by Tone Alright guys it's story time so this post may be a LITTLE lengthy. Often, I am asked about my "transformation." Most of the time I'm asked something along the lines of "How did you do it?!" and most of the time after that, the person asking is expecting a miracle. They want to hear that I took a magic pill and when I woke up the next morning nearly 36% of my body weight had disappeared. Sometimes people like to hear the story about the journey. Other times people interrupt it to try and force that kind of miracle thought process into a transformation that is anything but a miracle. I didn't start this journey with any kind of goals. I was twenty-year-old college junior that used eating as a getaway. I was never self aware because I never chose to be self aware. I hid from myself as well as others. I believed that my habits were invisible and that if they went unnoticed to others, they would be invisible to myself as well. In addition to that, I was dealing with a lot of bad depression and that didn't help contribute to the cause. At my heaviest weight, I was somewhere between 255 and 260lbs. To put that in perspective, that's around a thirty-five BMI and somewhere between thirty and forty body fat percentage, both of which are considered obese. The lowest weight I have achieved to date was 164lbs, and today I sit comfortably at 170lbs which is about a twenty-three BMI and somewhere around fifteen body fat percentage, which are HUGE improvements for a person hoping to live a healthy and long life. Catch your boy in the Captain America T here, but there is no super soldier serum in this story. I give you all of that information so it can be in the back of your head as I finally get to this story. I mentioned a few paragraphs back that I wanted the food I ate to feel invisible to others so I can continue to do it without regret. The habits with which I ate were insane. Breakfast was moderate, a bowl of cereal before school. Lunch at school every day was either a few slices of pizza or bosco sticks, an order of fries, and a chocolate milk. Not the healthiest, but typical for a teenager. The big damage was done after school. My after school "snack" every day was three corn-dogs from the frozen food aisle. When three wasn't enough anymore, it turned to four. When four couldn't do the trick, it turned into a whole box. Wash it down with a coke and I was set until dinner. Dinner was the best meal of the day so it was always the most food. My favorite meal was a chipotle burrito, a whole bag of chips and salsa (I was lucky queso wasn't a thing then), washed down again with another soda. Like the corn dogs though, one soda wasn't enough and it kept escalating until I could drink an entire two liter of Coke in one sitting. If we took the low end of those meals before they started to snowball, I consumed around 3,405 calories a day with a significant chunk of those calories coming from fat sources. That count includes only three corn dogs and two cokes. By the time my addiction had reached its height I was easily consuming anywhere from four-thousand to five-thousand calories a day, almost two and a half times the daily recommended allowance! Two revelations began to turn the tide. The first was that my friend Travis and my brother Bailey decided to diet together and although I made fun of it to their face, I was secretly jealous of being left out. The big EYE OPENER was when my parents told me that I needed to stop drinking so much soda throughout the day because they were spending too much money on soda every week which was half jokingly but also half serious. Joke, serious, or somewhere in between, my cover had been blown. My habits were no longer invisible and people were beginning to notice. Feelings of self loathe and hate that I had kept covered began to surface and my insecurities could not be hidden anymore. So I began to cut back on the soda, and I began to lose weight. Only a pound or two, but it began to motivate me. I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to see what else I could knock out of my diet and if that would have the same effects as the pop. One pound turned to ten and ten turned to fifteen and I had a little bit of confidence in myself. I wanted to see what else I could bring into my life to give me the results I wanted to see, so I spent a few hundred dollars for a year membership to my local rec center. My thought was that I had spent the money, I had to go workout, no matter my fears. Luckily, I had my brother by my side who had never met a weight he didn't like. After a few months of working out and continuing to straighten my diet, I met with my brothers former trainer, Chad Whitman (cheap plug- @ironwarehouseohio he's a genuine dude and he deserves all the success). Chad helped me to workout and I began talking to him about training to become a professional wrestler, since he was a former wrestler with a few WWE appearances himself. My confidence had turned into a train that was ready to steamroll any goal I had in sight. And on a Sunday morning while working out with Chad, I decided I was going to sign up for classes. This day was also monumental because for the very first time I dipped below the two-hundred pound mark. I was so happy I nearly cried in the gym. "I've been working my ass off for 8 months and today for the first time since my freshman year of high school I can say I'm below 200lbs" The professional wrestling career didn't last, but the confidence continued to grow. I started to research and add a method to my madness. I began to run and the weight continued to drop as my confidence grew. Eventually I started taking kickboxing classes, and in July of 2017 I won my first (and only as of right now) kickboxing smoker. The running and loss of a close friend motivated me to run a 5k and in my first performance I finished third in my age bracket. I continue to try and grow everyday as both a person and through my health and wellness. Three years ago if you would have asked me, or anybody close to me about the things I have accomplished they would have laughed you right in your face and with good reason. Changing my health has not only changed my life, but it has saved it in more way than one and instead of looking at a challenge as too hard or impossible like I may have used to, I thrive off of challenge and look for it in every opportunity, and because of that doors continue to open. It is Tuesday so I might as well post a transformation. I could write another whole blog post dedicated to thanking everybody that has stuck through and supported me through this journey, and maybe I will, but for now you know who you are and I want you to know I appreciate you. For the people reading this that is looking to lead a more healthy lifestyle, here are some tips: 1) It's a marathon, not a race. There is no quick fix, and there is no substitute for hard work. Cliché, but the honest to God's truth. If you work at your goals I promise that you will accomplish them. There will be ebbs and flows, the road to your goal is not linear. Stick with it and trust the process 2) Have a gameplan. Treat your health and fitness like a sport, because in many ways it is. The most prepared athletes and teams usually come out on top. Do your research, watch some film (youtube videos, tutorials, etc.) and get your practice in so you can make the most out of gametime when it appears. 3) Supplements are exactly that. They are there to supplement a workout, healthy choice, etc. They are not the answer nor are they the cure. They can help accentuate a particular area but they are not a substitute for hard work. 4) Don't be afraid. All kinds of change are scary because they differentiate you from your normal way of living. That is not at reason to fear change, it's a reason to welcome it. Plunge into the lifestyle head first or dip your toes in the water for awhile, but don't let fear paralyze you from positive changes. *I am not an expert by any means, but if you have any questions, need any sort of help, or just want to talk in general about any of these topics I am an open door and would be happy to lend a helping hand on a journey towards a healthy lifestyle. With that in mind, Insta- @lifeOfTone216 email: [email protected] I can be reached there if anyone needs anything. Thank you :) -Tone
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