How I Motivated Myself All the Way to a Better Body

by Brandon
(Ontario)

Two years ago, I was a mess. I sat around on the couch all day eating terrible food, and I had allowed myself to slowly balloon up over the years. This was a trend that started when I was very young, and continued up until I was 19 years old.

Yet, I wasn't ashamed of myself. I never gave a second thought to anything I was doing, and yet, slowly, I was killing myself and ruining my body.

That all changed one day.

It was sometime in July when I decided to take a shower, and when I glanced into the mirror before getting in, I was in shock. I couldn't believe what I had let my body become, and I had no idea how I had never noticed it before. My stomach was massive, my face was flabbier than it had ever been, and I didn't look anything like myself. Right then, I knew things had to change, and I made a commitment to myself that when I stepped out of that shower, I would be a changed man.

It was very difficult at first, but I turned to my friends and family for the support I knew I would need. My friends started offering to go on walks with me, my parents started buying me healthy foods to stock my cupboards with, and they both could not have been more supportive of what I was trying to.

Even with their help, it was a struggle at first, but I knew if I kept pushing myself, I would eventually reach that light at the end of the tunnel. I just kept reassuring myself that every step on that treadmill was a step towards a better life, and every time I reached for a bottle of water instead of a can of soda I would get a little bit closer to a better body.

It's been 2 years since I first started this personal project of mine, and my friends and family (the ones who helped me every step of the way) still can't believe their eyes. When I first weighed in 2 years ago, I weighed 350 pounds. Today, I weigh 240 pounds. With hard work, the support of my loved ones, and determination, I have been able to drop over one hundred pounds, and I'm continuing down that walkway every single day. I look better, I feel better, and I'm not ashamed of myself anymore.

If anyone ever tells you that you can't do something, throw their negativity right back in their face. Growing up, I never thought that I could shop at anything but plus size stores, or run a mile without killing myself, or any number of other things, and here I am, proving my doubters wrong one step at a time. If you're trying to do the same, don't be afraid to turn to your loved ones, and most importantly, don't give up.

You are stronger than you believe.