Growing up, sports was literally the ONLY THING THAT MATTERED. It was my life, and I loved it. (Funny story: I have a recurring nightmare that I am literally just about to step foot on the court/field one more time to relive the high school glory days and BOOM, I wake up. It’s horrifying and depressing and hilarious.) My point is… I identified as a fit and athletic, competitive person. That was ME, who I was to the core. See look:

But high school ended. College happened. Life happened. This happened:

Now, I’m not under the false pretense that I was some morbidly obese individual on the brink of a stroke. I understand many people find themselves in a much more dire situation. But it’s all relative to the individual. And to me, it was a low moment. Physically, I was out of shape and looked it. And more importantly, I felt terrible. Sick. But worst of all, I no longer identified with the person in the mirror. I was lost I tell you!

So one day when I’d had enough… I told my wife to snap some “before” pictures of me (one of which you see above)… and I left that person behind. And with time (but not as much as you may think), this happened:

I know what you’re thinking… weight loss causes body hair loss?? Yep. It sure does ;). Now that we’ve cleared that up, you probably want to know what type of exercise I was doing. But it’s the wrong question… I mean, yes, I was exercising, and I’ll argue the benefits of exercise until I’m blue in the face… but no amount of exercise can overcome a bad diet, a cliche that rings true. The majority of the changes you can see, were brought on by a drastic change in the food I was consuming.

The point of this post is not to go into details of my eating habits, but rather to emphasize the impact a revised diet had on my life… but it’s safe to say it would be a rare site to spot me chowing on a big mac or devouring a triple scoop waffle cone while I was going through the transition you see above.

I was hesitant to include these photos (kinda) because I’d prefer to focus on the internal changes that nutrition can bring, but this kind of visual is powerful so I wanted to share it (my facial expressions really say it all). The more important changes were how I felt on the inside… more energy, clearer head, better sleep, less sickness, more confidence… all of which lead to a happier disposition and more patience and tolerance for life.

But it doesn’t end there. What I’ve found is that the more you practice a healthy life, the better you feel. And the better you feel, the more you want to build on that. You start exercising with more consistency and purpose, you start doing more research on how to feel even better, you refine your healthy practices even more, you quit your job and open a gym, and so on… and this momentum has lead me to a lot deeper understanding of the impact nutrition can have outside of the typical benefits associated with dieting (i.e. weight loss). Think sustained energy, higher productivity, less sickness and medication, better workouts, less stress, better digestion, and MUCH more… all pointing to a happier, healthier life. This revelation of sorts is something I want to share with the ones I love the most, starting with my Claire Bear.

So there you go. While I may not have had to pull myself from the grasp of the grim reaper (I was fortunate enough to catch myself before then), it was a dramatic shift for ME, and I don’t ever plan to go back.

-Dada

Other facts about me

• my name is travis
• I married up to this beauty
• We have 2 furry sons, Rudy and Alamo. “Rudamo” for short.
• In 2012 I quit my job and opened a gym
• certified personal trainer
• Not a doctor/dietician/nutritionist
• Not not someone who cares a lot about his family’s health and happiness