
Skinny fat founder strips for launch of startup - Julianhearn
http://www.bodyhack.com/blog/skinny-fat-founder-strips-new-company-1557
======
edw519
Impressive, but who wants to look at some half naked dude when you could look
at this:

    
    
      +-------------------------+  +-------------------------+
      |         BEFORE          |  |          AFTER          |
      |                         |  |                         |
      |   Lines of Code: 33,467 |  |   Lines of Code: 11,261 |
      |        Bug Rate: .037%  |  |        Bug Rate: .013%  |
      |  Daily visitors: 13,239 |  |  Daily visitors: 59,283 |
      | Conversion rate: 3.2%   |  | Conversion rate: 6.9%   |
      |   Daily revenue: $3,932 |  |   Daily revenue: $9,321 |
      |   HN Front Page: 0      |  |   HN Front Page: 22     |
      |                         |  |                         |
      +-------------------------+  +-------------------------+

~~~
ericflo
I don't understand the relevance, can you please provide some context?

~~~
tptacek
"We're all entrepreneurs here and we all know what actually matters, so if you
had just told us about your business and what you did to grow it, you could
have skipped the half naked picture."

Which, agreed.

~~~
ericflo
Fair enough. The thing is though, he posted it on the BodyHack blog. We may
all be entrepreneurs here, but are all of their readers? I'd be cautious in
judging him too much.

~~~
tptacek
That is a very good point. Thank you.

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friggybum
Julian, there are quite a bit of typos on your site. Copy with typos doesn't
lend credibility. Would you like some assistance with proofreading?

Congratulations on your work, and I think the site is a good idea.

I wonder: perhaps since you're offering your site as an alternative to
broscience [as linked] you could use phrases like "we believe" or "it is
theorized" or support your nutritional claims with the science behind them.

For instance you say that it is a good idea to supplement omega fats, despite
getting plenty of them in the diet. There are those who would disagree and say
that as long as you're maintaining ~1:1-1:3 ratios of o3:o6 you're a-ok.

~~~
Stratoscope
I wouldn't normally comment on this, but since you're offering proofreading
services... :-)

"Julian, there are quite a bit of typos on your site."

Maybe you meant:

"Julian, there are quite a few typos on your site."

The phrase "quite a bit of" refers to something you measure, not something you
count. And it would never be worded "there _are_ quite a bit of..."

So you might say:

"There are quite a few eggs in that basket."

"There is quite a bit of snow on that mountain."

(edit with one more thought...)

One good way to help keep this straight is to remove the word "quite":

"There are a few eggs in that basket."

"There is a bit of snow on that mountain."

~~~
ericmsimons
I think this comment is unnecessary in its current form - do you have anything
to add regarding typos on the website?

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AznHisoka
Funny.. InternetBrands was inquiring about my health affiliate site around
2011 as well. But I made the opposite decision: not to sell for high 6
figures. A month later, Panda happened and traffic dropped 90%. Ouch =(

BodyHacks looks cool, reminds me of what Tim Ferriss was doing for 4 Hour
Body.

~~~
StavrosK
For those of us who don't know, what's Panda?

~~~
MichaelJW
A change to Google's ranking algorithm that was rolled out last year:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Panda>

~~~
StavrosK
I see, thank you.

------
ajays
For those of us too .. ahem .. cheap to cough up the dough for a meal plan and
an exercise plan, are there any free options? I'd like to get back into shape
again, the winter months were brutal to the waistline.

~~~
awj
A lot of people will have a lot of advice, but the simple truth is that the
only thing that works is diet and exercise.

Being in shape is a lifestyle issue. It's not something that happens overnight
or that you can do in one go, it requires a fundamental change in how you
approach living. I'm not trying to discourage you, but to steer you away from
the "you can fix it quick with no effort" snake oil that abounds.

My advice:

1\. Become your own expert. Learn how your body works, how nutrition works,
how exercise works, how ... I've found that reddit's fitness community [1] has
some great places to start. There's a ridiculous amount of good information
out there. (Protip: most of the good info can cite studies, less than half of
the bad even bothers)

2\. Make it fun. Learn new recipes, try activities you've always wanted to do,
do _anything_ but force yourself to change. After a while the causation
between "not fun" exercises or diet changes and their benefits will sink into
your brain and make things easier, but to start if it sucks you'll probably
quit.

3\. Don't agonize over the scale. Your body weight fluctuates throughout the
day and various activities. It's not uncommon to see a single day +/- 6lb
change _just in the water your body is holding_. Aim for _feeling_ better (or
_looking_ better, if that's your goal) not a number on a scale. Weigh yourself
when you start, then come back after three months.

4\. Be persistent. You're talking about a lifestyle change here. These don't
happen overnight. You'll probably spend a long time being disappointed at
apparent non-progress then wake up one day wondering when things changed. Do
your homework and learn what you need to do, then start doing it and trust
that the results will come. In a world where we can use our phones to identify
and buy the song that's playing right now, results in this come agonizingly
slow.

[1] <http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness>

~~~
neutronicus
> Weigh yourself when you start, then come back after three months.

Dissenting voice here:

As somewhat of a numbers junkie, weighing myself every day is absolutely
crucial. I know the numbers fluctuate (if you weigh yourself every day, you
can't help but learn that), but they can give you a much-needed reality check.
More importantly, I got myself addicted to taking data, and the most precise
scale I had available was at the gym ... so I went to the gym.

You'll definitely be able to see yourself trending downwards.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
Isn't the circumference of the waistline a better measure?

~~~
neutronicus
I started out pretty fat; I think my weight was changing faster. Probably as
the cube of my waistline. :p Also, my girlfriend at the time (a nurse)
informed me that a lot of weight loss in the beginning is visceral fat, and
won't necessarily manifest as shrinking dimensions, but will make you
healthier.

------
zavulon
I found that for me personally, getting fit is not a problem, it's keeping the
weight off is the issue. Sure, the 12 week program looks impressive, and I
have no doubt that if closely monitor everything, providing details of every
single meal and exact exercise you have to do, anyone with enough willpower
can achieve the goal. But what's next?

~~~
bitsoda
This is why I eschew any type of program that isn't sustainable. I'd rather be
in fairly decent shape all the time by making sound decisions in terms of diet
and exercise than be a glistening mound of underwear-worthy male model. Eating
clean with a few bodyweight exercises and about 5,000 steps/day sprinkled into
the week usually does the trick.

------
desigooner
As far as nutrition & supplements, examine.com is a great resource that
dissects various studies and presents information in an easy to digest fashion

E.g. Fish Oil: <http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/>

~~~
aaxe
Also a useful FAQ section: <http://examine.com/faq/>

------
chrisacky
I really really struggle with proper eating when it comes to my workouts. I'm
a vegetarian and have been all my life. But I eat so much crap.

I would say that 70%~ of my diet is made up of carbs. It's really ridiculous.
I also find that I usually don't have my first meal of the day until about
4-5pm. Which is usually a plain cheese sandwhich, a pizza or home cooked
noodles with vegetables.

Being a vegetarian and disliking cooking is a pretty tough deal! Ha.

Also julian, I tried to email you from your website, but your contact form is
broken, after Googling for 5 minutes to find your contact information I
couldn't find anything for bodyhack. Do you have an actual email? (Finding
this on your site was impossible).

~~~
Tichy
I don't think carbs are necessarily bad. Vegetarianism was long deemed healthy
(maybe still), and I don't see how low carb should be possible for
vegertarians (if you have ideas, please tell me).

I have a non-proven theory: perhaps humans can adapt do different diets, not
only different environments. Or actually in former times the environment
pretty much dictated the diets. So if humans were good at settling in diverse
environments, it practically follows that they are good at adapting to
different diets. So maybe not the modern 90% junk diet (sugars and white
flour), but the difference between low and high carb might not be so
important.

Also not sure why pizza tends to be condemned so much. Sure, if you buy a
pizza at a restaurant, it is probably soaked in fat and covered with cheap
cheese. But if I make one at home, it tends to have a lot of vegetables on it,
and the amount of cheese doesn't have to be excessive. It seems at least
healthier than the average cheese sandwich.

------
beswift
Very cool idea! I've been wanting to create something similar since reading 4
hour body (but am no where near proficient at building stuff yet!). One thing
think iwould be really useful and would help help the site stay relevant into
the future would be to add some type of genetic relevance component. Users
could upload their profile from 23andme (or other site) and compare
effectiveness of various methods across varying alleles. There is a really
cool android app (diygenomics) that would give you a base for health and
fitness related markers)

------
inovica
I've just done a 12-week body transformation course here with personal
trainers (5 days a week) and its amazing what results you can get. Through
diet coaching, weights and cardio tailored for me I have loads more energy and
look great. The key now is not to slip back into old ways so they are doing
another programme about maintaining everything and are moving more into yoga.

One thing - on your video the guy says $10/month but you are charging
£10/month.

~~~
Julianhearn
Sorry about that we had a change of heart at the last minute, and decided to
target the UK, as it's the smaller market, and get some initial data before
"launching" to the US.

------
prsutherland
I'm a little disappointed to find out that it is £10 a month per plan. The
messaging is not clear that I am buying one plan and not just access to the
website as a whole.

Why would I want to keep paying £10 a month for the same plan? I'd just pay
once, download it and print it out and be gone. Only reason I'd stick around
is to see new plans.

------
dwharden
Received a coupon code for a free month, but was immediately charged anyway.

Tried to email the address that sent the coupon code, and it failed.

Tried to use the contact form on the site, and it failed (it says I need to
fill out the word in the image, but there's no CAPTCHA on the page).

Not a great first impression.

------
vijayr
bought a plan, out of curiosity. while I don't doubt the results, the website
is quite un-friendly for beginners.

1\. There is just one line, saying "if you don't know what this means, just go
to bodybuilding.com and search for it". It'd take a couple of minutes to
directly link the exercises to their video pages, and save a lot of time and
frustration for the users.

2\. As someone pointed out, quite a few minor spelling/grammatical mistakes,
even on the FAQ page

3\. "We will provide fitness plan that can completed at home with zero
equipment." - doesn't seem like it

I'm not trying to be negative or anything, just trying to make it a bit more
user friendly. The website itself is very straightforward, so it would be nice
if the founders can do these minor tweaks.

------
codesuela
my first thought was: how is this different from all those ebook merchants
that promise you become the terminator in 7 days but then by skimming through
[http://www.bodyhack.com/men/six-pack-and-11-5-body-fat-
in-12...](http://www.bodyhack.com/men/six-pack-and-11-5-body-fat-in-12-weeks)
I actually found it to be pretty reasonable.

To be perfectly honest though I suppose this only appealing to men with the
advertised body shape (naturally skinny) and Julian with 68.5 kg doesn't look
very healthy or good to me but I'm not a woman and to each his own so please
don't take this as a personal insult. I figure some critical feedback is
better then none.

~~~
dgallagher
Julian looks athletic in the final pictures, like a distance runner or
triathlete. As a distance runner I have a similar body type too.

At the gym you'll see a wide array of body types. Lean and mean, all the way
up to muscular and bulky, and all things in-between. Body builders are HUGE
compared to me and can lift far more than I can, but I can absolutely
"destroy" them on a treadmill. You tend to discover the thing you like doing,
specialize in it, and dominate it. What you choose to do partially dictates
what you'll end up looking like.

~~~
codesuela
yes I completely agree and understand what you mean because I know people who
look athletic and don't only have incredible stamina but also unbelievable
strength. What I meant to say is that I don't want (and probably can't) look
that athletic because I'm more of the bulky type (hate running, enjoy lifting
weights). But I am sure many others do and many women and men find that
attractive. I'm the last one to tell you how you should look and if you feel
comfortable with how you look and feel that's awesome and you should stick to
it. I just wanted to say that personally I did not find the end result
appealing.

------
dbalatero
I'm also interested in how to maintain body shape once you hit your 12-week
goal. It seems like the exercise plan might get modified at that point. Do you
have any plans to address that?

~~~
Julianhearn
Hi dbalatero,

Yes we will provide a maintenance plan. We will make that clearer on the site.

Thanks for the feedback.

Julian.

------
antidaily
Do you always blog and submit posts in the third person? Just kidding -
congrats on what looks like a good idea. Look out, Tony Horton.

------
vaksel
how do we know he did it just by following the program...and not by hiring a
personal trainer and a personal chef...or by simply doing 4 hours of exercise
every day?

since the other co-founder is a personal trainer...I'd imagine it was a bit
more hands on, than just using a website.

there is a lot of financial incentive here to improve the shown results

------
ericmsimons
I'm getting an error when I sign up saying that my email address isn't
valid...?

------
cdrxndr
First thing I noticed is that they ripped off the Apple-Command key design for
their logo.

Couldn't find anything about copyright/trademark on the symbol ... anyone know
if it was used prior to Apple (or is in the public domain)?

------
noja
There is no way those body fat percentages are correct.

~~~
Julianhearn
Hi Noja,

What make you say that? We were extremely careful when measuring body fat. We
used the 4 point test, using body fat calipers. It is seen as a reliable test.

Regards,

Julian.

~~~
noja
My bathroom scales measure body fat, and they read 10% for me. A friend of
mine's scales put him at 20%.

I don't look like him on the right, and my friend doesn't look like him on the
left...

~~~
boundlessdreamz
Bathroom scales cannot reliably measure body fat % from what I know. They try
to measure impedence and it is affected by many factors -
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioelectrical_impedance_analysi...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioelectrical_impedance_analysis)

10% is an extremely low body fat %.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Typical_bod...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Typical_body_fat_amounts)

------
carguy1983
Question for founder: do you get a better user response from highlighting your
own progress pics, or Michael's?

I would imagine most people look more like Michael than you (I wouldn't even
call you skinnyfat, just skinny) - do you get a better response from people
who want to go from decent condition to ultra fit like your 'after' pics, or
from overweight people who are looking to get un-fat?

~~~
Julianhearn
Hi Carguy,

It is fair question. The simple answer is... I don't know. The site only
launched today. We have a range of body types going through challenges but I
was the first to finish the 12 weeks. Michael has also finished but we haven't
got all his data into the site yet.

But I think you are right, there will be more people bigger than me who what
to get in shape, than people my size. But we will just have to wait and see.

Thanks,

Julian.

~~~
neutronicus
I've always found it a little depressing how many strength / fitness programs
want to take the skinny, flexible guy and turn him into the Hulk, instead of
taking the fat, inflexible guy and turning him into ... something other than
fat and inflexible.

