This is the story of how I lost 35 pounds and got into possibly the best shape of my life.

I have always been very fit. I was that try-hard kid in elementary school gym class. I prided myself on my mile time and even remember running to my local elementary school in the morning instead of taking the bus (it was about a mile away). No matter what sports team I was on growing up, and no matter if I happened to be one of the best players or just so-so, one thing was for sure, I was the most fit. It was a pride thing. If I wasn’t finishing first in wind sprints, there was a problem. I played a variety of sports in high school managing different levels of fitness between football, swimming and lacrosse. I played Football in college at the University of Richmond for two years until recurring shoulder injuries made it clear to me there was not a path forward. And somewhere mixed up in all those sports I lost my pride. I think It got to the point where I just assumed I was fit. I took my fitness for granted. I started to ignore some telling signs that I may have gotten a little complacent.

I do ROTC at school with the intention of becoming an Army Officer. As part of the program, we take a simple fitness test consisting of a two-mile run, pushups, and situps. The first test I took, I barely passed the two-mile run with a time around 16 minutes. How was this possible? I was always a great runner. In my head I made excuses. In my head, I reasoned that I couldn’t run as fast because I was bigger than I had ever been. I was comfortable with being big for football, but perhaps a little too comfortable.

I remember in a morning PT session one of the senior Cadets ran with me to give me inspiration. As other runners passed us he asked me “where’s your pride?” And I had none. I had tricked myself into thinking I was still that kid who refused to lose a race when in reality that kid would have run circles around me.

For those people in a similar state as I was, pretty athletic but definitely lacking in a few areas, this is how I got back to the best shape of my life… The secret is a little pill called pride. Push yourself in every area you are comfortable. I started out running two miles consistently and I eventually bumped that up to six miles every few days. In the gym I did the same workouts I had always done but with more intensity. When I felt myself getting tired I didn’t just stop. I kept going. I also challenged myself to do workouts that were not fun. I used to not do many pull ups because they were hard. Now, I do them and they are not that hard anymore. That is pretty much how fitness works: It's hard at first but then it gets much better. For many people running seems extremely daunting but the hardest thing to get over is your mindset. If you need to “walk before you can run” so to speak, do that. I am amazed with how my running endurance has improved and how much I love to run now that it’s now as difficult.

Here’s the other side of the coin. Nutrition. I used to abuse my college dining hall. I would eat way too much simply because I thought I was fit and I thought the rules didn’t apply to me. Let me tell you. They do. I look back at pictures of me and laugh at how naive I was. I really did get a little chubby. Now I understand you should always feel comfortable with your body, but if you recognize a few areas for improvement, don’t be satisfied -- go out there and work for your ideal body. People like to make weight loss very complicated but in my case It wasn’t. What I did was eat healthy foods, and eat for how much I worked out that day. But what are healthy foods? Use your common sense here, there are no miracle foods. But as long as you eat your fruits, veggies, and protein, and yes some healthy carbs, that’s all you need to do. On days where I would work out a lot, I would eat more, and on days where I would work out less, I ate less. But don’t think eating healthy means you can’t have dessert or splurge from time to time.

After doing all these things, I was able to lose about 35 pounds over the course of six months going from a max of 230 to 195. It was fairly gradual but I have noticed a big difference in how I feel. Once you get in the groove fitness should feel natural. You should want to go to the gym. It's a pride thing.

What fitness article is complete without a "glo up" before and after picture. I wish a had better picture but this mirror selfie will have to do...