5 Months of Power Leveling, Pics Inside! [ -45lbs, -17% Body Fat, Quit Smoking, Quit Drinking ]

[Mori]

I can't believe it took me so long to find NF! I really love this site... I believe that nerds have insane potential to become powerful forces once they master fitness and health. Life truly is THE best MMMORPG!

 

Last night I read a bunch of NF articles and was really inspired to join and share my Power Leveling adventure. 

 

I've changed so much in the past 5 months, both inside and out. I have so much to say but I'll try to keep it to a few bullet points and whats on my mind now. Feel free to ask questions, I will answer them.

 

PICTURES
 

http://www.instagram.com/b3nign

 

GAMER IN ME

 

Hardcore PC, PS3 and Board Gamer. I have a maxed out character in just about every mmorpg in existance going back to EQ and most recently GW2. I enjoy playing Healing, CC and support classes. Don't play much PS3 anymore but I still am a harcore Board Gamer (doesn't get enough love).

 

My favorite PC Games (DayZ, SWOTR, Anarchy Online).

My favorite PS3 Games (BF3, Dungeon Defenders, Dungeon Hunter Alliance).

My favorite Board Games (Twilight Imperium, Mage Knight, Ecliplise)

 

5 MONTHS OF POWER LEVELING RESULTS

 

Stats

• 192 to 145 lbs
• 29% to 12% Body Fat

Strength

• Max Push-Ups 6 to 48
• Max Pull-Ups : 0 to 3

Dex/Agility:

• Maximum distance run in 1 shot: 3 blocks to 20 miles
• Maximum distance run in a 24 hour period: 1.5 miles to 41 miles
• Maximum distance run in 1 week: 2.5 miles to 62 miles
• Maximum speed: 1 mile in 14 minutes to 3 miles in 21 minutes.

Intelligence/Spirit/Discipline

• Wake up time 9-10 AM to 4:00 AM
• Depressed to Happy
• Negative to Positive
• Anti-social to Outgoing
• Dead to Alive
• Complete slob with lack of self-control to Samurai
• Slow to Sharp
• I've read over 15 self development books during this period of time (Skill Points!)

Debuffs/Buffs:

• Smoker for 10 Years to Non-Smoker
• Drinker to Non-Drinker
• Addicted to Marajuana (Daily Smoker) to Haven't touched it in 2 months
• Pizza, Ramen, Taco Bell and Mountain Dew Diet to Superfoods and Tea only.

[Mori]

FEARS AND LIMITS ARE ILLUSIONS

 

Nov 1st 2012

About 60 days into P90X I stepped outside one morning and ran my first 2 miles at about 13 minutes each. This blew my mind! It felt so good, so primal, so right. I already knew it was what I was made to do.

 

I was so inspired that I signed up for Tough Mudder (10-12 Mile Obstacle Course) in Oct 2013. I told myself, OK Mori, even though you have no idea how you are going to run 12 Miles and do pullups just sign up and figure it out!

 

Jan 1st 2013

By this time I was able to run 8 miles with little trouble. I also ran 3 miles in 21:19. Tough Mudder didn't seem so tough anymore... in fact it I was dissapointed with it. All that was left was to be able to do pullups, I couldn't do any but I knew I'd get them down in a few months.

 

Month of Feb 2013

I decided to sign up for a Marathon when a friend told me to look up Ultra Running on youtube. I did and I immediately knew in my heart that it was the class I wanted to be (Plus Ultra Runner sounds so much cooler than Marathon Runner lol). I loved the philosophy and discipline behind it. So technically any distance greater than a marathon is considered an ultra marathon but all the ultra runner blogs, articles and videos I've studied (And I studied A LOT of them) feel that 50 miles is the true minimum distance.

 

So I found an entry level 50 mile race and signed up for it a few days ago. I was scared and had no idea how I'd do it but I signed up anyway (I was all pumped up on Bruce Lee quotes). After I signed up i spent the next 4 hours absorbing powers from ALL the top ultra runners on youtube, trying to get into their heads and think like they think.

 

By the next morning (yesterday) I realized that I could finish the race. The problem with that is it no longer feels like a challenge. So I looked up the times and race results for the previous years and made it my goal to place in the Top 10. It was definately do able if I pushed myself 100%.

 

The race has two 1337 runners that straight up destroyed everyone else in the race last year. How the hell do they run that fast over 50 miles!? As much as I want to place in the top 3, there is no way I could beat those 2 guys... or is there?

 

By a stroke of luck a friend sent me yesterdays front page article of NF talking about becoming a hero (first time on NF). It chained off into another memory that my dad told me about where our last name Igarashi came from.

 

"Back in feudal Japan a samurai heard the emperors screams as he was being mauled by wild boars in the forest. The samurai ran as fast as could through the forest and killed the boars just in time to save the unconscious and bleeding emperors life. After recovering, the emporer thanked the samurai and made the his personal body guard and change his family name to Igarashi. It means 'Speed of 50 Hurricanes'"

 

THIS MORNING

 

For some reason, I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM and did 50 minutes of Interval Training (I usually wake up at 4:00 AM). As I was wiping off my sweat and making my post-workout shake it hit me...

 

There IS a hero within me. 

That samurai's blood is in me

I am his decendant

To not tap into that power would be a shame. 

 

I have already begun formulating a plan which I will post later in the Scout section because that seems to be my class.

[kamikaze]

This is super awesome and inspiring. Way to go Mr. Speed of 50 hurricanes! Your ancestor would be proud!

[shortstuff]

Wow you have came so far, keep up the good work

[Rooks]

Awesome share sir.  Sounds like you are kicking some serious tail.  

[Thilde]

Awesome, indeed!    Your story will be an inspiration to your fellow Rebels.  Thanks for sharing!

[Wicked Pixie]

damn

[Ba'sini'on]

I have tried working out in the morning, but it just doesn't feel right. I just feel 'groggy' and I don't have the energy to put my best in my workout. How do you do it?

[hearthsinger]

That is super inspiring. I've always wanted to be a runner, but every time I take it up, I hate it. I've struggled with my weight for forever and I've been doing interval training as a part of my weight loss regime for about 8 months so now that I've dropped some of the weight that made the impact of running so unbearable, I've started training to run a 5k. It's a step by step process but I'm feeling like I can actually do it now. And what's more, I feel like I'm ENJOYING the training, which is BANANAS considering how much I've hated it in the past. Your progress makes me feel like anything is possible if you make the decision to go for it. I love your attitude of aiming high and then just trusting yourself to figure it out. I cannot WAIT to hear about how it all goes for you!

[minderly]

That's really amazing. Did you completely cut out alcohol? How did you go about that? I find that's what I struggle with most...since most social things revolve around alcohol in my social group.

[Sdanthony]

Awesome job! Very inspiring

[Rastaban]

Freaking badass, man. That's awesome!

[magi192]

This is so ridiculously inspiring, I've bookmarked it for future viewing, for those days I feel bummed out. Thank you so much for sharing this!

[Mori]

March 2013

 

I apologize for taking so long guys, I've been in samurai mode the past month training, organizing and getting my life as efficient as possible to make time for all the training and sleeping that I've set in motion.

 

I wanted to feel more pressure to see how far I can push myself so I registered for a 50 Mile Trail Race (In the forest with some inclines and varied terrain) on May 26th 2013! Now it's really on!

 

Anything is possible guys, ANYTHING.

 

 

180 Days

The Bane Mask at the end is a High Altitude Training Mask. I do all my training with it on: P90X, Insanity and running. I can handle up to +9,000 FT now (Range is +3,000-18,000ft). It's like having asthma and being able to breathe through only 1 nostril at the same time. I do not recommend it unless you are insane. I only take it off when I fight evil (My Saturday Long Run, which is now at 30 miles and climbing). My body get's so used to functioning with such little air that when I run without it it's like I'm breathing in concentrated oxygen and I get super human powers (literally) for 2-3 hours. I truly become a superhero in my mind.

 

[Mori]

FEARS AND LIMITS ARE ILLUSIONS

 

Nov 1st 2012

About 60 days into P90X I stepped outside one morning and ran my first 2 miles at about 13 minutes each. This blew my mind! It felt so good, so primal, so right. I already knew it was what I was made to do.

 

I was so inspired that I signed up for Tough Mudder (10-12 Mile Obstacle Course) in Oct 2013. I told myself, OK Mori, even though you have no idea how you are going to run 12 Miles and do pullups just sign up and figure it out!

 

Jan 1st 2013

By this time I was able to run 8 miles with little trouble. I also ran 3 miles in 21:19. Tough Mudder didn't seem so tough anymore... in fact it I was dissapointed with it. All that was left was to be able to do pullups, I couldn't do any but I knew I'd get them down in a few months.

 

Month of Feb 2013

I decided to sign up for a Marathon when a friend told me to look up Ultra Running on youtube. I did and I immediately knew in my heart that it was the class I wanted to be (Plus Ultra Runner sounds so much cooler than Marathon Runner lol). I loved the philosophy and discipline behind it. So technically any distance greater than a marathon is considered an ultra marathon but all the ultra runner blogs, articles and videos I've studied (And I studied A LOT of them) feel that 50 miles is the true minimum distance.

 

So I found an entry level 50 mile race and signed up for it a few days ago. I was scared and had no idea how I'd do it but I signed up anyway (I was all pumped up on Bruce Lee quotes). After I signed up i spent the next 4 hours absorbing powers from ALL the top ultra runners on youtube, trying to get into their heads and think like they think.

 

By the next morning (yesterday) I realized that I could finish the race. The problem with that is it no longer feels like a challenge. So I looked up the times and race results for the previous years and made it my goal to place in the Top 10. It was definately do able if I pushed myself 100%.

 

The race has two 1337 runners that straight up destroyed everyone else in the race last year. How the hell do they run that fast over 50 miles!? As much as I want to place in the top 3, there is no way I could beat those 2 guys... or is there?

 

By a stroke of luck a friend sent me yesterdays front page article of NF talking about becoming a hero (first time on NF). It chained off into another memory that my dad told me about where our last name Igarashi came from.

 

"Back in feudal Japan a samurai heard the emperors screams as he was being mauled by wild boars in the forest. The samurai ran as fast as could through the forest and killed the boars just in time to save the unconscious and bleeding emperors life. After recovering, the emporer thanked the samurai and made the his personal body guard and change his family name to Igarashi. It means 'Speed of 50 Hurricanes'"

 

THIS MORNING

 

For some reason, I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM and did 50 minutes of Interval Training (I usually wake up at 4:00 AM). As I was wiping off my sweat and making my post-workout shake it hit me...

 

There IS a hero within me. 

That samurai's blood is in me

I am his decendant

To not tap into that power would be a shame. 

 

I have already begun formulating a plan which I will post later in the Scout section because that seems to be my class.

 

 

This is super awesome and inspiring. Way to go Mr. Speed of 50 hurricanes! Your ancestor would be proud!

 

 

Wow you have came so far, keep up the good work

 

 

Awesome share sir.  Sounds like you are kicking some serious tail.  

 

 

Awesome, indeed!    Your story will be an inspiration to your fellow Rebels.  Thanks for sharing!

 

 

damn

 

 

Awesome job! Very inspiring

 

 

Freaking badass, man. That's awesome!

 

 

This is so ridiculously inspiring, I've bookmarked it for future viewing, for those days I feel bummed out. Thank you so much for sharing this!

 

Thanks! Even if I can inspire just one of you it's worth me coming back and updating. There is a superhero ALREADY in ALL of you, you just need to activate it. This site contains EXCELLENT information. NEVER GIVE UP AND BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. I can't stress that enough, NEVER GIVE UP.

[Mori]

I have tried working out in the morning, but it just doesn't feel right. I just feel 'groggy' and I don't have the energy to put my best in my workout. How do you do it?

 

Make sleep an extreme sport that you take seriously. Here is an excellent sleep resource that I still use.

 

And watch

video.

 

As far as winning the morning goes, I make sure the coffee pot is all ready to go before I sleep and I wrap a piece of paper around my alarm clock that says: START THE COFFEE, BRUSH TEETH, DRINK COFFEE.

 

Help your future self out by giving yourself instructions! It really works and you will be grateful in the morning, TRY IT!

[Mori]

That's really amazing. Did you completely cut out alcohol? How did you go about that? I find that's what I struggle with most...since most social things revolve around alcohol in my social group.

 

No drinking for me. I cut out drinking because it messes with my sleep, moods, liver and brain. I was able to quit when I discovered that being high off of exercise, fruits, vegetables and positive energy is way more awesome than getting drunk. Trust me on that one, I used to drink, smoke and get high ALL the time.

 

Read this article:

 

Your friends are (other than your family) the most influential people in your life. They will change you in more ways than you know. You spend hours upon hours with these people and after a while you start to mimic their behavior. They have the power to stretch your vision or destroy your dreams. They hold the ability to influence both the consciousness level you operate in and the subject matter you engage in.

The opinions they hold, the products they buy, the political positions they support, the activities they participate in, the technologies they use and many other things will slowly and steadily rub off on you. Information cascades occur in situations where seeing many people make the same choice provides evidence that outweighs one's own judgment.

If you go off to a mountain retreat and live with monks and yogis you will find that your behavior and outlook will naturally start to become very peaceful. If you go to Wall Street and hang out with cocaine sniffing wealthy executives you will find that you naturally become more greedy and competitive. You will surely begin to emulate them in one way or another.

Media influences us by just reporting what’s happening around us. Imagine what impact people with whom we interact all the time with have. Oddly, we may not even recognize how powerful this influence really is because it can be very subtle. Still, we know that even imperceptible prompts applied over an extended period of time can exert tremendous persuasive power. The direction of our personal development is directly impacted by our daily habits and rituals. We tend to pick up the habits of the people we spend time with.

By choosing to spend time with like-minded people we reinforce and strengthen our own focus and resolve. If you want to become better at something, spend time in the company of those who are already good at it and you will improve. Peer pressure can be a powerful motivator for positive personal development if we make wise choices about who we allow to influence us.

Everyone has goals that they want to achieve. Some people want to buy a nice big house, other people want to travel. Some of us are focused on advancing our career, some of us run marathons. Whatever your goal in life is it should be supported by your friends. They should help you get closer and closer to this goal.

The way I see it, you have two groups of people: sleepwalker and motivators.

Sleepwalkers

Sleepwalkers generally lack a core focus in their lives. Their lives revolve around working, eating, sleeping, partying, random entertainment and generally getting by. When you are with them, you find it very difficult to branch the discussion beyond lower level, fear/ego-based topics such as gossip, complaining, unhappiness or dissatisfaction and day-to-day weary, to more higher-level, love-based topics such purpose, self improvement, and so on.

Motivators

Motivators are of much higher consciousness than sleepwalkers. They are very talented individuals who are the cream of the crop from wherever they came from; they were very solution-driven, positive and driven. They are extremely invigorating and uplifting to be around; the positive energy they radiate just builds on itself infectiously.

There are two variables that interplay in determining how much of your thoughts and actions are influenced by people around you. The first is your consciousness and resilience as an individual. The second is the collective sum of the consciousness of the people you are with. These combine to give you a weighted impact on who you become.

You may be the most conscious and smartest individual around, but if you are constantly surrounded by negative, fear-based people in your life, it will have an impact on who you eventually become and your progression in life. If you are heavily rooted in yourself, there might be a limited downside that negative friends can bring you. However, you are also getting a limited upside because you are spending time with people who are holding you back vs people who can be elevating you.

If you hang out with a group of successful, positive-minded individuals who believe in taking responsibility for their lives, you will move to become a proactive individual who shapes his/her future. If you hang out with a bunch of pessimists who believe the world is out to get them and there is nothing worthwhile, you will start descending into the negative whirlpool at some point, even if you are initially a positive individual.

This is especially important in goal achievement, because the consciousness you vibrate at affects the kind of thoughts and actions you undertake. If you want to lose 20lbs of weight, you need to think as your end persona; the person who is clean cut in making diet decisions. However, if you are constantly surrounding yourself with people who eat a lot, you make it harder to restrict yourself. At this point, your ability to stay on track in your goal will boil down to how grounded and resilient you are. Think of how much easier the task becomes if you were hanging out with like-minded people with similar visions, or even people who have already been there before.

Of course, this does not mean you should sever relationships or cut away every single person who does not contribute to your goals. It just means you should reduce the amount of contact you are having with people who do not enable you to become a better person. Only in the event that the person is seriously dragging you down should you resort to cutting him/her completely away. Remember, if you are entrenching yourself in relationships which are not elevating you or bringing yourself forward, you are not really helping yourself nor anybody else since you are not being the best you can be and subsequently, not being the best you can be to them.

So, take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself what it is that you want. Then take an even harder look at each one of your friends. It may be difficult to go against the grain, but as long as you have people around you labeling what is cool, what is right, what is wrong, etc., then you’ll always be persuaded by their views.

By choosing who you spend time with, you are literally shaping your own future.

[Mori]

That is super inspiring. I've always wanted to be a runner, but every time I take it up, I hate it. I've struggled with my weight for forever and I've been doing interval training as a part of my weight loss regime for about 8 months so now that I've dropped some of the weight that made the impact of running so unbearable, I've started training to run a 5k. It's a step by step process but I'm feeling like I can actually do it now. And what's more, I feel like I'm ENJOYING the training, which is BANANAS considering how much I've hated it in the past. Your progress makes me feel like anything is possible if you make the decision to go for it. I love your attitude of aiming high and then just trusting yourself to figure it out. I cannot WAIT to hear about how it all goes for you!

 

I like where your head is at! Thank you for sharing, believe it or not your story inspires me because we are both on the same journey:

 

Standing up to something that's greater than us (for now) and saying I'm not afraid of you.

 

Everyday that you are out there training just remember that at that very moment I'm probably training as well, feeling the same pain and pushing just as hard.

 

Please keep me updated with your progress!

 

This is for

[sheldon911]

Man this is awesome ! Super inspiring man after reading your posts i feel like going to the gym and its the middle of the day good work. 

[Mori]

Man this is awesome ! Super inspiring man after reading your posts i feel like going to the gym and its the middle of the day good work. 

 

Do it! It's so great for your mind and body. I can tell by your posts, blog (I bookmarked) and art that you've got a sharp sense of design and are extremely creative.

 

Exercise and nutrition will take those awesome powers you already possess and make them BIGGER and BETTER. I want to see you become the person you know you were meant to be inside and share whatever messages you want to share with the world with the world through your art.

 

I think you'd enjoy and be motivated by this book (I was). The author is intelligent and delivers a very serious message in a humorous, light hearted tone (like you).

 

Time for me to do some P90X at 9,000ft, then read, then sleep, then wake up at 5:30AM and run 11 Miles at 6,000ft. Then go to work from 9-5PM. Then get some more rest for 32 miles on Saturday morning. Then get some more rest for 6 miles running in the forest on Sunday. None of it is easy for me at all. The moment I feel like I can handle it, I make it harder. Dismiss comfort and reject limits and you will grow FAST.

[minderly]

No drinking for me. I cut out drinking because it messes with my sleep, moods, liver and brain. I was able to quit when I discovered that being high off of exercise, fruits, vegetables and positive energy is way more awesome than getting drunk. Trust me on that one, I used to drink, smoke and get high ALL the time.

 

Read this article:

 

Your friends are (other than your family) the most influential people in your life. They will change you in more ways than you know. You spend hours upon hours with these people and after a while you start to mimic their behavior. They have the power to stretch your vision or destroy your dreams. They hold the ability to influence both the consciousness level you operate in and the subject matter you engage in.

By choosing who you spend time with, you are literally shaping your own future.

What's this from? I liked it.

[Darkryft]

Awesome story.  Truly an inspiration.

[sheldon911]

Do it! It's so great for your mind and body. I can tell by your posts, blog (I bookmarked) and art that you've got a sharp sense of design and are extremely creative.

 

Exercise and nutrition will take those awesome powers you already possess and make them BIGGER and BETTER. I want to see you become the person you know you were meant to be inside and share whatever messages you want to share with the world with the world through your art.

 

I think you'd enjoy and be motivated by this book (I was). The author is intelligent and delivers a very serious message in a humorous, light hearted tone (like you).

Thanks man i appreciate it ! I will check out that book for sure , we should hit up some guild wars 2 and day z some time 

[Croman Red]

Your thread is really intense.  A lot of extreme changes in a very short period of time to be so successful, congratulations on becoming a mind-blowing inspiration:)

 

I agree that it's way cooler to say you do ultra runs than it is to be a marathoner:)  (Positive style points are crucial.)

 

Have you developed a training plan or are you winging it with high mileage?  I'm doing the latter for now, just getting started and testing the boundaries.  Haven't heard of a "Bane" mask...can you provide a brand name for a google search?  Thanks, sounds useful...I'm planning on doing the Zugspitz Ultratrail in June but I don't have a way to train at altitude.

[hearthsinger]

I like where your head is at! Thank you for sharing, believe it or not your story inspires me because we are both on the same journey:

 

Standing up to something that's greater than us (for now) and saying I'm not afraid of you.

 

Everyday that you are out there training just remember that at that very moment I'm probably training as well, feeling the same pain and pushing just as hard.

 

Please keep me updated with your progress!

 

This is for

Thanks so much for that link! I loved that video. I will absolutely keep it book marked. I've been looking into the "science" as I go and I'm so jealous of their trail running. The closest I get is running through the graveyard near my house (LOL morbid... and creepy?). Sadly, that's just how it is in NYC. I'm looking forward to running more when I go to England since I know I'll be in the countryside. Right now I'm pretty into the Pose Running method but I'm still learning a lot about it. What do you do as far as practicing "form?"

 

I'm 6 weeks into the 8 week program! One more training mission for the week and then just two weeks left before I should technically be able to run a full 5k without stopping. Honestly I look forward to the freedom of running! I love the elliptical and my yoga classes, but I LOVE getting out into the world three times a week. Feels great.

 

Hope your training is going well! I know you'll do what it takes to prep for that giant 50 mile run (holy cow!). I'll be cheering you on as I train out here in NYC!