Just over a week ago I accomplished my greatest feat as an athlete. I ran a marathon, something I thought I would never be able to accomplish. It was the greatest physical journey I have ever endeavored. Looking back at my journey I realized something, that I had made a major change in my lifestyle. My quest for running the marathon was about a lot more than running the elusive 26.2 miles. The journey completely changed the way I live and has given me a determination to live a healthy lifestyle. The following is the story beneath the story of running. The story of change that I thought could never happen to me.
(My weight was around 215 pounds for most of my college career, picture taken summer 2008)
All my life I have struggled with eating habits. Eating healthy was never something I enjoyed. For years I was able to get away with it because I played football. Lifting weights, conditioning, and football practice kept my body weight stable, but my diet was purely destructive. When football came to an end and I went off to college the effects of my bad habits began to show. I was always between 210 and 215 pounds. I would eat nothing but pure junk. I would look for every excuse to go eat late night Taco Bell or McDonalds, I would snake around on any type of sweet foods I could get a hold of, and Sweet Tea and soft drinks were the main source of all my fluids. I would go out and run some, but the only reason I was doing that was to avoid gaining more weight. I had to push myself to run a mile and every once in a blue moon would run two or three. However, it would hurt to run anything over one mile. I was doing just enough to get by and maintain.
(My sophomore year I reached 225 pounds, Picture taken sophomore year)
My sophomore year I hit rock bottom. I went to visit my grandparents in Florida. While I was there I ate way too much and drank massive amounts of sugar through sweet tea and soda. I walked a little but spent most of the time fishing and playing golf (of course I rode in the cart instead of walking). I weighed myself after I got back and realized I was 225 pounds. I was miserable and my doctor even told me I needed to watch the weight. I went to work at a summer camp and got back down to 210.pounds. My diet did not change though, I ate sugar, fast food, and junk as much as I could and would run enough just to maintain just as I had done earlier. Nothing had changed in me.
Over the next couple of years I would try all kinds of things. I tried to cut meat out of my diet and that did not work. I tried to drink diet drinks instead of normal soft drinks and that did not work. I also tried to cut out fats as much as possible, and of course that did not work. I had no clue what I was going to do. Exercise continued just to be a means to avoid getting to heavy. In December 2009 my brother challenged me to run and marathon and I took it. I was told I was going to have to loose some weight. I thought I could do it by running. So, I started running up to 25 miles a week and my weight stayed the same. When I would attempt to run six or seven miles it was just plain difficult. I was about to give up my pursuit of the marathon on the belief that it was not for me. I just was not the type that could run a long distance.
(Picture taken spring 2010, last picture taken of me before I started loosing weight)
The summer of 2010 someone revealed to me the problem, but I did not believe it. I was told that sugar was the main source of my weight problems. How was that possible, all the weight loss programs I saw on TV never mentioned sugar as the main problem. So I decided to cut sugar out of my diet as much as possible. I stopped drinking sweet tea and sodas, and I also avoided candy and desserts that were loaded with sugar. I also avoided eating fast food as much as possible and began to snack on whole foods and fruits. I continued to run as well and results were almost instant. I was shedding pounds at an amazing pace. Within two weeks I went from 215 to 195 pounds. My running distance began to grow and my diet stayed the same and before I knew it I was down to 185 pounds. The weight kept dropping, as the miles got longer. I would eventually drop down to 175 pounds. Now I am consistently staying between 175 and 180 pounds. I just ran a full marathon in Disney World and I feel physically better than I ever have.
(Before I started watching my sugar and diet, picture taken spring 2006)
(After I started watching my diet, Picture taken Summer 2011)
Being healthy means so much to me now. I never knew that sugar was the source of my weight problems. Everywhere you go in our culture today you see sugar abused constantly. You see so many people try other diets but continue the use of sugar. So many people don’t realize the harm that comes with drinking soft drinks or any other drink that is loaded with sugar. They try to go on the Diet Drink plan, which does not work because studies have shown that diet sodas are just as bad or worse for your body than real soda, and through experience I know that this does not work. Some people are so harsh on drinking alcohol and say its wrong but turn around and drink three or four sodas a day, not realizing the harm that it does to them. If I had not stopped drinking soda and sweet tea, who knows where I would be today. Ever since I stopped drinking that stuff I have experienced a 40 pound weight loss and 50 pounds from my max weight of 225 pounds. All it took was discipline to stay away from soft drinks and sweet tea and really eat a healthy diet.
I know that being healthy in our society today is no easy task. However, God has commanded us through his word to be healthy and be good stewards of the bodies he has given us. Our bodies are a temple for the Lord and we are to protect it against anything that is not good for us, whether it be in our minds, hearts, or the things we eat or drink. The bible says that drunkenness is a sin and to me that means not just over indulging on alcohol, it also means you should not over indulge on food or anything of that nature. Sugar can be just like alcohol, its good in moderation and destructive if abused.
(Still striving to live a healthy lifestyle)
Today I still struggle sometimes when it comes to sugar. However, great things continue to be done. I never knew the harm that consuming a lot of sugar and not having a healthy diet was damaging my body the way it was. It was the unseen enemy lurking in the deep. That someone who challenged me to stop my habits is now my beautiful wife and I cannot think her enough for her influence. Two years ago I was a guy who bragged about eating a 3-pound burger and now I am a guy who brags about running a Marathon. To all you who want to be healthy, this is the story of my struggle to you.
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