Hey, what's up guys?
And welcome back to Being with Babish,
The show where I cook, eat and travel around the city and the globe
and take you along for the ride.
This week we're talking about cosplay.
We received a beautiful email from an adorable pair of cosplaying superfans,
who were kind enough to invite me to their engagement party.
They even sent the address, time and location, giving us the full ability to crash it.
It got me thinking about how many people have requested that I cosplay as daddy Kratos
from God of War, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to surprise a lovely couple
and get some help with my costume,
but there was a big problem:
my bod.
I've never been ashamed of my body or felt much of a need to change, but let's face it
I'm more than a very very very long ways away from anything even remotely Kratos-like.
I mean, the dude has like a 16-pack.
I had reasons beyond simple costumery to want to get into shape.
Making the shows on this channel has been my absolute dream job,
But the often ridiculous food, ubiquitous liquor and 70-hour work weeks had me getting into some unhealthy habits.
And I wasn't sure, but I think my co-workers were growing concerned.
So while the idea of becoming Kratos was fun,
I knew I had more pressing and practical reasons to try and get into some healthier habits.
I decided that I wanted to see how much I could change in 30 days.
I didn't know the first thing about regimens, regiments or the difference between the two, so the first step was to get some expert help.
Luckily, I've got a personal trainer buddy who is willing to lend me a hand in the coming month
and his name is Chris Parnell, which is amazing.
You analysed my body.
Yes, I did.
Closely, and what'd you find?
Your body weight is 166.5 (Shh, there's a camera!)
Your body fat in pounds is 32.8
I'm not too concerned about the weight the weight may say the same and your body composition changes throughout our workout
We want to see that body fat percentage because of your body fat and weight that drops also
Four weeks of training, I'm going to take you through some strength training
and then I'm going to take you through this aerobic cycle as well. That make sense to you?
- That makes perfect sense - Perfect, ok
- That's great to me! - You're very-
No more, uh... food from the Binging with Babish show
- So are you gonna come here be my taste tester every week? - I'll be the taste tester, because I'ma burn it off. Okay?
Yeah, I can tell
- You'll just show up and they're gonna-- "oh, we get it" - Ahaha!
Stick to your diet, quit drinking alcohol. Not that you're an alcoholic
- Thank you for clarifying - Quit the late nights out
And I have one last question for you, it's very important
- What's up - Has anybody ever called you Dr. Spaceman?
[ montage music ]
I committed to the following: no alcohol, no added sugar
Gym six times a week, four days strength training, two days cardio
A max budget of 1800 calories
At least 180 grams of protein and no more than 140 grams of carbs and 50 grams of fat per day
and I gotta say, it was a breeze
So yeah day one, no results
Starting to think maybe this whole exercise thing is bullshit
Okay, week one was tough
I admit I hadn't fully abstained from drinking like this in probably ten years, much less sugar and strictly managed macronutrients
So I was off to a rocky start.
I didn't want to eat plainly, so I developed a host of healthy and balanced recipes
some of which you can check out on the episode of Basics coming next week
By weeks three and four, the sharp edges of craving and hunger had grown smooth, and I found myself with more time and energy
to try things I'd never have done otherwise like getting dressed up as a mechanic surfer Guy Fieri to surprise
this week's guests, Sara and Stefan: cosplayer extraordinaires
They invited us to their engagement party and without RSVP'ing I decided to show up in disguise.
Hola! My name is Tad,
I'm 28 years young, I am originally from Sacramento
I made my way out to the East Coast for college, but it- y'know it didn't really work out
It's actually me.
We're pulling around back. Oh shit. There's no parking back here. Okay, um
All right, I think we gotta park in Walgreens
Let's sneak, boys
There we go
Try to not draw attention to yourself
[ sneaking music ]
All right, so we made it up here to Thornwood, thanks to our mole on the inside, Dave
He's getting us in through the back. We're gonna go in there
I'm gonna be like "Special delivery for the bride and groom to be, for the betrothed"
Then they're gonna open it up and they're gonna see "Happy engagement, you're going to Comic-Con"
[ quiet beatboxing ]
And then the music drops, the fog machine-- that's not happening
Here we go
All right, these are recording I
I think they're gonna recognize me immediately, and I think there's gonna be no surprise element to it, but I guess we'll see
They're right straight ahead, okay? They're right straight ahead
Hi! I've got a special pizza for the bride and groom
[Babish] What's up guys?
[Sara] What??
- Oh shit you recognized me - Oh my god it's Babish! Oh my god, Babish!
[screaming] Babish: Congratulations, guys
And you guys *are* going to Comic-Con
[Sara] This is amazing [Babish ] I was hoping you wouldn't recognize me, did the beard give it away?
No- I watched you yesterday, of course I recognize you
My disguise clearly hadn't worked
So I figured I'd turned the engagement party into a bachelorette party with a Babish-style striptease. With her dad's help, of course
[Babish] So you wrote us an email! [Sara] Yes, I did
And we thought we'd come and surprise you a little bit, and we know you guys are big fans of conventions
And doing cosplay and stuff, so we want to send you guys out to San Diego Comic Con.
[Stefan] What?
We're gonna fly you guys out, we know you're getting married 10/10/2020, that's the day?
[Stefan] Well uh, it's still [Sara] Yes, yes
[Babish] Possibly, ok [Stefan] It's, whatever
So we want to fly you guys out there, on one condition:
I've been trying to get in shape and I've been trying to like, you know,
fix myself so I can become- [Sara] Me too!
Yeah!
So, because I want to become
what's his name- Kratos from God of War. I wanna do a Kratos God of War cosplay.
So I'd love for your guys' help with my cosplay when I come back [Stefan] Oh sure!
[Babish] Sounds good? [Stefan] We'd love to! [Sara] Yes! Yes!
[Babish] It's very nice to meet you guys
Sara and Stefan were even warmer and kinder than their email had indicated, and we couldn't be more excited to be giving them their unconventional
convention honeymoon. And with them as my cosplay collaborators, there was only one thing left to do: see my 30-day results.
The results were not as dramatic as I expected. I originally bared my chest on camera thinking that 30 days later,
I'd have a shredded torso to show off, but the fact is that things were just starting to take shape.
I lost seven pounds, dropped my body fat from 20 percent to 16,
But more importantly I felt lighter, stronger, and more capable both physically and mentally
I have a long way to go before I get anywhere near Kratos-costume ready
But getting in shape is a process. Is it difficult? Absolutely. Is it worth doing? Absolutely!
I've struggled with depression and anxiety my entire life
And my erratic work-life balance and increasingly unhealthy habits were reintroducing fear and helplessness back into my daily routine
But there's a moment when you realize that you can start right now and that there's no magic diet. No perfect routine
No shortcuts or cheats. It's more about creating healthy and sustainable habits
Sometimes it's excruciatingly hard. You are, after all, depriving your body of all the feel-good drugs it's become accustomed to your entire life
But like any withdrawal, it's temporary, and the light at the end of the tunnel starts feeling more and more like a torch you've been carrying all along.
I see comments on every video I post, from folks that have taken up cooking for themselves and those they love from watching my channel
Well I hope that more than one of you decide that today's the day to try and make a change
You can read about my routine on my website,
you can see some of my healthy recipes on the upcoming Basics with Babish,
and you can know that I'm in this with you, because I have no intention of stopping.
We'll be checking in on my progress in future episodes of Being,
Until then, keep cooking; I will if you will.
Oh and also, as of a few months ago
I've got a whole new motivation to get and stay in shape
Her name's Jess. I'm excited for you guys to meet her
By the way, it's me
I think I need to have a fake voice, I don't think I could be like
"Hey what's up guys, here's your pizza" cause that might give it away, right?
(in accent) "Hey what's up guys, uhh"
"We ordered a pizza, have pizza for a long life and uhhh you're a lovely couple, uhh"
"Cmon, uhhh do you want more pizza? You don't eat pizza, fine! You don't wanna eat the pizza."
(in different accent) "Don't touch my DVDs"
"I'll smack the shit out of you if you touch my DVDs"
[off camera] I liked, uh, Bored Delivery Man
- Like "Hey, here's your..." - "Hey guys" - "Heyyy"
- "Here's, here's your 'za" - "Yeah, heard someone ordered a 'za"
"Sara and Stefan, I heard you guys were low on 'za"
"My name... is..."
"Tad Troubadour"
- Tad Troubadour - "And I come bearing pizza"
- "Hey, what's up guys?" - Yeah, yeahyeah. "Hey, what's up guys?"
"My name is Tad"
I'm nervous oh my god
My heart just jumped up in my throat
[Babish] Hey how ya doing?
Hmm, oh much better, thank you
It's really good. I immediately regret this decision.
You guys are the lovel- loveliest couple
We'd only met you over emails, and it was so wonderful to actually meet you