BEFORE THE TRANSFORMATION: The weight made things difficult for me with my social life, but more importantly the little things, going up and down the stairs. I was exhausted coming in from getting the groceries. I was exhausted so it affected my everyday activities. It affected my life socially, I was embarrassed more than anything. That’s why I was wearing clothes that were much bigger than what I needed to wear, because I was really just ashamed of where I was.

THE TURNING POINT: The deciding factor, when I decided to make a change, was when I was playing PlayStation and I threw an interception and got extremely upset. I threw down the remote, and when I bent over to pick it up, I couldn’t see much of my feet and I saw this big stomach. And that’s when I had kind of an epiphany and I knew I had to make a change right then and there.

THE PLAN: I set a goal of I was going on vacation of June of that year and I started in January and I had a goal of losing 50 pounds by the time I went on vacation.  I changed my eating habits and the way I looked at it. I just try to make smarter choices. If I went to the mall and there’s a choice between a cheeseburger and fries and grilled chicken and vegetables, obviously I took the grilled chicken and vegetables. Just little choices like that.

MOVING WAS KEY: I went to my old high school track and I started out with just one lap. I was a little discouraged because after the first lap, just one lap, I was exhausted. I attempted to jog but only lasted for about 10 seconds. I knew that this was going to be a long process but I just looked at the road ahead.

THE BEST REWARD: When I saw people that I haven’t seen in a while, it was — I can’t even explain it. The looks of the jaw was dropping to the ground. It was just an amazing feeling. And even to this day when people look at my old pictures and stuff, they can’t believe it, and it never gets old to see that reaction.

INSPIRING OTHERS: I wanted people to realize that if somebody as stubborn as me can do it, anybody can do it. And I just wanted to inspire and help other people. At first, it was very difficult for me to lose the weight because it was just such a hard process and the exercises were hard, but I knew that if I just kept chiseling away and just never gave up that good things were going to happen. And now it’s really easy for me to keep the weight off.

TOOLS OF MY SUCCESS: A “cheat” day. Regular exercise. A target weight loss and goal.