Aaron's Story

You must take a moment to read Aaron’s story.  He has been such an inspiration to us at My Nutrition Studio and to others, and we are honored to be a part of his journey. 

"So, this post is over a year in the making. Over the past 15 months I have lost 203 pounds! 200 down was the big goal I had on my mind back on May 15th, 2020, the day I decided to change my life. Technically I have reached my goal, but I’m not done! This post is the first time I have displayed my lifestyle change to the public, and my hope is that it motivates or inspires others looking to make that doable change in their life. Please share my story if you feel compelled.

I have struggled my entire life with obesity, I can honestly say, before this year I literally did not know what it felt like to be healthy and in shape. I have always been “active” and enjoyed moving, but my food habits were horrendous, to put it nicely. To put it simply, I was ADDICTED to sugar and food. I’ve used to always use food to fill a void of a happiness that I had always yearned for. I used food as a coping mechanism, and by the time HS it, food was always on my mind. I have always been known as the “happy” friend who always is willing to listen and talk to people, so for so long I coped with food when life got tough in order to maintain that image of happiness and strength everyone saw. I love making people happy, so I have always subconsciously put others in front of myself thus not allowing myself to deal with the problems in my life. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have always been extremely confident in my abilities (maybe too much sometimes lol), but I have never been confident in myself or in my image. Post college, my parents began going through a very difficult situation that took an ugly toll on my family. At the height of this situation, I had to physically restrain my father, which did major phycological damage to my brain. Again, I had to put other in front of myself, but this time it was my students. My students deserved to see an enthusiastic Coach O, they didn’t deserve to have a teacher who wore their baggage to class. So, instead of getting therapy, I resorted to my old coping mechanism of eating, and eating, and eating. This time was different though, I exploded to a massive 445 pounds. I didn’t even recognize who I was in the Mirror. I didn’t enjoy going out anymore, basically all the things that used to bring me joy were becoming non excitable. I only looked forward to what I going to eat at night. The crazy thing is, I did even want to eat, I was just addicted, I had to eat. I had accepted the reality that I was going to die early. I knew I was killing myself, but I couldn’t get myself to care. I was that depressed. Then, one day everything changed.

The day after these “before” pics were taken at the river, I woke up with an eye floater. I have never had eye issues, so, understandably I was concerned. I made an appointment with the eye doctor, and he ordered a MRI because he saw blood and was worried I might be bleeding from the brain. Thank God, all X-rays came back negative, but it was the wake up call I needed. My Dr. informed me that my blood pressure had spiked that particular day causing the eye floater. He also informed me that I was pre-diabetic and was tiptoeing the line of diabetic. He told me that at that moment I didn’t need any medication and could reverse it naturally, but he probably wouldn’t be able to say the same thing in a few months or a year if I continued down the path I was on. God had given me a second chance at life, and I wasn’t about to pass it up. I called my buddy Coach Allen, explained my situation and just asked for help (which was hard for my ego). He created a meal by meal weekly menu for me to follow. I began walking a mile and cut out all drinks except water. The first month was extremely hard. I had to break my sugar addiction. My roommates would walk in with fast food, and it would take all my will power to get my keys and go indulge. That first month I could barely walk a mile much less do any intense workouts, But I persevered, and all of a sudden I had lost 40 pounds and it was month two. I hired a nutritionist, named Jennifer (she’s amazing) began tracking my macros, and began doing workout videos from home on Team Body Project with Daniel Bartlett (I highly suggest them) . Every day, week, month, I could feel myself getting smaller but stronger! I had become addicted to the progress, to the results, to the feeling of hitting mini goals. It no longer felt like a diet and weight loss plan, I was crating a lifestyle change and I was loving it! I started this journey by walking and doing wall pushups, I now go to the gym six times a week always looking for ways to challenge myself. I also have educated myself, and continue to educate myself, on the foods we put in our bodies. Today I allow myself to eat what I want, but in moderation. I’m in a place where I’m very confident in myself, but I’m not content with my progress, which we should never be! I want to continue to become stronger physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

I have now realized, I can still make people smile and happy, but also be aware of my own depressions and anxiety’s. I Learned I am worthy of truly loving myself and worthy of true happiness. Learning that being confident in my abilities and being confident in myself were two different things changed the ball game. I do deserve happiness, and so do you. I have learned you can still put yourself first sometimes while still being a selfless person. I have learned that discipline is more important that motivation! Motivation will always run out. I have grown a love to move, because we get to move! We were blessed with working legs, some people pray to just have the ability to walk. Just know you are worth it you can do this! I hope this story find you well and shows you that the thing you believe is too hard or impossible is achievable if you’re willing to go get it!

Throughout these 15 months, I didn’t post one status or picture of my journey on social media, because I wanted to do this for me and no one else. With that being said, I did have pods of close friends and family help keep me accountable. Thank you to those who have supported me though out this journey especially my roomate Tyler who changed his eating habits to support me and coach Allen for getting me started those first 2 months; I love y’all more than words can express."

We are so fortunate to get to work with so many amazing people in this community.  If you have your health and wellness story to share, we'd loved to listen!