Who Am I?
(and What is Middle Management®?)

Hi! I'm Ben Teal. I write this site. Just me. I created it - and the concept of Middle Management - to help folks just like you take the right steps to finally get in shape and feel good about the way you look and feel.

Before we get to far though, I need to be honest with you. I'm not a doctor or a trainer. So, I guess that begs the question then... who am I?

Well, I'm a lot like you. I'm just a regular guy. I work at a very large company and spend a fair amount of time in traffic each day. I'm married to my college sweetheart. We have two small boys and two large dogs. And in 2003, I tipped the scales at over 300 pounds. I owned a 44 inch waist. I weighed 110 pounds more than I when I played college baseball!

After the 300 pound weigh in, I knew something had to change. I couldn't make excuses any longer. Listen. I strongly believe if you work hard on the right things, you can accomplish anything. But what were the right things?

In college I learned how to create small websites. I took that knowlege and created a small site to document the things about building muscle and burning fat that I failed to remember post graduation.

The decision to start that site changed my life in more ways than one.

On that slice of the web, I looked at my own personal trials with fat loss. I combined that with the info I learned through my years as an athlete. And then I layered on my business knowledge to ultimately transform the way I looked. I realized that if I managed my body the way the most successful companies managed their bottom lines - with data and facts - then I could transform my body.

Over the course of the next 6 months I shed 97 pounds.

Middle Management® is Born...

What happened next really blew me away. I don't know what I thought would happen. But I never imagined anyone would find my site (or care). But as my thoughts morphed, people started to find me. At first a few people emailed to say they liked my site. Then a flood. And it scared me a little. I never wanted to be an "inspiration." I just wanted to organize my brain. I even thought about taking the site down.

But I felt a calling... Why not help people like me? After all, you want to know that you can do it too. You want to hear it from someone who's been there and done it. From someone who has a real life, not some jacked up "guru" who has the luxury of living in a gym.

I knew it'd be a lot of work. But again, I knew that if you work hard on the right things, good things will happen. So I accepted that challenge.

In 2006 I moved the site from a free domain to Build-Muscle-and-Burn-Fat.com. It was here that Middle Management® really took shape.

Which Brings Us to Today

As the site continues to grow in popularity, I continue to write about and explore the newest concepts in fitness and my experiencs. But at the end of the day, this site is no longer about me. It's about you. Ultimately, I want to help you reach your fitness goals. To look and feel better. And I want to help you by focusing on data and facts... by helping you to realize that "Your Body IS Your Business!™"

Middle Management® continues to morph and grow. As I get more and more questions, I continue to develop the business side. But there is one thing I can promise you. This site will always be a top-of-the-line source for FREE fitness content.

And me? Today I weigh about 215 pounds, depending on whether I am in a muscle building or fat burning phase. I've recently taken up running and I'll soon start training for a marathon. And of course, I'm chasing those two little boys constantly.

I try to be as available as possible to all of my readers, so feel free to reach out. While I can't promise you that I will answer every email (or tweet), I do read each and every one of them...

You can find me on twitter here, and on Facebook here. To contact me via email, please click here.

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