01 Mar Alex Sielaff’s Transformation

12 Week Body Transformation Challenge

The Beginning:

Throughout these three months I made some big transformations in the way I care for my physical self. In the beginning of the challenge I was on a 6 week road trip, covering 5,500 miles and 18 states to celebrate the 9 years I spent serving in the US Air Force.

Even though I was on the road I was able to maintain a healthy diet (nothing over the top…I eliminated fried and processed foods, increased my intake of vegetables and fruit, and reduced my alcohol consumption), and I also maintained a workout routine that was as sporadic as my free time came (going for runs around strange neighborhoods, taking yoga classes at new places, doing bodyweight exercises in the rooms I was staying in, and also a lot of stretching to improve my flexibility). Being on the road did make things more difficult, but luckily it was at the beginning of the challenge when my willpower was at its peak.

I returned home to Colorado 30 minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, so I welcomed in the New Year with my bed. I spent some time adjusting into a new routine in a new home and tweaking it to optimize my time. Since then my new habits involved a 90% vegetarian diet with a TON of fresh vegetables and fruit. I had fun exploring new recipes and smoothie concoctions. It has become the norm to see colorful arrays of food like this in my kitchen:

I signed up for a membership at the new Orange Theory fitness center which opened nearby in January. I fell in love with their approach to fitness and started tracking calories burned and time spent in “the orange zone” or splat points as they call them (periods of time when my heart rate was significantly raised). In the past 6 weeks I’ve spent 11 hours consulting with a nutritionist who worked with the Denver Broncos for over 20 years and I’ve learned a ton about macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fats/lipids).

I of course kept doing a few of my favorite active hobbies like snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, and skydiving. Those kept me active in a fun and engaging way.

I’ve spent countless hours at various yoga studios around town and even had the honor of spending a few hours with Dice Iida-Klein, a yoga superstar and king of inversions. I’m working on one-handed handstands now, but still need a little wall assist.

I’ve never been a fan of measuring my level of health of fitness with a scale. Instead I take notice of my physical appearance and how I feel both mentally and physically, and by that measure, I’ve never been better!