When asked about his recent weight loss and muscular physique, comedian and producer Wayne Brady says “The proof is in the pudding. I’m able to wear the size 48 suits that I want to be in. I’m kind of like a girl in that I really like clothes and I really like certain designers. And with the designers I like, you have to really be in shape to rock it. So I’m enjoying that. I’m also able to feel the effects energy-wise; I just feel healthier. And again, not to sound girly, but I’ve got a glow that comes from enjoying the working out. I love that buzz now. I think overall there’s a huge difference.”
So how did he do it? It started with a steady diet.
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Brady pulled out all the stops in an effort to shape up like never before. For the last four weeks or so of his 12-week program, a professional chef — Diana Stadlen, executive chef and owner of The Take Home Cook in Los Angeles, cooked meals for him.
“The challenge for me was to keep the fat low and the flavor high so he was always satisfied,” says Stadlen, who prepared the meals and had them delivered to Brady. “I focused on clean foods like fresh vegetables; lean proteins such as chicken breast, filet mignon, egg whites and legumes; and some healthy grains like brown rice and quinoa. Portion control and nutritional balance are very important to diet, both for building muscle and getting rid of those last extra pesky pounds of fat.”
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Then Brady started on an intense fat-burning program.
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Abs were typically trained four days a week, and Brady did cardio virtually every day to maximize fat burning. More important, Vale’s workouts varied from week to week based off his observations of Brady’s progress. There was nothing cookie-cutter about the program.
Maximum intensity was achieved through minimal rest periods during lifting workouts. With few exceptions, all exercises were combined with others in circuit or superset fashion. Rep speeds also changed. Having Brady do slow reps to build muscle mass and fast reps to develop strength and power, thus ensuring that the program was anything but one-dimensional.
“I’ve definitely gotten stronger,” Brady says. “A couple weeks ago I was able to start benching 205 pounds. And not even like that was my max or, ‘Oh, I’m gonna crap myself.’ It was like, ‘I’ve got more.’ That was a good feeling.”
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“The work Wayne has put in is showing,” his personal trainer Mike Vale says. “His abs are leaner, his arms are much bigger — he has probably added an inch and a half to each arm. He’s added around 4 to 5 pounds of lean muscle while also dropping body fat, which is why his bodyweight hasn’t changed much even though his body composition has definitely improved. All and all, I really think Wayne’s made a big jump from Day 1 of this challenge to Day 90.”
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If anything, Brady’s transformational challenge confirmed that getting in great shape isn’t determined by diet or exercise alone, one or the other — it’s about the combination of the two. “Diet without exercise, or vice versa, isn’t enough to get results. It goes to show that the right food plan along with consistent conditioning can give you the results you want if you know how to do it.”
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