Cuffe flaunts his stuff!

Garfene Grandison, Assistant Lifestyle Coordinator

Local radio personalilty and self-professed 'big kid' Michael Anthony Cuffe Jr unveils his new body to our Flair team during a recent training session at the Core Fitness Studio. Overall, the radio personality, who is also the hubby of local songstress Tessanne Chin, has shed a whopping 44lb going from 218lb to 174 in a few months. However, the task wasn't an easy feat, which he explains to Flair during a recent interview.

He explains that ever since he was young, he was always a 'big kid' and was oftentimes not comfortable in his own skin even when he lost weight. He decided to engage in a fitness regime when his father had a heart attack a year ago. "Dad had a heart attack last year, and that's when the healthy eating came into play, as well as I always wanted to start to increase my running, so it was the perfect time," he said.

About his new-found body and way of life, Cuffe tells us, "Life has changed tremendously. Overall, I feel a lot stronger, especially now that I am able to compete in triathalons and road races, etc,". He confessed that it feels especially great when he's doing all these things, with his confidence sky high. "I'm now a lot more confident. For the first time in years, my New Year's resolution wasn't to lose weight. I've moved from a 37 (inch) waist to a 31," he said. He also credits his new physique to his intense training, boot camps and 5k races that he has entered and continues to enter.

Compliments

He says the best compliments he has received, so far, are from his wife, Tessanne. Although "some people tell me to put on back the weight, others say I look great and some will look at me and tell me that I look sick," he said. However, he is very happy about his progress and what he has accomplished in the past few months. "I tell people all the time that it's something that you have to do for yourself or else you will get lost in all the different comments that you get from people," he ended.

Even though Cuffe is pretty serious and disciplined about his workout, he tells Flair that he slips from time to time. "Now it's about keeping things in check and maintaining the disciplipline. A lot more exercise is needed daily to pick up the slack," he said. A life of fitness is extremely difficult to start and continue. According to Cuffe, "I gave myself goals as my motivation, so I had an ultimate purpose (to prepare for the half marathon last December). When people have a set goal in mind that they want to accomplish beyond just looking good, then they tend to stick to it and achieve their goals." He continued, "When some people can see the results they tend to slack off and lose focus, but when you know that you need to be at a certain fitness level to enter into a competition like the half marathon or a Spartan race, then you don't really lose focus and you don't really slack off," he noted passionately.

Regimen

All this talk about a healthy lifestyle seems good and well, but a good chunk of the experience is hard work. His routine consists of running three to four times per week while incorporating various workouts to change things up. Kickboxing, spinning, and swimming are some of the activities that he participates in, as well as numerous home-training activities like Tapout, Insanity, p90x and nike Training. "It's not always easy to get to a gym, so it's always good to get some work in at home, just in case," he says.

Another major challenge for the 30-year-old is portion control. "I'm now big on portion control. Before, I used to have a huge bowl of cereal or even six slices of pizza in one go, but now that has stopped. People tend to eat how they feel, so I've basically cut what I normally eat in half," he ended.

Getting his size 31 waist was no easy feat since he admitted that he felt like giving up at times.

"There are some days when I saw the scale going down, but then after a while I also saw it going up, and that is kind of devastating," he says. Cuffe reiterates the need to stay focused and positive. "As I said before, you have to mix it up and incorporate different things because our bodies get used to one type of exercise, so we have to keep changing it up."

Most extreme exercise

According to Cuffe, "One of the hardest workouts at home that I have ever done is Insanity, which is why I really don't do it that much anymore because it kind of knocks the wind out of you." He continues, "The most intense workout that I ever did was last weekend, Jakes Triathlon, because I haven't cycled in a while and I just started swimming. All I had was running, so that was a huge hurdle for me to overcome," he ended.

grandison.garfene @gleanerjm.com