My Story, Who Flipped the Switch?

Hey guys, Steve here..

I wanted to tell my story and I think now is a great time!

I'm 22, almost 23. I'm a graduate student in PA medical studies in NY.

When I was just 17 I got a girl friend. I went from playing baseball competitively for most days of the week and weighing 180 lb to gaining over 30 pounds in less than 2 months. My liver enzymes went through the roof and all that jazz. Well my enzymes went back to normal even though I didnt lose weight. I went back and forth with diets for short stints. I was 225 at my heaviest. Around 210-215 (38" pants, xl shirts) until last September (2011). I was in class learning about diabetes management with patients and counseling them when I got struck so damn hard by this inner feeling of self-disappointment. I didnt want to be the provider telling the patient to exercise and lose weight if I was this fat slob! When I got out of class I promised myself I was going to change my life and I immediately signed up for a gym nearby. I went to that gym my very first night. Luckily, since I used to be an athlete, my body reacted well to a new life style and my knowledge of human physiology and nutrition made dieting more attainable. That first night I ran/walked 2 miles after lifted weights for 45 minutes! I learned about High intensity internal training and did that 6-7 days a week on the treadmill, 5 days a week I also did weights (a bit silly, I know). With a diet high in fiber, green-leafy veges lean protein and low fat/sugar (all about moderation!), I was able to drop weight realllly quickly. Also, I adopted whey protein (I use gold standard from optimum nutrition) after work outs. Also into vitamin supplements (magnesium, B complex!!, potassium, omega-3, flax oil, vitamin-c 1000 complex, vitamin d!!!, CoQ10).

This leaves us at new year. I was able to run 3 miles continuously. In one month I pushed myself from 3 to 3.5 to 4.5 then one day I just decided to keep going and ran over 6 miles. It was then I knew I had something inside of me greater than I ever knew.

A friend of mine suggested Insanity.. more of a in-passing thing. She didn't expect me to try it... I not only took on the challenge, I one-upped it (against recommendation, lol). On recovery days I ran hard and lifted, on rest days I ran 5k instead and biked for an hour on stationary bike. I did this and after the first week that same friend and another asked me to do Tough Mudder, and I was like "no way, I cant do that". A few days later, I said, "no.. I'm going to do this, I'm going to push myself". Insanity put me in a shape I didn't think I could get to. I lost another 10 pounds and my body morphed. I was down to 168 (size 32 pants, Medium shirts), where I probably weighed in 8/9th grade. The last 2 weeks were tougher mentally because of my short attention span (doing the same few exercises can get boring) but I just kept going and going. Running and lifting and doing Rocky IV type training in b/w.

At this point I was really settled into a "lifestyle" diet. I know when to eat and what to eat and I can sustain my eating habits at this point! And I love all the extra energy you get from eating right and exercising!

This brings us to yesterday, Sunday 4/29/12. I successfully completed the tough mudder. Before the starting line there was a wall we had to climb over. The new Steve was the first in my group to say "fu<k it" and went after it! No holding back anymore! The first 6 miles I kept up with my friend who does these types of things often (including trail running). We made a ridiculous pace even with the obstacles. Finally after all the freezing water and reheating, my muscles were getting sore (hip flexors and calves). this slowed my pace, but now I know what to fix next time! I've never tested myself so hard mentally and physically and I feel so accomplished. I have an inner bliss right now I didnt know existed!

This brings us to me writing this now... so what's next? I will incorporate Insanity into a lot more weight training and just keep up the cardio. I really dont have any aspiration to do a 1/2 marathon (or marathon), that's just not fun for me . I would like to do 5 or 10ks for different causes though! I may do a spartan race or warrior dash just to see how quick I can do it. I guess I take the biggest bites possible (jumping into insanity so quickly.. doing the tough mudder when never doing anything like it before). That's me though, I always just go all in or nothing!

What I'm scared about -> going back to the old ways and being fat again. I have rotations for a year coming up the 1st week of June where I'll be in hospitals working for anywhere from 50-80 hrs a week. Time and energy to exercise will be scarce, so diet will be most key.

But that's me. Don't think I missed anything. I'm just at a happy place right now. And I like helping my MFP friends here reach that same happiness. I'm always here if you have some medical questions regarding diet/exercise/whatever if I can answer them! I'll always be honest, no bs here!

Oh and one last thing... Never lose track of who you were before you got in shape and lost weight. Don't become jaded, don't realize when it's too late like i did. Find a happy medium and a good outlet for all this extra energy!

Actually one more thing.. this has helped me when I needed it most.. remember, only you get in your way: "Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't"