Model Nic Bezuszka
Most writing about models and diet tends to be negative – focusing on skinnyness, starvation diets, and eating disorders.
I must also confess that the image-obsession and vanity that goes with celebrity culture leaves me cold – so I’m reluctant to devote too much space to how “celebrity-x got rid of her cellulite”.
However – in the interests of fairness and balance – I recently sent a few questions to Nic Bezuszka, a male model and personal trainer.
Nic helped Mauricio Padilha of MaoPR lose over 180lbs. MaoPR is successful a NY public relations firm that has produced over 100 fashion shows.
As with other advice – take what you can and leave the rest.
Could you tell me more about this success story?
Mauricio and I met on a casting. He owns a company called MAO PR, which casts models for the designers they represent. MAO PR was having a casting, and while he was looking through my portfolio, he asked me what else I did besides modeling.
I mentioned NIC B BODY. First I wrote him a diet plan, then we started walking together. Once he felt comfortable, we started going to the gym. I was also cooking all of his food for the first year.
What sort of exercise routine did you use?
We did a lot of walking and some stairs at the start, then progressed to light weights (ankle and wrist).
I didn’t want it to be too tough, because I didn’t want him to become overwhelmed or discouraged. Nobody wants to be killed by their trainer, especially when you haven’t worked out in 15 years…
What does Mauricio’s diet look like?
I had Mauricio eating certain fruits and vegetables (raw), fish, chicken, steak, quinoa, eggs, almonds, apples (3 per day), NIC B whey, buckwheat pasta, red and black beans, and peppermint tea.
We eliminated gluten, pre-packaged and foods containing preservatives.
I never had a limit on the amount he could eat, I told him to eat when he was hungry. I added to his diet two shots of apple cider vinegar a day and added one tbsp. of ground flax seed meal to his oatmeal.
I made sure he never combined fruit with anything, and always ate protein with a non-fibrous carb. He also was following a vitamin and supplement guide I wrote for him.
How is Mauricio faring now that he no longer has you working closely with him?
NIC B BODY is about teaching a lifestyle. I still train with him, but Mauricio has learned to take control of his diet and I am at his disposal to answer any dietary questions he may have as I do with all my clients.
To date he has lost close to 200 lbs. He is about 188 lbs. We started at 385!
We train about 2-3 times a week now, and when his body gets bored with it, I change it up. Mauricio is now in control and will continue to be successful with little support.
How did you motivate Mauricio?
I was with him every step of the way. I believe people need a workout partner and educator to empower them.
I played Division 1 college soccer at Western Michigan University and all of the coaches would practice with us… this made it a lot more fun, and it was something I enjoyed.
From personal experience, when a trainer just watches the client, it doesn’t work as well… the trainer should be well rested, and ready to go to battle with the client, it?’s 50-50!
What if a person can’t afford private training?
The most important thing is Diet. 80% is food, the rest is training, I believe this 110%. A good trainer can be used once a week to show the client new ideas for the entire week.
This is a very cost effective method. Certain foods burn more calories in digestion, certain foods make you more hungry, and with the abundance of negative calorie foods, there is no reason these foods shouldn’t be the staple of your diet.
Training is, and will always be important, but somebody who needs a lot of help with weight issues should be focused on diet. Having somebody to consult at any given time has really made NIC B BODY a success.
I offer 24/7 consulting, and this is why it works. Most people have a misconception of what a “healthy” diet consists of. This is mainly a result of advertising and marketing strategies of many food companies.
Lately I’ve been working with a lot of modeling agencies in an effort to teach models proper nutrition, and help them realize that you can eat! I’ve read a majority of the diet plans out now and I don’t believe in a lot of them.
It is my passion to educate and empower people concerning their health and I hope to be known for it one day!
Congratulations Mauricio and Nic – a dramatic turnaround!
People grossly overcomplicate nutrition. Its really very simple. If you want to lose weight calorie count. Create a small deficit and when that stops create a smaller one again and continue this until you have reached the desired weight. You will naturally seek out lower calorie foods this way and begin to eat healthier than before but maybe not super healthy.
You only have to worry about the type of food you eat when you are training or exercising as the type of food will effect your mood and energy levels. Protein as we know is muscle fuel, carbs are our main energy source and good fats are needed to maintain a good level of health especially the heart and brain.
Fruit, vegetables, oats, nuts, wholemeal products and lean meats are all the body needs. Dairy is not needed as we get an abundance of calcium through broccoli and other veg. Eggs are good though and can be used in any meal to great effect. 70% of the cholesterol from eggs are used by the brain so 2 eggs a day can be a good thing.
To sum it all up clean non processed foods clean cooked is the way to go. Organic where possible is better again.
I used Animal Cuts by Univeral and lost 12 lbs and I used wow smoothie and lost 34 lbs. with a workout shedule of 1 hour a day for 3 days a week. Oh yeah, and I was eating anything I wanted…
Certain food combination definatly helps. Nutrition IS most of the battle when it comes to weight loss but dont forget you need lots of cardio unless your starving yourself in which case you better revamp your whole approach. Negative calorie foods though can really kill your muscle mass. studies on starving yourself and eating foods with negative calories have shown that over 60 percent of the weight lost is muscle and only 40 percent is fat. In my opinion beef jerky is an excellent staple. makes you feel full and has something like 300-400 calories for a bag and over 50 grams of protein which will make you feel very full and help retain your muscle. Make sure not to get the stuff with brown sugar or terriaki as they have more sugar.
they say not to combine fruit with anything because fructose, the sugar in fruit, combines when you eat to raise insulin and therefore makes your body store more fat, Or something??
Your weight speaks VOLUMES. lol
FYI, fibrous carbs further slows down the digestion and distribution of essential nutrients such as glucose.
There is nothing wrong with combining fruit with protein/non-fibrous carbs. Fruit is good to combine with non-fibrous carbs because of the amount of fiber that it contains which further slows down the GI. This guy is speaking nonsense.
Whoever mentioned that food combining is not effective is really really ignorant and needs to read more. Do yourself a favor and read on how food responds and reacts in your body. There is a reason for combining certain macronutrients.
Amen! Hard work is where it is! That’s hard work in both the workout and the diet! I’m just starting my career as a male model and it takes a lot of work. The diet is also so important for your skin… not just your workout routine. Great skin, great muscles, great model! Keep up the hard work!
yea, i ABSOLUTLY dont agree with this advice.
“NO FOOD NOW WEIGHT” is really stateing no food >> no MUSCLE! therefore you wont have any weight because muscle ways WAY more than fat to begin with!.
[go read some more books]
The thing is that you have to know HOW to manage both dieting and exercise, doing just 1 won’t be enough. All of the models here at Kurtiss have managed to maintain an excellent body figured through dieting and exercise.
The thing is that you have to know HOW to manage both dieting and exercise, doing just 1 won’t be enough. All of the models here at http://www.kurtiss.com have managed to maintain an excellent body figured through dieting and exercise.
hi every body! congratulations for your weight loss maurizio! i need to state some points:
1)i do beleive that the food combining techniques work..
2)lots of walking makes u drop alot of weight and gives u sexy calves..
3)adding wrist weights and ankle weight are great for preserving the muscles mass during the weight loss program..
4)apple cider helps in digestion of proteins..
5)when the correct type of carbs is eaten, blood sugar doesnt spike up.
6)when blood sugar spikes up u become hyper active , then u later crash and u get more hungry and need more carbs or sugar.. leading to weight gain..
7)if u start the day with clean food(unprocessed natural food) ur most like not to have cravings for unclean food later on through the day.. start clean and you will crave more clean..
8)there is something such a negative calory foods and i beeive in its effectiveness.
i tried all the above but i didnt know there was any scientific studies to back it up but it really worked with me and my boyfreind.. i am now a plus sized model.. i used to be a model.. and i was very skinny.. later, i had a huge hormonal problem and got treated with hormonal meds causing me to pile on weight.. i went from 54 kgs to 92 kgs.. i was fat and depressed and worse of all people did not recognise me.. i would look at my magazine pictures and old clothes and cry.. after i went off the meds i tried every kind of diet u can imagine i tried vinegar and tried chemical diets, atkins evcerything… raw food diet.. in the end i discovered that no 1 diet fits all.. and that each person should understand their body well and feel it and know what works with it best and listen to ur body.. i took many tips from many places and i did what works for me.. mostly it was focusing on correct food combinations, lots of walking, some yoga, some dancing, some weights.. and now i went from 92 to 66 kgs and have been this way for the past three years.. i am 5’11 and i look pretty healthy, slim and toned..
but weight loss is a looong process and very difficult one as well.. and to loose weight and keep it off, u shouldnt feel deprived or forced or on a diet and crazy excercise program..
to loose weight effictively, it should be fun and the meals should be tasty.. it takes a while to get used to cooking and not eating out and eating clean instead of junk food but its worth the effort.. u feel good inside and outside and u learn to love the new foods and to get grossed out by junk food. i havent had a burger in 4 years because i cant stand it any more… i make my own burgers home made good lean meat burgers BBQed instead of fried.. i also hated hated veggies for me they were those tasteless things.. but now i cant say i love them (cus i still dont) but i like them with spices and low fat or other more healthy dressings.. to loose weight u should learn how to customise a fun diet and eating plan for urself that after a while it becomes ur natural style and way of living..
so maurizio, for u to have done that.. i dont know u but i respect u very much and applaud you..
and for some1 to say hot trainer = weight loss those pppl just dont know what they r talking about..
angelina jolie didnt loose the weight because of brad, she lost it because she was greaiving over her mother who happened to have just passed away after the birth of her baby..
I agree with Mauricio. Your comments are inaccurate and curiously void of intelligence.
Dear Mr. Padilha,
You & your story are an inspiration to me Congratulations on all your success !
Psh, you are so off base. Amputation is where it’s at now.
Ive been gyming for 1 year now and still havent lost the last 7 cm around my waist, so im going to take the above mentioned route and see if the diet will work.
p.s there are really no short cuts is there?
Thanks for chiming in Mauricio, and showing that the people mentioned here are real people – who have worked damn hard to achieve their results.
Well I’m offended. Anorexics are people who suffer from a mental illness. They didn’t get it right. They got it very wrong.
To DreadlocCowgirl
I am insulted by your comment…I lost the weight by doing a lot of hard work for almost 2 years….working out every single day of my life…after my doctor told me I was morbidly obeise….for you to say that I lost the weight just because my trainer looks like Brad Pitt is just plain thoughless…
And also thanks for calling me the fat guy…but thats where you are wrong…I am no longer the fat guy…I worked hard and I am healthy, thin and HOT now.
Mauricio
Will someone please admit that the fat guy lost weight because the cute model dude was training him?Geez! I’d lose 100lbs if Brad Pitt was my trainer! Hell, even Angelina lost 20lbs after having his baby and she’s smokin’ hot!
No offense to y’all but the anorexics got it right. Stop eating! NO FOOD, NO WEIGHT!
Jay – Thanks for the informative comment. I was just imagining my eating life getting MUCH more complicated…
Off to guzzle some apple vinegar…
Some of the advice is good, but the food-combining points are largely mumbo-jumbo. I’m not aware of any studies that demonstrate food combining is effective. Food combining has been around in some form since the Hay Diet in the 1930s; the science behind it is tenuous as best.
This was very interesting to see how male models eating and keep in shape. I will use some of his tips to help myself keep burning fat.
Another question: when is it good to take the apple cider vinegar?
Now, on the diet being 80%, is that of the standard 100% or of this mythical 110% he cites in his belief of it?
1. Fruit digests faster than any other type of food (particularly melon) and you may get indigestion and heartburn by eating it with other foods or following a large meal.
2. Apple cider vinegar sours the stomach, thus creating a better environment for the digestion of proteins and a worse environment for the digestion of carbohydrates.
It seems weird that he would give one advice aimed at reducing indigestion, and another at promoting it.
3. Protein with a non-fibrous carbs (You’d reworded this one). That is so if one is eating a starchier carbohydrate, then they are also getting protein, which will slow the digestion rate. And then insulin doesn’t spike as much as if the carbs were rapidly digested.
I would agree with him on diet being about 80% of your success. You can work out all you want, but if you eat a bunch of crap, you won’t lose. And he’s right about there being an abundance of negative calorie foods out there to eat: you can always snack on celery or broccoli when you’re hungry…you don’t have to eat cookies and cake.
I agree with the part about diet being most important. You can train all you want, but without the proper diet, you will never see the results of your hard work.
I agree, the most important thing for a successful weight loss program and maintenance is Diet and exercise. Certain foods burn more calories in digestion, for example digesting protein burn more calories. On the other hand, certain foods make you more hungry, like sugary choices.
Thanks for the information.
Three questions:
1. Never combine fruit with anything?
2. Apple cider vinegar?
3. Never combine protein and a fibrous-carb?
Anyone have comments?
Question: why do you not want to combine fruit with anything?
From,
A banana in her cereal lover