Welcome to the Ben Greenfield Fitness.com podcast.

We provide you with free exercise, nutrition, weight loss, triathlon and wellness advice

from the top fitness experts in the nation.

So whether you're an Iron Man triathlon or you're just trying to shove a few pounds,

get ready for non-run-of-the-mill cutting edge content from Ben Greenfield Fitness.com.

Hey folks, it's Ben Greenfield and with me on the call today is a professional MMA fighter

and he's not just an old fighter.

He was actually the winner of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter TV show and he has a rich history of great success

in MMA and fighting.

He's a wealth of knowledge on training and nutrition.

His name is James Wilkes.

James, thanks for coming on the call today.

Yeah Ben, thanks very much for having me.

You have this story in terms of being a fighter and I know you're chock full of knowledge

that you're going to be able to share with our listeners today.

Before anything else, just because I know a lot of people just wonder how somebody gets started doing what it is that you do.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into this in the first place?

Yeah well my dad really got me into it originally when I was eight years old.

My uncle, my dad's brother, was a national karate champion and I think fighting had really been in the family.

My grandfather was a paratrooper that was dropped behind enemy lines in World War II at the age of 14.

He actually faked his birth certificate just so that he could go and fight for a great Britain in World War II.

So my grandfather's a fighter, my dad's a fighter and my uncle's a fighter being a karate champion.

...