I start? I think it would perhaps be helpful if I begin by explaining why I decided, seven months ago, to change my lifestyle and focus on becoming fit and healthy. It all started at the beginning of 2018 when I attended an NADJ meeting where the topic was ‘health’ . The content of the evening included losing weight, something I had considered in the past but, due to a persistent medical condition (more on that later) making me prone to bad backs, as well as a large amount of procrastination, I had continually let that little voice that we all have in the back of our heads talk me out of it.
However, there was something in that talk from fellow DJ Scott Jolly that resonated with me and it served as a reminder that I had on my shelf in the office a book by a very talented and extremely fit American DJ, Marcello Pedalino, called Celebrate Life . The foundation of that book is built on seven key elements of wellness which include Health & Lifestyle. By Alan Marshall A full-time wedding DJ and master of ceremonies based in Hampshire, Alan Marshall has nearly 40 years of experience, and is currently focused on creating wedding entertainment that is engaging and driven by emotion.
He is the Education & Training Officer for the National Association of DJs, having previously served as both a Branch and National Chairman. Disclaimer I am not and have never been a health or fitness consultant, I am simply sharing the ideas that helped me become a fitter, healthier and, ultimately, happier DJ. If you are considering a dramatic change in diet or exercise I strongly suggest you consult your doctor first. Are you fit enough to DJ?
Tips For Losing Weight & Getting Healthy From A DJ Who’s Done It After reading this wonderful book properly, having previously just skimmed through, I began to start believing (cue Journey) that even for an unfit UK DJ with physical challenges this may be possible. Tying in perfectly with my article in the last edition of Pro Mobile, Are You Well Read? , the book changed my perspective. Then, in June, I looked in the mirror and realised I was overweight!
How had that happened? After all, while I’d never considered myself to be fit, I had always thought of myself as someone whose weight was in check. Being overweight had snuck up on me, it couldn’t be my fault! Time to check reality.
The choices we make are ours, it wasn’t anyone else’s fault. However, I do think that the job we do makes it more difficult to make the right choices when it comes to diet. As DJs, we all work long hours and usually finish early in the morning, finding ourselves hungry when healthy options are hard to find and the unhealthy ones can be all too tempting. I think a vast majority of us end up making the wrong choices about what we eat and when, often not considering the effect that has on our overall level of fitness and health over time.
The fact we are not alone can easily become part of the excuse that we give ourselves, as we look around at our DJ colleagues and realise many of them are in the same boat. “Hey a few extra pounds never hurt anyone, it comes with the job. It doesn’t affect me being a good DJ and nobody cares if I’m overweight, they’re not judging me.” Reality check time again! Yes, they are judging us! Now if anyone is actually choosing not to book us because we are overweight is hard to know for sure, but it for many hours is very real.
Add to this the late nights and exertion of lugging heavy gear around, often repeated multiple times a week, for many coming on top of holding down a ‘day job’ , and it’s hardly surprising countless DJs end up worn out. And, I know from experience, it only gets harder with age! Personal appearance, overall health and the stamina to carry out the job for the long term are all reasons why I made the decision to lose weight and get fit. I’m now going to share with you my experiences over the last seven months, not to brag, but to hopefully inspire others to do the same.
After all, if I can do it, anyone can! Before I move on, I feel that I should disclose some of my own challenges when it comes to being fit and healthy. When I was at school, one or two years ago!, sports were never my ‘thing’ . The thought of competing in athletics, cross-country, football, rugby etc. filled me with dread, as I would either be guaranteed to come last or not to be picked.
It wasn’t until much later that I was to discover that this was partly because I had an undiagnosed disability called hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), which is the name given to a group of inherited is certainly something potential customers will notice. Of course, there are now – and have been in the past – many great DJs who are seriously overweight. Those old enough will remember a colossus of a DJ in the UK, the late great Steve Walsh. But while his weight didn’t stop him being a fantastic DJ, it was undoubtedly a factor in his untimely death from heart failure while undergoing surgery on a shattered leg.
So, ultimately, the effect on our health of being overweight should be a concern in general, beyond any impact it may or may not have on the job of being a DJ. However there’s no denying that being fit and ‘match ready’ for our events is important if we want longevity in this amazing industry. If you think about football players, they train many hours a week to be fit for at least ninety minutes on match day. They don’t just turn up and wing it!
Yes, practising techniques and skills to be the best is important, but they also train simply to be fit enough to last the whole game. OK, as DJs we may not be running around like footballers, but the toll on our bodies from standing "there’s no denying that being fit and ‘match ready’ for our events is important if we want longevity in this amazing industry" “Fitness can be misconstrued as being very vain and selfcentred. But it’s deeper than that.
You can overcome and achieve anything with mental fortitude, determination, and discipline” Finny Akers, taken from Celebrate Life by Marcello Pedalino ? ARE YOU FIT ENOUGH TO DJ?4646 diseases whose main feature is a progressive gait disorder. The disease presents with progressive stiffness (spasticity) and contraction in the lower limbs and is generally progressive (gets worse over time). This means that canes, walkers and wheelchairs are usually eventually required.
In fact when I was originally diagnosed, over twenty-five years ago, I was told that within five years I would likely require a wheelchair! Believing this would greatly affect my ability to continue my passion as a mobile DJ, that thought was put immediately to the back of my mind and, fortunately, here I am (in the words of Elton John) still standing! So, prior to embarking on my recent lifestyle change, my idea of exercise was carrying heavy gear into and out of a venue, and that was pretty much it.
If you are as inactive as I was, I know that even getting started can feel overwhelming and frankly something you haven’t got time to do! However, I found the key to be taking small steps towards change. Crash diets rarely work and exerting yourself too much too quickly can lead to serious injury. If your goal, like mine, is fitness and wellness that’s sustainable, a progressive approach is sure to be the most effective long-term.
When it comes to losing weight and getting fit there are a few choices. You could join a gym and get a personal coach/trainer or join a slimming club. Alternatively, like me, you could start making those small changes yourself. First you need to do a little research, remember I mentioned checking with your doctor first if you’re unfit?
Well that would be a good place to start. You then need to discover how bad the problem is before you can fix it. So the first thing you need to do is to take a deep breath and step onto those scales. Whatever you see, don’t beat yourself up, it's fixable and I say that from experience!
Once you have that figure, you need to find out what it means in relation to your health. The NHS uses BMI (Body Mass Index) as a gauge. This is derived from both your mass (weight) and height. There are many apps that will help you find out your BMI, including one on the NHS website.
It is widely accepted that a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 is healthy. However it’s worth pointing out the limitations of BMI as a way of measuring healthy weight. It doesn’t take into account the composition of a body’s weight (i.e. fat or muscle etc.). So an 18 stone rugby player who is incredibly fit would have the same BMI as an 18 stone couch potato of the same height.
It is, however, a good place to start. Your blood pressure also has a relation to your fitness, so it is worth getting that checked too. Another useful gauge is body fat percentage; with 25-31% being acceptable for women and 18- 25% for men. There are scales that will show your weight, BMI and body fat percentage available to purchase, plus most professional gyms will have them available.
When it comes to weight loss, the general consensus is that losing 1 to 2 pounds each week is a safe rate. As a very rough guide, calorie intake should be decreased by 3,500 calories per week for each pound of weight loss desired, which means 500 fewer calories per day for weight loss of 1 pound per week or 1,000 fewer calories per day for weight loss of 2 pounds per week. However, to ascertain how to go about doing this, you first need to find out the amount of calories you are able to have a day to maintain your current weight and then reduce your intake.
The good news is there are some really good free apps available to help you with this. The one I use is called Lose It!, which enables you to input easily what you eat and drink as well as keep track of your exercise. It then works out what you need to cut back in order to lose weight, which is useful because as your weight goes down that figure changes but the app readjusts automatically. Please note, losing weight and getting healthy isn’t just about calorie counting.
The content of those calories is equally important; eating a balanced diet is a key part of maintaining good health. Another factor is when you eat. Take, for example, eating during a gig. How often are you offered a meal or the "If you are as inactive as I was, I know that even getting started can feel overwhelming and frankly something you haven’t got time to do!
However, I found the key to be taking small steps towards change" chance to attack the buffet? Now this is not the article to discuss the rights and wrongs of eating at gigs, or how it reflects on you as a performer, but consider its effect on your body. After you eat your energy level takes a dip as your body uses that energy to digest the food, which is not ideal at the moment you need to step up and perform. Also, eating after a gig on the way home has its own problems.
As you will probably head for bed once you get home, you won’t be engaging in any form of activity and therefore your ability to burn those extra calories will be impacted. I know this is a trap I fell into easily and it meant that I gained a few pounds (stone!) over time. When you know your current weight, the next step is to set a target weight to aim for that will bring your BMI / body fat percentage into the healthy range. You can then put in place a plan for how you will achieve your goal.
On the 24th of June I started by writing down my current weight as well as my target weight. I also decided on a regular ‘weigh in’ time/day, like on the Weight Watchers and Slimming World programmes. There is a real benefit to weighing yourself at the same time and on the same day each week. Your weight will likely fluctuate throughout the day, so a set time helps you to accurately track your weight loss progress.
For me, Sunday morning at 8am before breakfast was the basepoint I used to see how I was doing. Initially I saw good progress as the pounds steadily fell off. However, as time went on, some weeks I didn’t loose anything but I was feeling fitter and slimmer. I was losing inches!
So what you feel and look like also needs to be considered. Next I needed to be more active, so went back to the NHS website for advice. Here I discovered ‘Active Ten’ , the principle that 10 minutes of brisk walking is better than no exercise at all and an easy way to start for those people – like myself at the time – who are very unfit. I set myself a target of initially doing a 10 minute walk a few times a week but as that got easier I increased my walk time and frequency.
At the time of writing this article I’m up to an hour – covering a minimum of five miles – every day. Something I originally would never have considered was even possible started to become easier, and something I looked forward to. The added bonus is that during this hour I am able to use my time productively improving my business by listening to educational and motivational podcasts, including the Exceeding Expectations series produced by fellow DJ and good friend Tony Winyard.
Once I had my calories controlled and had started to exercise I decided I wanted to track my progress. I chose Fitbit, but there are lots of good trackers out there to help. This enables me to log my exercise from day-to-day, allowing me to make adjustments if needed. My last tip is a financial one.
As that weight starts to go, the inches begin to disappear and you start to feel really good about yourself, there is a temptation to rush out to buy a new wardrobe of clothes. This certainly has its benefits, as those clothes make you feel even better about yourself and push you along to your goal even faster. However, be aware that another month or two down the road to being a healthier DJ these clothes may also be too big! So don’t go crazy, treat yourself to the odd new outfit, but hold off the big splurge for when you make your target weight.
Seven months down the line, the results have been far better than I expected. I have lost 3.5 stone (49lb) and 6 inches off my waist and I am the healthiest I have been for many years. I not only look and feel better, but also my mental demeanour has changed for the better. As I began to feel good about myself I was able to face challenges that in the past would have held me back.
I have been able to readjust with this new positive approach, creating a better and happier work/life balance. The reality is that none of this will happen overnight. Real change takes time and commitment, but the benefits to your health and fitness truly are invaluable. And, if I can do it, so can you!
Top Tips For Becoming A Healthier DJ • Check your current weight and set a realistic first target and a date to aim for • Set a regular weigh day/time and stick to it • Cut down on your calorie intake, but don’t overdo it to start with • Try to eat a few hours before your gigs, and avoid the temptation of eating afterwards • Get more active • Drink more water, most of us are constantly dehydrated • Celebrate every win; one ounce off is a step towards your target and should be celebrated • Don’t beat yourself up if your weekly weigh-in shows a gain; look at what you did different that week, adjust and keep going • Stick at it, trust me, you will get there!
