Every story has a beginning, and this is how mine starts. I remember when everything started to change for me physically. I was in 4th grade. We had just moved into a new home in a different school district. I was having to make new friends, which came pretty easy. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood we moved to, and the school was only a few blocks away.
I played sports, up until 6th grade. Let me be more specific….I played baseball, and a lot of that time was sitting in the dugout. I was already becoming a chubby kid and wasn’t exactly the fastest athlete on the diamond. My minutes were minimal, and because the playing time was so short, as was my confidence. So, I quit! Never to go on and play another organized sport for the rest of my adolescence.
Life at home consisted of finishing my homework, going outside to play with my friends, watch TV and play video games. The going outside to play was the only physical activity I was getting. As for my diet, well, lets just say I was pretty selective. Meat, potatoes, corn, and pasta. That’s what most of my diet consisted of. Every morning was a bowl of cereal, pancakes on the weekend with a heavy dosing of artificial maple syrup. Then, there was the snacks. OH THE SNACKS! I snacked on anything and everything, and none of it was healthy.
Needless to say, by a very young age, I was overweight. My self esteem was low, kids who were my friends ended up not liking me anymore. I was picked on, teased, and bullied. Sometimes, it got so bad, it would end up in a brawl. Teachers knew I wasn’t the one provoking, but I had to go through suspension and detention just like anyone. Luckily, things were different in high school.
In high school, I met up with a wonderful group of people. Many of whom I keep contact with today, and some who have been my closest friends for over 20 years. I was still a big kid, but was filling out better with a growth in height. Things weren’t as hard on me as they once were. I was happy, and I did well in school. I got into college, where things took a huge nosedive for me both academically, and physically.
They call it the freshman 15. I say “Yeah, if you’re lucky!”. While a lot of people I knew certainly put on this extra 15 pounds, and for some more, I ballooned up 90 pounds by the end of my sophomore year! Graduating high school around 240 pounds, just a year and half later, at the age of 19, I weighed in at my heaviest of 330 pounds.
Taking a break from college, I moved back home. I needed a job. I had a couple friends who worked at a restaurant, and they asked me to come in and meet their boss. I went and talked to him. The only position they had available was working in the dish pit. I needed a job, and I really didn’t care what I was doing because I was working in the same place as my friends! It was a win/win. Little did I know, I was about to change my entire life in that cramped, little dish pit.
One month after I started washing dishes on busy weekend nights, and early weekday mornings, I dropped 20 pounds. I didn’t change anything about what I was doing, except I was a lot more physical than I had been in years doing that job, plus, it didn’t allow me to just go grab a snack or a soda anytime I wanted. It was at this moment that something switched on in my brain. “If I just lost 20 pounds by not doing anything other than keeping busy at work, I wonder what would happen if I changed how I eat?”
I cut out all soda, I cut out fast food, I gave myself a cutoff on how late I would eat. I didn’t necessarily stick to any certain diet, just limited the amount of times I was eating. I didn’t work out either. By just changing “how” I was eating, I lost an additional 80 pounds over the course of the following 11 months. The next year, another 20 pounds were shed and I leveled off at 210. I stayed in this range for a short period of time, but then, something happened.
By 23 I was back up to 250 pounds. Why? Well, most likely the reason why is I got too comfortable. I became lax on the “how” I was eating. I still wasn’t working out. Fast food entered the equation again, TV dinners, and a different job. I was sitting at a desk all day, processing paperwork and typing away on a keyboard. I wasn’t doing anything healthy for myself. I had to get myself back in order, so, I joined a gym. For the first time in my life, I was committing myself to exercise. And I liked it! I was feeling more motivated and energetic. I was doing 1 hour of cardio in the morning, and another hour or two of cardio with weights in the evening. I was working my tail off, and the weight dropped once more. I was back down to 210.
This second round of weight loss lasted for another short period of time before the weight started to sneak back on. Why? My workout routine slowed to a crawl. Mind you, I’m still not paying close attention to what I’m eating, just put a higher emphasis on the “how” once more. Gave myself the evening cut off, limited my snacks, made sure everything I bought was “Low Fat”, the Hungry Man TV dinners were replaced with the “diet” variety. I was doing everything right, right? Wrong.
Fast forward a full decade (plus a few years) and add 3 more rounds of weight gain, and weight loss, and we end up to where I am today. Standing at 6’1″, 190 pounds, and 14% body fat at the age of 37. I feel better now than I ever have in my entire life, and with that has come a level of mental clarity unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I’m learning about the short term and long term affects of the foods I’m placing in my body. I’m learning how to read the signals my body is giving me. I’m learning to listen, to wait, and be patient with my body. I’ve made too many mistakes in the past by wanting a faster result, ultimately, my body and mind pay a price for it. In the end, I end up right back where I started.
In the coming blogs, I’m going to be discussing diet and workout related topics. I will be discussing authors, podcasts, and other media in which I’ve gathered my information and applied them. I’ll be highlighting the dishes I make and inspirations behind them. I’ll feature my “Hero’s” that inspire me both in the kitchen and in the gym. I will show you how to become a Champion!
Cheers!