Work in Progress: College Student Success

**Fair warning: Nothing absolutely profane here, but one or two mildly-colorful words in here**

I really try not to brag, but sometimes you need to. Still more to do, but I'd like to highlight my progress so far.

At the start of 2015, I was a wreck. 260lbs, smoker, drinker, suffering from, as the doctors put it, a "moderate episode of major depressive disorder". I had just dropped out of school (again; this time due to a lack of financial aid) and was unemployed. I had to move back in with my parents. Life sucked.



Me circa 2014-15. Fat, hairy *kitten*. Still a hairy *kitten*. Can't help that.

Around March I found a job, but I was still wallowing in self-pity. In April, I was invited to a physical fitness test for a good-paying job with career potential. I failed.

Something snapped. Something changed in my head. I had been active my whole life. I had never failed a physical challenge before. This situation was unacceptable to my own stubborn sensibility. So I made small changes first. I started logging my food. I would walk more. I even started saving what meager pay I earned to get back to school. Quicker than I thought, I was making smarter food swaps for every meal. I started to do some mild jogging. I joined a gym with a few friends (who were power-lifters) and started working out with them nightly. I even managed to pay off my local university and enroll in the Fall Semester. Most importantly, my mental health was improving. I was smiling, laughing, and visiting friends. I was happier.

I found myself in a local running store to buy new shoes, and then found myself in their weekly Sunday Morning Runs. Then in their Thursday Evening Runs, too.

I quit smoking and (mostly) quit drinking on Sept 21, 2015. I have not taken a puff since then and while I still enjoy an occasional beer, that word is definitely singular; no more weekend benders ever.

Now it's Feb 2016. I have dropped 40 pounds (220ish currently) and 6-8 inches off of my waist. I'm still a big guy, but my body-fat percentage was about 23% when I went to the nutritionist last month. I have run two 5k's and two 10k's. Without getting dull with statistics, I am active 6+ days per week. This is all great, but I am most proud and amazed by what has happened in the rest of my life.


Just a random selfie. I like this photo, even though I generally despise selfies.



Before/after my first 10k Race posing with my dog. Unfortunately, she couldn't run that one. But she loves running in general, and keeps me motivated to keep going.

Firstly, I am back in school, and finishing my Bachelor's this semester. My finances have returned to somewhat normal; I'm still a broke college student, but I manage available funds and follow strict budgets to ensure I have enough to get by. I am still smoke free. I'm not obsessive about logging my meals anymore, but I still try to keep up on it. I am training for my first half-marathon, which I plan to run on my birthday on April 23rd (Who needs alcohol when you can run? haha). I'll be doing a triathlon sometime this year, and probably my first marathon too. But my mental health has been the most drastic shift. I am happy. Truly happy. I've gotten more confident. I'm no longer on medication. I handle the stresses that occur in my life rather than getting overwhelmed (for more than a few minutes, at least).

I'm still a work in progress. As I said, I have running goals. I have cycling goals. I still want to get my body-fat down to about 15%. But given the turnaround in my overall life, I count it as success. I just wish to continue the success for a long time into the future.

If you are still reading, kudos to you. This mainly helped me cope with an extremely boring lecture.