools to continue making healthy meals would be an appropriate use of the prize,” he says.
EDGE Personal Training (Sponsor of MyBallard) sponsored the Fitness Fest for all residents of Ballard and intends to do another one next year. Davis has this advice for next year’s participants, “Don’t look at your diet or your workout as a chore but as a way to challenge yourself,” he says, “Find joy in the things that were hard last week but are easier now.”