I love the hit reality TV show, “The Biggest Loser”. I can relate. Each season never ceases to amaze me with the physical transformations the contestants make on the show. It’s a testimony to the power of the mind, will, determination, perseverance, and most of all, hard work.

It all starts with belief in yourself even when nobody else believes in you.

And so without further delay, below is a re-write of my biggest loser story. I was not able to include this “biography” in my EDTEC portfolio, so I’m posting it on my blog. Enjoy.

What have you done today to make yourself proud?

A Grim Future

I have been overweight most of my life, except for maybe 16 years (ages 0-6, 14-24). Those years were when I was a young child and when I was a competitive tennis player. But even during those lean years, food and overeating, as well as a yo-yo pattern of gaining and losing weight, were the physical issues that plagued me for as far back as I can remember.

At the age of 34 I was denied a lower premium on my life insurance policy so I decided to get a physical to find out why. The routine physical showed no sign of disease; however, my doctor predicted a grim future for me after studying the results from my blood work:

Gerry, if you don’t make a change in your life, you will contract Type II diabetes, and will most likely have to be on high blood pressure medication for the rest of your life. This will lead to cardiovascular disease and wide array of medications. You will die of either a heart attack, stroke, or complications from diabetes.

The fear of that conversation produced a change in my diet and exercise for about a month. My subsequent blood work improved over the next five months. But eventually the fear wore off, and I went back to my old habits of overeating and not being active. My doctor suggested follow up blood work and regular physicals, and had scheduled another round of blood tests for me, but after seven years, I still had not gone back for those tests or physicals.

The Nightmare, The Dream

In July of 2007 my father-in-law underwent heart surgery. While we were visiting him in the hospital I noticed that the other cardiac patients were of varying ages. One in particular was in his 30s and extremely obese. Upon my return from that visit, I vowed never to end up in the cardiac ward. I was tired of that nagging pain in my knees as I walked up the stairs. I was weary of the pain in my ankles as I walked the short distance from my bed to the bathroom every morning.

I decided to stop wasting my life away and act.

The brand new LA|FITNESS gym in my neighborhood was having its Grand Opening event. I wanted to get a free t-shirt, which was the only reason I planned on going on August 30, 2007. But during the evening of August 29th, I had a very vivid dream that I was working with a personal trainer, and I was really fit and buff. I took the dream to be an omen, and the next day I listened to a sales pitch about the benefits of personal training. I bought a membership because I knew I needed to lose over 80 pounds… and yes, I did get my free XL t-shirt, which barely fit.

From Fat to Freedom

I met with my trainer, Evan, for the first time on September 10, 2007. I was kind of nervous and scared, but also very determined and excited to change my life. I could barely lift any weight, was only able to do five “girl” push-ups, and was out of breath all the time at the gym.

I started out lifting weights just once or twice a week, but I also attended an intense spin class about 4-6 times per week where I usually burned about 800 kcal per hour. I cut my caloric intake down to about 1600-1800 calories per day. Over time, I dropped weight, decreased body fat, and built muscle.

After six months in April of 2008, I decided to take up cycling on the road, and purchased my first road bike. After a couple of months of riding, I began training for the Tour de Poway, a 100-mile ride, with a goal of finishing the race in under six hours. In October that year, just after three months of reaching my fitness goals, I completed the ride in just under six hours.

Oh yeah, I finally did get a physical and see the doctor in 2008. He was ecstatic about my stats:

My transformation story is not finished just yet. I’m constantly asking myself a lyric from a familiar tune: “What have you done today to make yourself proud?” Today, I’m in better shape than most 20-year olds with the fitness level of an athlete. I’m an accomplished runner and triathlete. I enjoy working out in the outdoors on my bike or simply taking my running shoes for a spin. Although I get tired of being remembered as once being fat, I regularly take time to reflect and be grateful for the journey I took to get to where I am today. I am proud of being a biggest loser, but there are many more challenges I’d like to conquer. I hope to add other monikers to my name list like “Ironman” and “Ironman World Championships Qualifier”.