New Beginnings

Growing up I remember a time when running was fun. In fact, I was good at it. I was taller than most kids, still am, and it gave me a slight advantage during field day. My long legs would carry me around that track at speeds that had me soaring above the clouds. That version of me never lasted. As my home life dramatically changed moving from Tampa to the little town of Milton, FL my body and mind began making dramatic changes as well.

Whether through real or perceived injustice’s to my 9 year old self, I began hating being stuck in a chess match between two parents and eventually bearing burdens a child never wants or should ever have to bear. These changes challenged me and unfortunately I was losing. My physical body made vast changes. My legs begun to lengthen, my arms started stretching across the surface of the land and my body growing disproportionately. Traveling back and forth between families it became a battle of will and I grew so tired and scared that food became my comfort.

Sometimes I can remember coming home from school to eat bean burritos that were roughly 300+ calories and then proceed to eat when my mom made dinner. To this day I don’t know if I ate then to fill a void or if I put myself in a routine that no one ever broke. Like most teenagers, I was stubborn and if someone told me no, they didn’t do it in a way that got through to me.

Heredity and lack of proper nutrition didn’t help these changes growing up, but at some point we have to stop making excuses and make a change. Eventually as I got older and educated in college I began to make those changes. I’m leaving gaps in this story because I hope that later I can continue this story in a way that is meaningful to me and to those that bother to follow me on my journey. I fill you in that I eventually reached over 337 pounds in college. I know that specific number because it was the last time I braved weighing myself when I began a new journey that ultimately helped get me to this point.

I have worked hard to lose and now gain my way to get back to an unhealthy 268 pounds, but this is where I begin a new adventure in my life. Next year I turn 30 years old and I don’t want to live this way anymore. I’m tired of complacency, excuses, and the weight of the world that I have carried on my shoulders mentally, and now physically around my waist. Over the next year I plan to try to write as much as possible talking about bits of my past, present and future. I am looking forward to beginning training towards competing in my first triathlon next year in the fall. More importantly I look forward to the physical and mental transformation I hope to begin. I thank you for being here as I start my journey and hope to see you at the finish line.