I'm in full blown athlete mode!

When I first started training triathlon in 2004 i weighed 292 pounds. I trained hard and got surprising results for a guy as big as i was. During races and training I'd constantly be told, "how does a big guy run so fast?" I knew they meant it as a compliment, but i didn't want to be fast for a big guy, I wanted to be in the front of the pack. 

                                   (February 2003)
The only way I could do that was lose weight. It took me a long time, 5 years actually, to figure out how to eat to lose weight without ruining my training and racing. There was a fine line. Slide a little to much to one side and I lost weight but sacrificed performance. Ate a bit to much and I'd recover from training better but the extra weight would slow me down. Eventually I figured it out. I got down to and maintained a body weight of 175 pounds for 18 months. I'd lost 117 pounds total. It was hell getting there, but once i got there a switch went off in my head. I went into full on athlete mode. Nothing got in the way of my training and eating right. I went on a two year streak that i took top 10 in almost every race i entered. I was no longer just fast for a big guy,  i was one of the fastest multisport athletes in the region. I became a sponsored athlete. 

(April 2010)

Since I picked up weightlifting my training has been great. I have perfect coaching and i was focused on training. But my diet sucked big time. Before my nutrition coach started helping me I'd try dieting like i used to when i was a multi-sport athlete. But i'd miss food so bad! I wanted to eat the foods i loved more than i wanted to be in great shape. I gained back all the weight I'd lost in traithlon and then some, getting to 318 pounds. I could find the motivational to train hard,  but couldn't find enough motivation to do the right thing with my diet. That changed on Holloween. My sports nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder, found my blog and decided he was going to help me. Since then my diet has been nearly perfect. I'm recovering faster. I'm gaining strength and speed quicker. And I'm doing all that while still losing weight. I feel like I've hit that full blown athlete mode again. I never miss training. And I don't leave the house without having my entire days meals planned out. Now i'm entirely focused on eating food that will help me recover and make gains. I'm perfectly content going without the bad food others may eat in front of me. I've reached that state of mind that if my body is craving something I'll have a bite or two of it and feel satisfied. I feel like a serious athlete again.