Hoebel - The 20-minute body : 20 minutes, 20 days, 20 inches

My name is Brett Hoebel and Im a fitness trainer, capoeira practitioner, and master motivator. I believe that results are not given, but earned, which is probably why those who have trained with me call me the Dues Collector. You might know me from my work as a trainer on The Biggest Loser Season 11 or from one of my fitness DVDs. Or you may not know me at allbut if youve picked up this book, were about to get to know each other very well!

Over the next 20 days, I will help you get stronger, leaner, and healthier. Through calculated, high-efficiency doses of exercise, no-fuss meal planning, and a careful recalibration of your mental approach to physical transformation, youll achieve things that you never thought possible. This book is the product of more than ten years of experience training clients just like youbusy but health-minded individuals looking for ways to lose weight or stay fit without spending hours in the gym or starving themselves at every meal.

Today is your first step in a life-changing journey. So I think its only fair that before we begin, I share a little bit about my own journey, too.

I know what it feels like to be uncomfortable and ashamed of your body. As a teenager, I was overweight. In elementary school I had been diagnosed with a wheat allergy and I was hyperactivedouble threat for a kid, right? When you have those labels, you have to contend with a lot of things that most normal kids dont. One of those things was my diet. Every time Id walk into the lunchroom at school, there was a huge spread of food that was off-limits for me. While my friends were serving themselves pizza and mac n cheese, I was reaching for chicken and vegetables. You ever try to choke down bland chicken while someone else is noshing on pizza? Its pretty much the worst kind of torture imaginable, especially in elementary school.

Plus, my tray looked different from everyone elses and just like any kid, I wanted to fit in. So I devised a system where Id slyly stand behind friends in line and convince them to order the foods I wanted, and then Id swap with them, or sometimes theyd just offer me the foods I knew I shouldnt have. Of course, I felt I was very clever. I didnt have to suffer the indignity of ridicule, nor did I have to suffer the lunchrooms most tasteless offerings.

Things got out of control from there. I had gained a lot of weight as a result of my cafeteria antics and this presented yet another hurdle to overcome when our family moved from New Jersey to California and I immediately stood out... again. I was picked last in sports. I was bullied. Eventually, because I had become too big, my gymnastics coach had to dismiss me from his program, even though I had been told I had a lot of potential. My weight was costing me a lot.

Feeling depressed and rejected, I latched on to any excuse I could think of not to go to school. So I would ditch, stay home, and eat all day and watch Bruce Lee movies. I liked eating, sure, but I was enthralled with Bruce Lee. Id practice his moves in front of the TV, occasionally with a spoon in hand or crumbs on my shirt.

It just so happened that there was a martial arts studio along our route to school. My mom noticed how Id rubberneck and drag my feet as we passed by each day and one day, she suggested that we go in. Inside, I noticed a kid about my age setting up for a board break. This should be interesting. I remember thinking that there was no way that this kid was up to ithe was heavy and not very athletic. Then, crack. Heavy kid 1, boards 0. I was in. I signed up and before long, I was the one going up against half-inch boards and tussling with classmates in contact drills. During one of my first sparring matches, I was pitted against that same heavy kid I saw on my first visit. Wouldnt you know it? He destroyed me. And I loved it.

That karate school had given me my mojo back. So what did I do? Like any kid who had been tormented by his peers, I went back to campus and immediately got into two fights against kids who had been giving me a hard time. I wasnt going to take it anymore. I was back.

Except that shortly thereafter we moved back to New Jersey. In junior high it seemed to be an unwritten rule that you are not allowed to be friends with fat kids. It was terrible. I resorted to my old ways and I fell into a deeper depression.

I kept overeating, only now, a bit older, I started to become more aware of how detrimental it was. I knew that I shouldnt be doing itand one look in the mirror was enough to remind me of that fact. Around this time, my mom, who had her own issues with weight, began to take more of an interest in my health, gently suggesting that I refrain from a second helping at dinner or that maybe I should skip dessert.

It got worse later. My mom organized her pantry with the detail of a librarian. If something was out of place or missing, she knew instantly. Amid a multi-tiered array of boxes and cans, she would know at a glance if a box of pasta or some cookies had been taken or even tampered with. This put me at another crossroads. What do I do when she shoots down my quest for satiety? The answer is not one Im proud of.

One day, I found myself hiding on the floor of my bedroom closet, scarfing down junk food, pausing between bites to listen for approaching footsteps. Then it hit me. What am I doing? Well, among other things, I was increasing the odds that I would never kiss a girl. My obsession with food was putting normal adolescent milestones out of reach and it had to stop.

There, among my shoes and dirty clothes, I determined that I was going to reverse course and that my promisesboth to myself and to otherswere sacred. I couldnt go back on my word anymore. I was suddenly hyperaware that if I said I was going to do somethingin this first case, lose some weightthen I had to do it.

And that brings us back to you. You no doubt picked up this book to help you increase your fitness levels, to help you dramatically improve your look and your performance levels. The reason Im sharing the humiliation of my teenage years is to convey one point about your journey: the level of change that you can expect is a direct result of your accountability to your word. Getting in shape is hard, and staying that way is a daily decision and a lifelong commitment.

What tells you not to reach for that doughnut in the morning? What drags you out of bed to get in your workout when all you want to do is catch that extra 20 minutes of sleep? What compels you to prep veggies for a snack instead of grabbing a handful of chips? These decisions arent the result of buying a magic gym membership or a fancy training gimmick. They are the result of