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Author: Justin Trussoni
Often I have heard that before you can rise and become a new person you have to hit your rock bottom.
So many signs lead up to that moment:
-Every night I walked out of work my feet were on fire, sore and my knees were beginning to wear on me.
-I put on my favorite pair of pants and they felt tight. I started to worry about going to the store to buy bigger pants.
-I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. My wife gave me a hug and it felt like she was having trouble getting her arms around me.
Then the day came...My rock bottom, but most importantly the turning point of my whole life. I woke up. I looked in the 3 sectioned mirror and no longer did my reflection fit in only 1 section. It hit me like an express train. "What have I done to myself?" "Is this really what my family sees everyday?"
I took the most important walk of my life that day. My wife asked and wondered what I was doing because I never walked. I cried many times throughout. I was feeling sick to my stomach. I didn't even know where I was going or what to do next. I only walked about a mile, but it was a transformation and the first step in a tough journey ahead.
Everyday I started to walk that same path, pushing myself to walk faster and cut my time down. I started researching online for hours on what to do to lose weight, and the more I read the more I realized that nutrition (getting those bad habits in check) and exercise was the winning formula.
I tried a couple 30 day trials in different local gyms, and set upon my new plan to exercise. I was about as amateur to exercise as they come. I just assumed treadmill, eliptical, bike was the way to do it which is what a lot of people think is the best way. I learned from the manager of the gym that weight training with some cardio and the important correct nutrition.
I made a financial investment in myself. I hired a personal trainer to teach me how to lift weights correctly/safely and for the best results for my body. This gave me the confidence that I needed. It gave me a routine and put me on a track that would change my body, like an artist with a blank canvas.
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The day that my wife gave me a wrapped box that contained a gym bag, lifting gloves and a food scale was her showing complete support in my journey. I have had the best family support anyone could ask for. Tell your friends and family what you want to do, make them aware of your goals. That support is key in your success, especially if you can get a significant other to join with you, involve everyone you can.
I spent 1 1/2 years lifting 3-4 days a week and researching different routines, workouts and ways to change my habits.
I hit weight plateaus" many times where I would stay at the same weight for sometimes weeks, but I know that when you see the results of the weight coming off in the mirror and the scale its like throwing gas on to your inner fire again. You push harder and more for the most important person, YOU.
I started to falter on my workouts. I realized very quickly that doing this alone wasn't going to work for me. I needed guidance, I needed a workout support system.
Sometimes the greatest things happen when you least expect them. Not long after this realization my wife saw the advertisement for Training For Warriors on facebook.
I asked around the community about it and came out with overwhelming support for the facility, the coaches, and the family system it provides. July 4th 2018 at 9am in swealtering heat I walked in the doors greeted immediately by 2/4 coaches that would change my life. The next hour I spent teamed up with a guy double my age that pushed me through the hardest workout I have ever done, but everyone around us cheered and supported one another. That day I was hooked to the support system, the family, and
the adrenaline rush.
These warriors, these coaches are the reason I become a coach myself.
I have been inspired by the hard work we all put in everyday. Its my time to inspire others
to do the same.
The most important factor is I CAN'T is not a phrase that can be in your head. I WILL everyday, I WILL for me, I WILL for my family.
I started this weight loss journey at 300 lbs. I have lost 100 lbs in 4 years and my body composition has changed the most.
I saw my feet for the first time when looking straight down. I'm able to see my belt buckle for the first time in my life in the mirror. I went from size 42/44 pants to 34. Size 3xl shirts to M/L.
The most important thing is I feel comfortable in my own skin. I had a goal to take my shirt off in public and feel comfortable doing so, and I have been able to do that many times. Everyday will bring new challenges, but once you learn how to take each challenge in small pieces, adapt to them, and then overcome them you will take them head on with more confidence.
One of my biggest goals when I stepped into TFW was to one day do my first bodyweight chin up, which I accomplished six months after starting, which I can now do 6 in a row without stopping. I back squatted 300lbs which was my starting weight on my journey. To squat my old self was such an amazing accomplishment, it was the weight that pushed me down for so long that I pushed up and away.
Four years ago I would have never dreamed of jogging/running, but April of 2019 I did my first 5k (3.2 mile) race and finished in 28 minutes. I was signed up to do a 10k (6.1 mile) April of 2020. Even though the pandemic and a small knee injury prevented that, I still maintain that goal, train for it, and will eventually accomplish it.
For the first time in my life I feel comfortable in my own skin. I went on vacation and took my shirt off confidently in public for the first time. I can look in the mirror and smile knowing that I have accomplished more than just weight loss. I have proven to myself that given time, hard work, setbacks and strides forwards that I am healthy, I am mentally strong, I am physically the strongest I’ve ever been, I will and can accomplish so much more now because I started this amazing journey.
I am a father of two young boys that have insane amounts of energy and now I have the ability to do all the physical things with them I can. They were young when I started this journey so they don’t remember me much the way I was, but I will use my journey to teach them how to make goals a reality.
If you can relate to any of this please contact me.
I would love to sit down with you and have a conversation about what you are going through, and what I can do to help you start your own journey.
-Coach Justin
Contact me at this link:
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