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A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR This book and the advice it contains is based on my personal experiences of growing up, dealing with the emotional roller coasters of relationships and family, and striving to live a fit, healthy, and happy lifestyle. I am not a nutritionist, personal trainer, or counselor. Before following any diet you should consult your doctor as what works for me as a man in his twenties may not be suitable for everyone reading this book. If you are not used to working out, before starting a new fitness routine you should: a) seek medical advice if needed before starting, b) take things at a steady pace and remember not to do more advanced exercises until you are ready, c) cease all exercise and consult a doctor if you feel at all unwell. If you are under sixteen you should consult your parents before making any changes to your diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle. And please look after yourself. As you’ll see I’ve done some pretty crazy things in the cause of vlogging. Don’t try them at home!
CONTENTS
Intro
PART 1: Healthy living
PART 2: The dating game
PART 3: Friends & family crisis survival guide
PART 4: How to get the life you want
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
About Marcus Butler
Hello!
And welcome to Hello Life!, my guide to being an almost-adult—an indispensable handbook on how not to screw up your future. For some of you, my voluminous hair and glasses might already be a familiar sight from my YouTube channel. You’ll know all about my vlogs and online randomness from the internet. For others, I might be an entirely new—and baffling—thing. In that case, you’re probably thinking, Who the hell is this dude? And why has my mom/aunt/grandma got me this book? Good question. How about I give you the answers?
Well, for starters, I’m a vlogger—someone who video-blogs online. Every week or so I upload a new video during which I’ll chat about something that’s been playing on my mind. Some of this stuff is entirely off the wall. I might moan about the random things that annoyed me during a recent shopping trip, or I’ll make fun of my mom and how she drives me crazy sometimes (sorry, Mom).
But there’s plenty of serious stuff, too, and having set up my YouTube channel a few years back, I’ve come into contact with lots of different beautiful, brilliant subscribers (millions of them, in fact). I’ve shared my experiences with them—both the ups and downs—and believe me, I’ve gone through plenty of downs, like parental divorce, bullying, and bereavement. Through chatting to other people online, I’ve learned that loads of people my age have gone through the same things. Some of them are struggling as we speak, unsure of how to cope with the problems in their lives. Often my viewers tell me about their problems and, because I’ve experienced some of the same things, I’ve been able to deliver some helpful advice. This happened enough times that in the end I figured, Hey, wouldn’t it be good if I put all this stuff down in a real book?
I also had something of a life-changing experience recently—a lightning boltthat changed the way I viewed my health forever. I got fit and I upgraded my diet. I went from being a greedy junk-food-loving couch potato (albeit a new potato, rather than an oversized baking spud) into someone more health conscious. By changing my food intake and upping my exercise a little, I became so much happier. I looked better as well.
It struck me that although the changes I’d made were easy, I never saw them written about online, or in magazines. Sure, there’s plenty of info out there on how to follow the latest fad diet. There are a lot of ads for expensive gym memberships, too. But nobody was explaining the basics of food, exercise, and healthy living. With a lot of research, I came up with a plan that I’m going share with you in these pages, and it won’t cost you much, or require you to break your back on a treadmill every day (unless you really want to).
I don’t have the final word on the issues of health, dating, family, and work stuff—nobody does. What I do have is a lot of experience for a twenty-something in all of those areas, and plenty of useful tips and life hacks that I’ve picked up along the way. All of them have come from my own successes and failures. Through them, I can hopefully help to make a better you, with a few laughs thrown in, too.
Happy reading!
Marcus
LIVE RIGHT, LIVE WELL
We’d all like to be healthy, right? All of us want to eat well and feel great, to think sharp and be a hundred percent happy with the way we are 24/7. For some people that mind-set comes naturally. For others, it can seem like an impossible dream that can only be achieved through unhealthy fad diets or backbreaking exercise, both of which are incredibly bad for you.
The reality of living a healthy lifestyle is quite the opposite, and with a few tweaks to your shopping list (or the shopping list of your parents), plus some sensible exercise, it’s easy to take control of your well-being. OK, so I know that this might sound like a bold claim coming from some random guy on the internet, but stay with me because I know a few things: I’ve upgraded my own lifestyle simply by making some sensible dietary changes here and there, while doing a little extra physical activity in the process. Those upgrades have changed me for the better. Now I can help you to make that change, too.
And why would I do that? Well, I’m the generous sort. But also, like a lot of people, I’ve learned tons recently about just how important it is to eat healthily without going on a crash diet. I’ve also previously been a victim of the advertising campaigns that constantly urge us to gobble up crappy fast foods, sweets, alcohol, and carbonated drinks. I used to binge and put on weight. It was a bad way to live my life and I don’t want to go back to it.
Naked summer burger with sweet potato, guacamole, salad leaves, and tomatoes
Once I realized what the chocolate and pizzas were doing to me—both mentally and physically—I worked toward a happy and healthy lifestyle by rethinking my eating habits. The changes I made weren’t short-term fixes, but long-term solutions. They improved the way I live. They were affordable, too. These changes didn’t involve any revolutionary shopping bills or expensive gym memberships. Instead I made a few sacrifices on the junk-food front, while implementing some tasty alternatives and learning a few training routines in the park.
Slurping away on my drink in Orlando
Before we go on, I’d like to point out that I’m not a nutritionist or a personal trainer. I’d also like to say that I’m not one of those pushy converts to an expensive and painful diet craze—I don’t want you to lose weight or make yourself ill in an attempt to get thin. I want you to feel good about yourself, and what I’m going to reveal over the coming pages are the achievable techniques that I’ve used to improve my life, the ones that turned me into a happier, healthier person. But first, I want to tell you why I decided to make a change. . . .
MY JOURNEY
When I was a kid, I was very athletic. I’d often drive my parents crazy, getting them to take me to all sorts of after-school activities. I’d be at judo one night and soccer training the next. I’d play loads of sports at school, including basketball, which I competed in at a high level. I later became a champion gymnast. I loved exercising; I loved winning and I really loved being part of a team.
Over the years, though, I lost interest. By the time I got to college, I had given up on pretty much everything and I only played basketball every now and then. I sometimes went to the gym, but my training was halfhearted and unfocuse
d. Worse, I ate terribly. Potato chips, carbonated drinks, chocolate, cheese, and takeout burgers were my five a day, and I was so naive when it came to the basics of diet and nutrition that I convinced myself that I was eating healthily just because I had a bit of lettuce in my sandwich.
My first judo lesson
One of my first gymnastic medals
Me drinking a Coke
It got worse. A couple of years ago, before YouTube had really taken off, I worked full-time with a real estate agent. During that period I was living off the worst food in the world. I’d eat three bags of potato chips every day without even thinking about it. I became addicted to diet soda and I’d use food for comfort. If ever I was feeling down I’d eat chocolate. When I was hungry I’d gobble up whatever sugary foods I could get my hands on. I had no idea that the crap going into my body was causing a vicious cycle of cravings, all of them tricking my brain into thinking it needed to consume more and more unhealthy foods.
I’d always been a slim kid, but I was getting a bit lumpy around the edges. I wasn’t obese, but when I looked in the mirror I was becoming unhappy with what I saw. There was a time when I was trim and fit; suddenly I was a little bit overweight—you could call it baby fat, I guess (or just fat)—and I wanted to look good and feel healthier. My only problem was that I didn’t know how to get there. I had no idea about dieting, and a lot of the things I was reading in fitness magazines or on health websites seemed unachievable—and a little scary.
In the end, I spoke to my younger sister, Heidi, because she used to work in a gym (she’s currently a soccer player in America, so she knows her stuff). She put me in touch with a personal trainer named Jermayne, who got me to talk about what it was I really wanted to achieve realistically. I guess that was the first step. People often go into their gym with unrealistic goals, like “I want to have a body like Scarlett Johansson.” Jermayne got me to settle on an achievable target, which was to look better and to feel better. And we all want that, right?
“How serious are you about getting into this, Marcus?” he said. “Because we can just exercise to make you feel better, or you can really go for it. And if you’re gonna really get in shape we’ll need our work to be more of a lifestyle transformation.”
Jermayne Williams – my trainer and friend who helped inspire my healthy lifestyle transition
I decided to go for it. I set a goal to change my life, not just in the amount of exercise I did every week, but also in the way I lived through food and drink. I became fascinated with the science behind diet. I’d ask a million questions every week, usually on what foods I should eat and what I should drink. I’ve always been a question-asker. I’m the kind of person who loves to listen to advice and other people’s stories. I’m like a sponge; I’ll soak everything up and then I’ll make my decisions based on what I’ve learned.
Luckily Jermayne was full of information. When he got into the nuts and bolts of my diet, he could quickly see why I had been struggling—it was the diet carbonated drinks I was addicted to. He told me they can cause a person to crave even more sugar. “They’re the catalyst for diet disasters,” he said.
I went home and researched what seemed like a pretty bold statement. But there it was: pages and pages of personal recollections from people saying how their cravings for sugar had ended once they’d said farewell to the diet drinks. In the end I swapped cans of carbonated drinks and junk food for healthy smoothies and balanced meals made up of good proteins like chicken and fish, plus vegetables, including spinach and sweet potato.
If you’re thinking, Er, yeah, whatever, Marcus. That food is pretty gross. Well, that’s what I thought at first, but I was surprised at just how tasty it became once I got into cooking it. Jermayne told me the difference between good carbs (whole grains and oats, sweet potatoes) and not so good (white bread and pasta, white potatoes); I dropped sugary cereal and took to oatmeal instead. Once I’d upgraded my diet, I then started to notice the changes in my body. I was slimming down. My cravings started to vanish.
After around six months, I’d lost forty pounds in body fat just from changing the foods I was eating and exercising more. My skin was better. I had way more energy and fewer mood swings. I felt more positive, and that’s because I was happier with how I looked and felt.
The “crashes” disappeared, too. By that I mean the slumps that always seemed to come around an hour or so after a chocolate bar or carbonated drink. Back in the day those sugary products were giving me an instant hit—a rush—and I would think, Whoa! I feel good! But not long afterward I’d be burned out, tired, and my body would crave another hit of sugar. By changing up my diet, I was able to create a consistent and comfortable energy level. Sure, I’d still get tired, but overall I was more energetic and more productive—because I was eating and drinking the right stuff.
A while after changing my lifestyle, I started to look better. I wasn’t skinny—I didn’t want to be—but I had sharp edges around my muscles, and I wasn’t even going to the gym. I was working out in the park every other day, running and doing push-ups, crunches, and tricep dips off benches. I even used a “free bar” at the park to work on my pull-up game. (To begin with, I struggled to complete one rep.)
People were starting to notice. I’d get compliments on how I looked, and not just about my physique. Friends commented on my healthy glow. It was clear to everyone that my life had changed, and for the better, so I told anyone who asked, “Look, it wasn’t that hard. Anyone can do it.” Some of them took my advice and are reaping the benefits today. Now I’m going to tell you exactly what I told them. . . .
NOTE TO READERS
Everything I’m going to recommend to you in the coming pages is affordable. I know not everyone can splurge on a gym membership or personal trainer, so all the exercises and activities here are free (you can do them anywhere, and might only need a park bench as a piece of equipment) and the foods that you might want to consider introducing to your diet won’t make too much of a dent in your finances.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION
One of the biggest things I’ve learned about adopting a healthy lifestyle is that diet is the most important factor. Sure, exercise is vital, too, but I’d say it’s a seventy percent diet/thirty percent exercise ratio when it comes to getting the well-being you want. That famous saying about your body being a temple is so true. Think about what you’re putting into your tummy. Fill it with goodness and you’ll shine. Load it with crap and, chances are, you’ll feel like crap (after the initial five minutes of pleasure has worn off).
If you want to make a big, big change to your lifestyle, then I seriously recommend you consider reducing the following food and drink in your daily diet—and I use the term “food and drink” loosely. Carbonated drinks and unhealthy snacks like chips, junk, and super-sugary foods: this stuff is pretty light on nutritional goodness.
When I reduced these food groups in my diet, I know my life changed considerably, both physically and mentally. I felt better. I looked better. I thought better. I don’t think I could go back to the way I was when I was a junk-loving, carbonated-drink-downing “food sweeper” (you’ll read about that gross habit a bit later). My diet is completely different now, and as a result I’m a changed person. Follow my advice and you can make a huge change to your life, too.
At the same time, it’s important that you understand the concept of moderation. A lot of the things I’ve mentioned in my list aren’t going to do you harm if you munch on them every now and then. I also know that sometimes it’s impossible to eat healthily all the time. I might have a day where I eat a burger and chips and, afterward, I’ll think, Yeah, that was great. It was nice to remind myself of how good a burger tastes. I just don’t need to eat one every day. I can have a burger every three or four weeks. Likewise, chips and chocolate. A little every now and then can be a nice treat and, overall, I’d estimate my diet is currently ninety percent good. But I wasn’t always that way, and by considerably reducing the followin
g five food types my life changed for the better. It can change for you as well. Give it a go!
1 CARBONATED DRINKS
Confession time: back in the day, when I didn’t care about my diet, I would drink three cans of soda a day, slugging from a fresh one as if it were a bottle of water, often to rehydrate myself, regardless of the added sugar content and crazy additives. I’d think, Oh, I’m thirsty. I’m having a drink. It was rarely for taste reasons. It was always out of necessity rather than a luxury. I was addicted.
After a little research I learned that some carbonated drinks are bad for a number of reasons. The “full-fat” versions have a huge refined sugar content. When you drink them, your energy levels peak as the sugar goes in. You’ll then get really tired—or crash—as those energy levels fall. Before you know it, you’re craving another sugary rush to get you up again, which is seriously bad for your health, especially if you start to scarf chocolate and sweets to kill the withdrawals.
A number of diet drinks are just as bad, if not worse. Forget the hype about zero calories because these products are brimming with artificial flavors, chemicals, and sweeteners. At times, they may trigger the brain into craving sugary things—more drinks, chocolate, sweets. They can also release insulin into your body, which flicks your metabolism from “athlete” to “fat-storage” mode.
2 CHIPS
Before I changed my diet, I’d easily go through three packs of chips a day without even thinking about it. For lunch, I’d often make a toasted sandwich with melted cheese oozing from the sides, accompanied by two bags of chips on the plate (different varieties, mixed up). In between meals I’d often snack on chips and chocolate, all of which meant I was eating a lot of crap and putting on weight.
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