Personal Profile:

·    Full Name: CHARITH MADAWELA
·    Nick name: CHARITH
·    Height: 5’ 8”
·    Weight: 72.5kg
·    School: Mahanama College (O/L’s)
·    Higher studies: B.S. in Electrical Engineering - Wichita State University, Kansas, USA.
·    Experience: Electrical Design Engineer at Learjet (4years), MRB Engineer at Boeing (2years), NESTA Certified Personal Trainer (1year)

It’s not an easy task to move away from what you are comfortable and qualified in. Charith is a great example of this, as he is a qualified & experienced engineer.

Yet, he has moved away from his comfort zone to become a fully fledged fitness instructor.

As seen in the pics below, Charith has proved himself to be a fitness buff. He is currently living and working in the USA .We met him last week during his very short visit back to the Island.

1.    You are at the age of 28, do you think you are experienced enough to coach other people?

Yes, because the knowledge is out there for anyone regardless of their age or sex. So I’m constantly reading and looking for opportunities to improve my knowledge. When I first see a client I do a very in-depth interview to determine their readiness for fitness.

I'm watching and listening for red flags which indicate that their time, money and energy spent with me would be wasted. It doesn’t mean that I cherry-pick my clients, I just make sure I fully understand their capabilities as well as their limitations when it comes to fitness & nutrition.
 

If I don’t know something, I would tell them so but I will research and find the solution in a timely manner.
 

2.    Does Sri Lankan food kill fitness and diet plans?

Not at all. As long as you stick to whole, natural foods and stay away from processed foods you can be in shape wherever you are.

Our bodies don't know how to digest anything processed hat was introduced to us in the last 100 years.

But when you consume whole foods our bodies can break it down and digest it easily.

That’s  why I always say when you go grocery shopping, the moment you start going down the aisles where they have chips, candy, bread, etc. you've just taken the wrong turn.

Instead, you should stay around the periphery of the store where the meat, eggs, milk and vegetables are.

Nutrition tips:

• Try to eat foods that have no or little added flavourings, they make you feel bloated.
• Stay away from butter.
• Replace white rice with brown/red rice.
• Stay away from white flour products instead go for whole wheat or even better Kurakkan. I love Kurakkan string hoppers and pittu!
• Eat your protein (meat/fish) first so you don’t fill yourself with unwanted carbs.
• Look at carbs as an energy source and eat carbs only around your activities and cut carbs towards the end of the day. As a rule of thumb, quit carbs 2-3hrs before bed time.

3.    Can you give us 5 essential fitness tips?

1.    Find A Dedicated Partner

You need to find a dedicated partner to work out with. For my clients, as their personal trainer, I am their partner. So you need to either sign-up for personal training or find someone possibly who is of your same fitness level, reliable, and wanting to transform their body as bad as you do.

Having a partner makes you accountable.

Also, when you hit those last reps, having a partner helps to push pass your current limitations and hit failure without getting injured.

Note: Hitting failure is key; if you ever want to grow.

Having a partner gives you the advantage of bouncing off ideas of what is working and what is not.

Also, as you go about training, there’s going to be days when you don’t feel like going to the gym.

But when you have a partner, the chances of you both not feeling like going to the gym is going to be significantly reduced. If anything, he’s going to drag you to the gym.

So having a partner is a physical and mental asset.

2.    Pick A Future Event

This makes today valuable. A wedding, birthday celebration, high school graduation, whatever it is…pick a future event 2-3 months out. Let’s say you want to look your best for a wedding that is in 3 months. Well, 3 months is 90 days.

Let’s say you just decided to give up today’s workout because you aren’t feeling like going to the gym. That means you just gave up 1/90th of your opportunity to make your dream becoming a reality.

So when you have a set future goal you can’t keep blowing off today’s obligations for tomorrow. Because now your time left is getting shorter and shorter.

3.    Track Your Results

Everyone has heard the expression: “You cannot see the trees from the forest!”  Another example is if you have a puppy. You see it everyday and never notice how fast it’s growing until a friend comes over and makes a comment on how big the puppy has grown. 

The same goes with training and transforming your body. One will hate to take a picture, take measurements, figure out body fat %, BMI, etc when they are just starting out as they might be embarrassed, but those are the numbers I urge you to record as they will be your most proud numbers recorded. 

There is nothing sweeter than having a before and after shot to visually compare when you are feeling worn out from working out.  When you record your progress, you are creating a tangible record of where you were and where you are currently. 

Sometimes some of the greatest results cannot be seen in the mirror, but rather on paper as what you used to lift to what you lift now, or how many more reps you are doing now, or how much faster you are running, etc. 

The more you record the easier you can track you success and also take notice of what works and doesn’t work for you body. There are a million different workouts out there, but only a few that make you feel like a million bucks. 

If you record those workouts and results, you can easily find what workouts work best.  

When I first started, I took a picture of myself in the same position, wearing the same outfit and did it each Sunday morning.

4.    Take Baby Steps

To get your ideal body, there's an equation of four factors: (1) Lifting programme, (2) Cardio programme, (3) Diet and Nutrition and (4) Sleep. 

Each one of these factors is as important as the other carrying 25% of the equation, but when you are starting a new programme to ‘GET IN SHAPE,’ you will fail if you try to do all of them at once. 

You must start slow with realistic goals or you will burn out. 

I have seen it so many times. People decide to get in shape and they shock their system on every front….they change their diet drastically, lift more then they have their entire life, elevate their heart rate higher than it’s ever been through cardio and so on. 

That programme, that b*lls to the wall style, will burn out as fast as it was started.  You must start with one of the four factors first, and slowly build into it. 

No one will have the body they want by the end of January, it’s not like a school test you can cram for, it takes time dedication and sacrifice. 

Start with getting your body used to going to the gym first, if you can conquer that first step you will find the others are so much easier.

5.    Cut The Fat Out Of Your Life

Now I’m not talking about the fat in your stomach or anything. I’m referring to the unnecessary, negative people in your life.  People who are not adding value to your betterment or where you want to go in life.

If you’re constantly surrounded by negative people, people who don’t appreciate fitness and don’t value YOUR fitness goals; the longer it’s going to take you to achieve your fitness goals.

It will only delay your journey to success.

Cut these negative people out of your life. It might be difficult for a couple of weeks, but you’ll find a new sense of life.

Instead, surround yourself with people who are like minded, motivated and share the same interests.

For instance, in my facebook fanpage (www.facebook.com/TransFORM180Training); I share fitness tips/videos on a daily basis. By interacting with like minded, driven/motivated people, you will keep your fire alive without losing the enthusiasm and/or motivation.

They say, the best way to learn a new language is by surrounding yourself with people who already speak that language. Think of fitness as another language.

4.    Any plans to come back to Sri Lanka?

Yes, this is where I was born and raised and I want to give back to the community.

Sri Lankans (especially the new generation) are willing to do whatever it takes to live fit and healthy lives but they’re lacking the right knowledge and guidance. 

So I am planning to introduce my fitness business here soon and educate people.


5.    Do you think you charge enough for your advice?

I’ve been told that I don’t charge enough (mainly from my fellow co-workers) but the way I see it is that if I’m able to pay my bills that’s all that matters to me right now.

I hate to turn people down because of my prices and I want to help as many people as I can.

I am a firm believer of doing what I love do to. Do it passionately, then the money will follow.
 

6.    Is your dream girl a fitness fanatic too?

I don’t expect her to be a fitness fanatic but I’d like her to care about fitness and healthy eating habits. Definitely no smokers.

Interview & Pics by Jayantha Fernando