By: Kevin Larrabee
First off, before you go any further, you must ask yourself, “Why am I going to read an article written by some college kid who thinks that he knows about health and fitness?” Well, I don’t have an amazing answer for you. All I can say is that I feel like have been there, where you are now. At one point or another I have been in your shoes (at least fitness wise). It could be that you want to lose weight, gain muscle, or just don’t know what to do and are overwhelmed. In this article I am going to tell you about the beginning and my lowest low. Here is a little back-story for you.
My journey to where I am in the fitness world today began in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I was fat, 205 pounds to be exact. I thought I was okay. My doctor kept saying I was going to grow out of it and I was still within, “the acceptable weight range.” Oh really? A six foot tall fourteen-year-old can be healthy at 205 pounds? It sounded like a sweet deal to me. I could continue eating like shit and all was well. I could come home from school sit in front of the television and open a box of cookies or cereal, most likely finishing it in that sitting.
I was not happy. I couldn’t go to the beach or the pool. I was the clown at school, dying for attention and friends, because I was self-conscious. My grades slumped because I didn’t care about school work, just the screwing around that occurred in class. It got to the point where I was getting a D- in English. My parents were not pleased to say the least.
My physical activity for my freshman year in high school consisted of freshman basketball. During the time I was on the court, I was in heaven. But I sucked, I was the “big man.” Playing as the center, I would just get a free throw or two as my points for the game, nothing more. It was my luck that I had an outlet of physical activity I enjoyed so much, and I knew that I needed to improve if I ever wanted to get to play. I was faced with a situation where I could kill two birds with one stone. I needed to lose the weight.
At the end of my freshman school year I got to work. When I look back on the transformation I made, it still amazes me. Some of you may remember the same thing, a day when it just clicked. You stopped eating candy, ice cream and drinking soda. You got off the couch and did something about the situation you were unhappy with.
Thanks to my parents I was able to join a local gym that was about five miles away. I began riding my bike the five miles to the gym where I would mostly just play basketball and improve my cardiovascular endurance with the help of a moving Stairmaster and a treadmill. After about an hour of cardio and maybe a few sets on the circuit machines, I would begin my trek back home on my bike. The picture I am trying to paint here is one involving immense amounts of cardio and little weight training, (I was afraid it would hurt my shot), which I obviously wouldn’t recommend today with the knowledge I have.
I continued this routine, played in my summer league basketball games and rarely took a day off. I was eating better, not necessarily clean eating, but I was getting there with lots of fruits, some vegetables and no sweets or sodas.
Then one day it hits you, you take your shirt off to jump into the shower after a workout and you do a double take. Holy Shit! Look at the difference! Wha…what happened? It had been about three months and to my amazement, the gym scale said 170 lbs. Wow. I had made a complete transformation, in mind and body. I was actually looking forward to going to the first day of school.
To this day I remember that first day of school like it was yesterday. You must keep in mind I had a very small social group of three friends that I hung out with outside of school; one of the three didn’t even go to my school. The second I stepped into Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School I was not the same kid as I was freshman year. I looked completely different and my personality matched that change. Once the compliments came, my self confidence returned from its leave of absence in third grade. I was a potent player on the basketball team, I did much better in school with almost all B’s and higher, and I became more social, also with the ladies.For the rest of my high school career, I was a more positive, and happier person. I found myself to be more social and not as nercous about meeting up with friends and going out to places where many would see me.
That summer brought me to where I am today. It brought me into my junior year of College with a double major of Health Promotion and Fitness and also Nutrition. That was my “Summer of George,” my epiphany. I knew my path was in fitness and I continue to follow that path today and can’t wait to see what I will find far down that path.
This was the premier article for the FitCast and I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to tell your story, post it in the comments for others to read for inspiration. We may even read one or two on this week’s show. Also let us know what you think of The FitCast articles. Take care, and we will see you next week on The FitCast.
- Kevin
