When I first started to think about my health and wanted to make a change it wasn’t as if I had just woken up and had been inspired by a dream or by someone I knew… This picture of myself is from June 21, 2012, I was playing Xbox in my room, slouched over, probably after having some chips and soda and my friend had posted it on Facebook. I knew that looking at this post online made me feel some kind of way because I just wasn't happy with the guy in the picture, but I just didn't know what to do and if I even wanted to do anything about this yet. This was about a year before I had gone through with surgery on my knee. I believe It was from very poor eating habits and which lead to weight gain. I had dedicated 99% of my time playing video games for hours every day, before school, after school, weekends, literally all the time. Why did I play video games so much? Because when you don't feel good about yourself it can be difficult to socialize, especially in your youth years. Socializing either led to overly difficult activities or bullying of some sort because at that point I saw myself as vulnerable and didn't have the confidence to be myself. Now, because of my inactivity and lack of social engagement with others, etc., I had gained (and kept on) a ton of weight, especially for my age. However, I grew an attraction to sports as a way to combat weight gain. My weight was personally so overwhelming —due to eating so much and terrible eating habits at that, it held me back in mostly any athletic event. Baseball, basketball, street football with my friends, gym class, etc. I always tried my hardest but was never really able to exceed the performance of the “healthier” kids. I enjoyed being active and playing sports so much I always tried to play as if my weight wasn't an issue. I couldn’t do anything “normal”, like take my shirt off in the pool or at the beach, or wear a “fitting” shirt, and I hated wearing light colors. Everything was just more difficult than it should be. Walking up the stairs would even leave me out of breath, sometimes. I hated always sweating when being heavier, too (personal hygiene for someone who’s very obese can be terrible insecurity for them, so I doubled down on some good practices there). A year later from the date, resulted in me tearing my medial meniscus. I think it was because my knees couldn’t support the speed and type of movements I was doing, nor the movements themselves, especially at the weight I was at. After seeing the doctor the proof was right there in front of me. But that didn't stop me from thinking about what I could do to help myself. Shortly after that, I was playing on a travel baseball team (while still injured and not having done the operation) outside of school and pretty active outside while still playing Xbox whenever I could. I had the surgery early during the summer before school started and didn’t do much during that time besides staying in bed, play MORE Xbox and pretty much eating all the time… which, resulted in even more weight gain. After about 5 weeks of bed rest I got up from my bed on my crutches and I was disgusted and heartbroken. I had made such a great effort for weeks and months working hard when playing sports trying to lose weight before the surgery (not knowing a single thing about resistance training or nutrition) that when I first got up, I saw that my double chin wasn't going away, even when I was standing!!! This is actually quite funny to me now, but back then I felt so stuck and like I was given something I didn't want like I was going be ugly and uncomfortably heavy forever. So, I decided I'm not going to sit back and complain about being so heavy. I called up my trusty cousin who worked at a gym nearby and asked him to see if they had a job opening. Long(er) story short, I got the job and was a floor trainer. That's when I tried to go online and try to help myself to what I can find and do for my health. Workout programs, diet programs, you name it. Shortly after many failed attempts and being sold on multiple “the best diet & best training” programs, I met with a trainer and together we tackled something I’d never thought was possible. Something that changed my views and beliefs about that stuck feeling. I had focused on a body transformation and from my starting weight, I had lost over 100 pounds! I have been in a “dieting phase” twice in my life and each time I learn more and more about why I succeed and where and why I fail. Putting in all this effort wasn't just beneficial for my health alone but also for me as a person. It kept me thinking… Fast forward to March of 2017, I acquired my Certification to be a Fitness Trainer through the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) and in August 2018, I was certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) to be a Certified Personal Trainer. My goals moving forward are to:
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Continue my education —to better uphold the standard for being a personal trainer and a coach,
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stay up to date with the plethora of new health and fitness information that gets shared every day,
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provide and be a reliable source for all of my friends, clients, and family about what or who to trust and why
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work with and gain knowledgable lessons that I can share, from other fitness professionals and help change as many lives for the better as I humanly can.
To be there with my clients and see transformations happen over time is something I am beyond proud to be a part of. I still brag to my parents, the most amazing feeling is being present at the moment with a client, building relationships, seeing them work hard to better themselves, and to feel the radiation of energy and confidence they have to succeed. Still, I feel the same today. The outcome or goal is great to base decisions off of, but the process is what we must learn to be present in --that's the road leading to the desired outcome(s). To me, working with people as they progress is truly so amazing and I love it.
So, you’ve seen where I started, and I don’t have an end result, I can only keep improving and learning and moving forward to truly become better than, well... myself! I hope you took something meaningful from this or learned something about me you didn’t know before. And I hope this inspires you to make a change, too!
-Tom