Landy Dean After Photo

So why is one of the world’s top beauty experts being featured in the Parrillo Performance Press? Landy Dean uses Parrillo products each and every day and Parrillo methods figured heavily in his complete physical makeover. Take a close look at the before and after photos that accompany this article: Dean’s transformation was nothing short of profound and dramatic. He morphed himself from chubby and out-of-shape into lean and muscular and it was accomplished by working with a very famous Parrillo Certified Personal Trainer, Meral Ertunc. Landy was uncharacteristically effusive about Meral and Parrillo. “I use Parrillo products every day and have used Parrillo products for over a decade. I was first introduced to Parrillo Products and the Parrillo approach towards nutrition and training when I was lucky enough to cross paths with Meral Ertunc.” Longtime readers of the Parrillo Performance Press have seen Meral featured on numerous occasions: she was one of the nation’s top female bodybuilding competitors in the 1990s and since her retirement she has become one of the nation’s premier personal trainers. Landy’s friendship with Meral dates back to the latter’s competition days. Landy laughed when he recalled his initial encounter with Meral, who at the time was at her competitive peak.

“I was on a photo shoot in Florida and in many ways it was just another routine day working with typically tall, thin, waifish models. Meral had arranged to have some physique shots taken after her Olympia appearance and in she strode….I had never seen a female bodybuilder up close and personal and when this hugely muscled Turkish woman with big curly hair walked in I was completely taken aback. Meral had just finished competing in the Ms. Olympia and she looked incredible.” Landy, initially shocked by the exotic Ertunc, hit it off immediately with Meral; they had a chemistry that clicked on a personal level. “She and I hit it off right away. I took her up on her offer to drop by her training facility for a workout. We became fast friends. I began training under her supervision and I began doing her makeup for her numerous photo shoots.” Under Meral’s demanding guidance Landy began serious weight training. “Meral introduced me to Parrillo products and the Parrillo approach to nutrition. Meral also showed me how to really train. She showed me how to mix intense cardio with intense weight training and when I began doing the things she suggested in the way she suggested, my body composition improved rapidly: muscles began appearing and body fat began melting.” This was in 1993.

Landy took to the disciplined training with relative ease. However the nutritional end of things proved to be much more of a challenge. “Meral had me write down my foods in a food log and detail what I ate and when. Before I began working with Meral, I was the kind of guy that would obtain his meals by driving through the drive-in window of the fast food joint three times for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” To morph from fast food to Meral’s completely disciplined approach took time and considerable effort and willpower. “I had to remove all the butter and gravy and sweets and junk and all the other foods people in the south love to live on. I didn’t understand about the subtleties of food combining and all the other nuances associated with serious, studied nutrition. While I took to the training right away, it took me a while to get completely onboard with the nutrition.” Landy Dean is a native Floridian and until he began training with Meral he had never quite gotten traction with his fitness efforts. “Meral introduced me to Parrillo Performance Products and that helped round out my eating. Since then Parrillo Products have been an integral part of my nutrition.” Landy could not have picked a better fitness mentor: Meral Ertunc has been successfully renovating bodies for decades. The diminutive dynamo captured her IFBB pro card back in the early 1990s and competed against the best in the world in numerous Ms. Olympia and Arnold Classic shows. Unlike other female pro bodybuilders, Meral always stayed sultry and sexy and never crossed that indefinable line that separates muscular yet feminine into female with too much unattractive masculinity.

Meral also never really retired; she continued to train hard and eat with perfect discipline long after her professional career was over. She was the perfect mentor of Landy. He was able to turn the nutritional corner once he learned how to prepare his own (bodybuilding) meals ahead of time. “Up until I began training with Meral, cooking for me meant opening a can or turning on the microwave. It makes a tremendous difference when you don’t depend on others to prepare your food. I learned how to make the basic bodybuilding foods and how to infuse them with taste; practice makes perfect and you get a lot of food prep practice when you commit to a serious nutrition program.” Meral has turned bodybuilding food preparation into a culinary art form: she has a kitchen in her training facility and part of her personal training approach is teaching students how to cook and how to construct simple, easy, tasty, time efficient meals. Food preparation can be made easy and diet food need not be bland and unappetizing. The more at ease Landy became in the kitchen the faster he progressed. The more proficient and attuned he became in his meal prep the faster his physique morphed from fat to fit. “I now understand that when it comes to getting into terrific physical condition, nutrition is 90% of the battle. I feel that over the years I have developed a consistent commitment to proper eating.” What was once insurmountable is now the norm.

Meral worked Landy mercilessly in the gym but he found training relatively easy in that it was rewarding and gratifying to head to the gym and train hard and long under the supervision of a real expert like Meral. “There is something extremely satisfying about engaging in a really hard, result producing workout. I love the feeling of pushing my body to new levels.” These days Landy trains 4-5 times a week and carries his “special foods” to work and on occasion even to photo shoots. “Usually at a topflight photo shoot the event is catered and more often than not the food is excellent. I find that most times I am able to construct a classical bodybuilder-style meal on the job. If not I fall back onto my ever-handy Parrillo Bars^™.” Landy lives and works in Manhattan and leads an incredibly busy life. “I work at Edris Salon two days a week from 11 am until 7 pm and this schedule allows me the time to train early in the morning and prepare the foods that I will eat while at work. The rest of the time I have to deal with highly irregular scheduling; I might have to be at a photo shoot at 8 am or I might have to do morning TV at 6 am. It makes it much more challenging to eat properly when you are on location. I get a great cardio workout lugging around my heavy backpack stuffed full of my work tools, my meals and Parrillo Bars^™.”

“I love butter-flavored CapTri^® and use it in my meal preparation. I eat six times a day, three bodybuilder food meals interspersed with three supplement meals. Needless to say the supplement meals are Parrillo Products. Usually I will have a Parrillo Protein^™ shake and a Parrillo Bar^™ mid-morning. I prefer the cinnamon flavored Parrillo Protein Bar™ and mid-afternoon I will have an Energy Bar^™.” Landy is not a “foodie” distracted by the culinary temptations that bedevil New Yorkers, no street vendor dirty water hot dogs or salty pretzels tempt Landy. When he goes to one of Manhattan’s elite eateries he usually can find something delicious, satisfying and completely “in bounds.” Originally fitness for Landy was “a vanity thing in that I did not want to go through life as a chubby Floridian with a bad haircut – now fitness and nutrition is about how I feel; I look, feel and act a decade younger than my 40 year old reality. When I fall off the nutritional wagon, as occasionally happens, I inevitably develop a food hangover and it is no problem to get back onto the clean foods and the Parrillo Products the very next day.” Landy Dean still stays in touch with Meral. “We talk often and when we get together it’s as if we’ve never spent a day apart.” Landy Dean points out to the rest of us that “fitness” and “career” need not be irresolvable contradictions. “The best fitness is balanced fitness: nutrition and training done consistently and executed properly – just don’t try taking away my Parrillo Bars^™.”

Daily Meal

Schedule

Before training…

Parrillo Pro-Carb^™ powder mixed with Parrillo Hi-Protein powder^™ and CapTri®

After training…

Pro-Carb^™ powder mixed with Parrillo Hi-Protein^™ and Parrillo creatine monohydrate^™

Meal 1

Egg white omelet with spinach, peppers and mushrooms, potatoes or grits with CapTri®

Mid-morning Snack: Parrillo Protein Bar^™ or oatmeal mixed with Hi-Protein powder^™

Meal 2

Chicken or turkey, steamed broccoli, rice or sweet potato with CapTri®, Parrillo Contest Cookies^™

Mid-afternoon Snack

Parrillo Protein Bar^™ or a Parrillo Hi-Protein^™ shake

Meal 3

Broiled Tilapia, green beans or zucchini, quinoa, CapTri®, Parrillo Contest Cookies^™

Recently I have been getting great results mixing Parrillo Pro-Carb^™ with CapTri^® before my weight training sessions. I find this particular combination provides me with a significant energy boost heading into the session and I feel as though I can push harder and longer when I remember to take this shake combination.

Weekly Training Split

Day 1: Chest, Triceps, Abs, Cardio 20 minutes

Day 2: Shoulders, Triceps, Legs (Quads)

Day 3: Cardio for 30 minutes, Abs

Day 4: Back, Biceps

Day 5: Legs (Hamstrings & Calves) Abs, Cardio

Day 6: No weight training, walk or skating cardio

Day 7: No weight training, walk or skating cardio

Training: I will typically select 2-3 exercises per muscle group and training sessions usually last between 30 and 60 minutes. I love variety and will change up the routine and the exercises every few weeks. Typically I alternate exercise combos as needed. Some days I might do arms alone and hit every arm exercise I can think of within the allotted training time. Some weeks I might circuit train and combine push and pull exercises. On alternate days I might hit abs, cardio and legs. On push/pull days I might pair back rows with chest press, or military presses with lat pull downs. I will shift between free weights and machines and will perform a fair amount of bodyweight push ups and pull ups.

Although I have only listed three “formal”  cardio sessions, I walk everywhere and I walk everywhere carrying a heavy backpack. Living in Manhattan, I don’t own a car and I think nothing of walking for miles carrying my pack. In the warmer weather I rollerblade. Because of my work I always carry a suitcase and a backpack – it’s nothing for me to lug these for fifteen city blocks and then head back to my apartment. Sometimes I’ll do this twice a day. I try and hit every major muscle twice
a week.

Meral on Landy

I first met Landy Dean back in 1993 when I became a card-carrying professional bodybuilder.  I had scheduled a photo shoot with a top local photographer after returning from competing in the Ms. Olympia. Landy happened to be the makeup artist that day and I will never forget when I met him.  He was charming and funny and cute and very round all over. Let’s just say that back then Landy had cute chubby cheeks.  We became fast friends almost instantly. He was and is a wonderful person loaded with ample amounts of southern charm.  He expressed a real interest in getting into shape and I started training him. The goal was to lose body fat and put on some muscle.  He followed the nutrition plan I put him on and I added Parrillo supplements to his meal plans. He began to change rapidly and it seemed the more he changed, the harder he trained and the more disciplined he ate. When he moved to New York I was so sad…we always keep in touch. I went through a bout with cancer, a divorce and Landy Dean was always there for me. I can truly say Landy is my best friend! He is an amazing human being. It has been seventeen years since I first met him and he has never stopped taking his Parrillo Supplements and has never stopped working out.  Parrillo Products, cardio and strength training became a lifestyle for Landy.  Let me tell you something – Landy is incredibly popular and he could be at a party drinking beer like a regular party goer but instead of eating the salty party snacks, sweets or processed foods – he will pull out one of his ever-ready Parrillo Protein Bars^™! I think I made a monster out of him.

The issue you are currently reading marks her third appearance. Meral Ertunc is a longtime fitness professional and owner of a wildly successful private personal training facility, Bodylines by Meral, located in Orlando, Florida. The diminutive Ertunc

Meral Ertunc

stands 5 foot 2 inches and was born in Turkey. She has been successfully renovating clients for decades. “I am proud to say that some of my clients have been with me for fifteen years. I train all ages and all types; my youngest member is fourteen and my oldest member is a youthful 85.” Successful fitness professionals understand that in order to survive and prosper you have to obtain real results for regular people and do so on a consistent basis. Anyone can lure in new business, but few are able to provide members what it is that drove them to join a fitness facility to begin with: significant physical improvement, i.e., a radical decrease in body fat and a dramatic increase in lean muscle mass.

“I have been able to consistently generate significant results for all types of clients. To obtain results for different people with completely different wants and needs, I think it comes down to this: everyone is the same at a certain basic physiological level – yet everyone is totally different.” Asked to amplify on this seemingly contradictory thought, Meral offered an answer that was both general and specific. “Everyone is the same in that each person needs to engage in some form of resistance training and some form of cardiovascular training. Each person needs to practice a regimented approach towards diet and nutrition. Everyone is different in that background, personal circumstance, available time, physical limitations and ability mean that everyone needs and deserves a customized training and nutrition program – one that takes into account personal
differences.” Meral not only talks the talk, she walks the walk. At age 47 she is “in the best shape of my life.” This is saying something because “back in the day” Meral was a card-carrying IFBB professional and one of America’s finest female bodybuilders. Ms. Ertunc was so genetically predisposed towards bodybuilding that she captured the Virginia State NPC title after only six months of weight training. “I was such a neophyte,” Meral remembers, “I knew nothing about bodybuilding or training or nutrition; yet my genetics and a bit of elementary dieting allowed me to capture a really big title in my first competition.” As a result of her auspicious initial outing, Meral fell in with a crew of “real bodybuilders.” She got her facts straight about “real training and real nutrition.”

It was no coincidence that when she began training and preparing with this squad of topflight competitive bodybuilders (in the Washington DC area) she was introduced to Parrillo Performance Products. “I have been using Parrillo products since 1991 and since then not a single day has gone by where I have not used one or another of John’s amazing products. I am more enthused about Parrillo Products now than I was back when I was competing.” Within a year of becoming a competitive bodybuilder, Ms. Ertunc shot to the top of the national female bodybuilding scene. She captured the Washington DC IFBB Grand Prix event, took a controversial third place at the NPC Junior Nationals in 1991, and seemed on her way to IFBB superstardom when a freak accident temporarily derailed her bodybuilding career. “In 1992 I was preparing to audition for the then popular American Gladiator TV Show. I took a nasty tumble riding my mountain bike and broke my elbow.” The indomitable mighty mite was forced to take a year off and rehabbed and reconditioned her broken elbow. She reentered the competitive arena with a vengeance and won the nation’s toughest amateur bodybuilding competition: the NPC National Championships. “It was shocking and exhilarating to come off a potentially career-ending injury and win the biggest amateur competition in the country.” She secured one of her ultimate bodybuilding goals: an IFBB Pro Card. Meral went on to compete in top competitions including Ms. Olympia and the Jan Tana and Arnold Classic. Unfortunately for the uber-feminine Meral, women’s bodybuilding was undergoing an identity crisis, one that plagues it to this day: competitors became ultra-masculine. Meral noted wistfully, “I didn’t leave competitive bodybuilding, it left me.”

While Meral got better with every show, her look was decidedly feminine, natural, proportioned and dare we say sexy. The hard masculine look that was favored by the judges meant Meral Ertunc was SOL. The age of the grotesquely muscular female bodybuilder had arrived and while the judges were ignoring Meral, the public was going crazy for the exotic Turk. “I was modeling clothes and in high demand; each year I would sell completely out of my posters at the annual Daytona Bike week. The public loved my look while the judges were favoring women with 16 inch arms.” Meral moved to Florida in 1992. Initially she was “just visiting” and the plan was to immerse herself in bodybuilding for the NPC show then move back to DC. “I was living in suburban Washington DC when I decided to take a sabbatical and go to Florida for three full months prior to the NPC Nationals. I wanted to ‘hibernate,’ to dedicate myself completely to preparing for the NPC show. I told myself that this was a learning experience and that if I could place in the top five I would be ecstatic. I ended up winning and turning pro. I decided to relocate to Florida and soon was traveling the world competing. Turning pro caused me to take my physique and my approach to the next level. Pro bodybuilding taught me willpower, preparation tactics, fine tuning and the meaning of real work and real dieting. I learned a whole lot in a very short period of time and the whole professional bodybuilding experience provided me with knowledge and expertise that I still use to this day.”

Unfortunately in 1996 Meral contracted cancer. “I was in the best shape of my life. I won the nationals weighing 114 and then added size to compete as a pro weighing a full 126 pounds. I was in rock hard and ripped condition. I was on my way to Turkey to put on an exhibition when I was diagnosed and had surgery almost immediately.” Her world was turned upside down. “Suddenly I was no longer worried about contest preparation and judging standards, I was worried about life and death.” Thankfully she has been cancer-free for the past fourteen years. “The bout with cancer served as a demarcation point: my life up until the cancer and my life post-cancer.” Fast forward to 2010 and Meral is as sexy and lean and muscular as ever. “In a lot of ways, I am in the best shape of my life at age 47.” One glance at the photos accompanying this article leads one to believe that when Ms. Ertunc relocated to Florida she must have discovered the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon fruitlessly searched for back in 1505. Meral currently weighs 115 pounds of pure muscle carrying an honest 11% body fat percentile. “People are shocked and amazed when they find out I am 47. I feel as if I am in my twenties. I owe it all to bodybuilding and the bodybuilding lifestyle.” To demonstrate just how youthful she looks, acts and feels, this past
November, on a whim, Meral entered a 13.1 mile half marathon. “I was in Miami visiting and saw that there was going to be a half-marathon road race. I decided to enter despite not having trained for it. I averaged 8:44 minutes per mile for 13.1 consecutive miles. I did fantastic, finishing ahead of lots of men. Inside the race packet I found a magazine called SoBeFit. The magazine was running a competition called ‘The Fittest Person of the Year.’ I decided to enter.”

Meral had to fill out a three page questionnaire that delved into her background, her credentials and her knowledge about health, fitness and all things related. In addition she had to send along a picture. Out of 3,000 initial entrants the magazine whittled the contestants down to the top 500. Meral made the initial cut and months went by and she forgot about the contest. “Out of the blue I received a phone call informing me that I was being considered for the finals.” Thirty men and women were gathered together and put through a “brutal workout” overseen by the SoBeFit judges. The judges found it incomprehensible that someone could be so fit and so good looking approaching age 50. Had the judges alone been the final arbiters Meral likely would have won. The judge’s scores were tallied and that accounted for half of the final score. The magazine readers were allowed to vote online for the second half of the final tally. “All the other competitors were in their twenties. I was thrilled to make the final cut and end up in the top twelve.” The winner was announced at a red carpet event sponsored by SoBeFit. A slew of celebrities attended. “It was thrilling to attend the finale. I was glad I had entered and happy that I did so well.” Meral feels that the main reason she looks so good at her age is her ‘take no prisoners’ approach towards training: “I train hard and I train all the time.” She follows a disciplined, Parrillo-based approach towards nutrition and supplementation. “John Parrillo is a genius and his products are the absolute best available anywhere. I use them and I insist my clients use them.”

Meral is a skilled cook that loves preparing delicious “diet foods.” She mixes commonsense food prep with an eye towards infusing diet foods with terrific taste. “If you hate eating diet foods then it is just a matter of time before you quit.” It is no coincidence that Meral has a kitchen in her training studio. “I spend a lot of time showing clients how to prepare great tasting foods. Once they are empowered with the ability to make meals, meals that they genuinely enjoy eating, results occur rapidly.” Meral uses Parrillo nutritional strategies on each and every client. “My approach is pure Parrillo; eat multiple balanced meals throughout the day; each meal should contain a serving of lean protein, some fiber carbs in the form of green vegetables and a small serving of starchy carbs. In between food meals I urge clients to consume Parrillo supplements.” Meral has her clients maintain a food log. She periodically takes a Parrillo BodyStat reading to determine the effectiveness of the training and eating. “I create grocery lists of acceptable foods and have sample meal plans based on caloric intake.” Meral doesn’t want clients to improvise. “Nutrition is 90% of the battle and my Parrillo-influenced methods work; the last thing they need is modification.” Meral has been so successful at renovating clients that she is extremely selective about who she will work with. “I will turn down a new client if I feel they are less than 100% committed to ‘the process.’ I am only interested in working with sincere individuals that are ready, willing and able to completely commit to the practices and procedures that I use; procedures that work every single time they are properly implemented.” Meral Ertunc cranks out renovated physiques with the regularity of an auto assembly line. Any client that stumbles into Body by Meral seeking assistance is lucky beyond belief. “I love what I do and I remain passionate about helping others help themselves.”

Meral’s Training Split

Monday: legs, shoulders, biceps, abdominals and calves

Tuesday: legs and abdominals

Wednesday: legs, back and biceps

Thursday: repeat Monday

Friday: repeat Tuesday

Saturday: repeat Wednesday

Sunday: off

For lower body exercises, I do 20-30 reps and for upper body exercises I do 20 reps.

Cardio: I love cardio. On Monday I like to take a five to six mile run. On Tuesday I ride my spin bike for 60 to 75 minutes. On Wednesday I will run again, this time stretching to six to eight miles. On Thursday and Friday I will Spin for 45-60 minutes. Saturday I will take a long run of eight to ten miles or cycle for 50 to 60 miles. Sunday is my rest and recovery day.

Meral’s Daily Meal Schedule

Meal 1  7:00am: Egg white Omelet, 100 grams of potato or ½ cup Oats

Meal 2 9:30am: Parrillo Cup Cake^™

Meal 3  11:00am: Tofu 200 grams, 3 cups mixed veggies, 1½ cups cooked multigrain rice

Meal 4  1:30pm: Parrillo Chew Bar^™

Meal 5  3:30pm: 2 cups of salad, 125 grams of chicken, 1 cup of cooked rice

Meal 6 6:00pm: Repeat meal 5 except protein is 150 grams of Tilapia

Meal 7 8:30pm: Egg white omelet made with lots of veggies

Meal 8  10:00pm: Parrillo Ice Kreem^™, 1 cup