How This Guy Dropped 150 Pounds and Became a Bodybuilding Champion
I DON'T FIND my story unique. It’s simple: I had bad habits and vices. Over time, I became depressed, overweight, and unmotivated. In early March 2020, Crohn's disease came close to taking my life. I was immediately admitted to the hospital and stayed there for the next seven months, where I had 11 colorectal surgeries and went septic three times. I knew that being morbidly obese and having bad lifestyle habits amplified my health complications from Crohn's disease.
After a trip to Medellín, Colombia, with my brother in December 2022, I got my testosterone levels checked. I had been in a rut at this point in my life and, having a background in nursing, I figured something wasn’t right with me. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was. After getting a full blood panel done, I found out that my testosterone levels were in the absolute gutter. My total testosterone levels were in the 70s, which is way below the normal range for men. (I later learned that my two-month stint with anabolic steroids at 18 back in college was the cause of over 10 years of low T.) My lack of energy and motivation all started to make sense: I was a walking billboard of symptoms for low testosterone.
Getting a prescription for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) felt like adding colour to a black-and-white picture. All of a sudden, life became exciting again. Instead of wanting to sit inside and play video games all day, I wanted to go for walks outside and hit the gym. I fell back in love with my old passion: powerlifting and Strongman competitions. I created social media content for many competitors at the World’s Strongest Man and the Arnold Classic, so I was around that world. But the idea behind a Strongman competition is that mass moves mass.
My mindset was, I'm going to see how big I can get so I can try to get a 700-pound deadlift. I got close, I hit 680 pounds, but my health wasn’t improving. I weighed 372 pounds and I was still going to the hospital every few months for Crohn’s-related health issues. Something was always going wrong, whether it was an infection, a bowel blockage, or an ulcer on the verge of rupturing.
My First Steps to Feeling Better? Creating Accountability.
ONE DAY, IN August 2023, I woke up at 5:38 a.m. I turned around in bed to reach for my phone. To my surprise, I was out of breath from that movement. I was like, no, this can't be it. There has to be more to life than this. And that's when I texted my friend Martina Raskova, who’s a nutrition coach: “I’m gonna fu*king do it. I’m going to commit to eating clean. I’ll learn how to count macros. I’m going to need your help. Because this shit will be the hardest thing I ever do.”
I filmed a video with her the next day where I said, 'I’m going to pick and attend a bodybuilding show next year.' I chose the 2024 Summer Shredding Classic in Toronto. It’s not like I hadn’t been around this high level of athleticism. I noticed the high-tier athletes I filmed never made any excuses or blamed anybody but themselves when something went wrong during a competition. It clicked for me: I needed to stop using my Crohn's disease as a crutch.
I Used Social Media to Stay Accountable
FOR THE FIRST time in my life I thought, I'm going to use Instagram instead of Instagram using me. It's going to be my accountability metric. So I started posting my weight every day. I took on the identity of a bodybuilder. I told myself I wasn't going to be the fat guy anymore. I was going to be the “David Goggins of bodybuilding” and do whatever it takes to get on that stage for the bodybuilding show. Adopting this persona helped me stay consistent from the get-go.
I knew what I was doing in the gym thanks to my background with Strongman. I also knew the four pillars of weight loss are essentially cardio, strength training, nutrition, and hydration. I figured if I could hit all four of those, even at 80 percent effort, I would see a massive change. I decided to not just aim for 80, but go for the full 100 percent effort, and that's exactly what happened.
I trained seven days a week for the first six-and-a-half months of prep for this competition. That’s how I dropped the first 105 pounds. I quit my job, which was already freelance content creation, and went full-time into creating content for myself. My parents helped me financially as I built my brands and coaching business, which is my full-time gig. I went to the gym every morning to do fasted cardio and ab work. I went back mid-day to do my targeted isolation strength workout. At night, I did my second cardio session and then worked on my weak-point muscles, which included my glutes, rear deltoids, and upper chest muscles. Eventually, I started incorporating rest days. I only cheated once on my strict macro diet.
First, I won a Summer Shred bodybuilding qualifier in August. When I showed up to the Championship in November, I weighed 215 pounds, with a 4.9 to 5.3 percent body fat estimate, according to an InBody scan. I won the competition – and not just my category. I won the whole show.
My Mind and Body Are Healthier Than Ever
AFTER FINISHING THE show, I felt better than when I started – and my Crohn's went into remission thanks to losing the weight and taking peptides as a natural alternative to immunosuppressants.
I think it's important to know that not everybody will understand your path, but you're not here to explain that – you're here to live it. Waking up in the morning excited to be awake is a powerful thing. I used to wake up wondering what I was going to eat all day. Now, I wake up thinking about all the videos I’m going to shoot that day or the sponsorship deals I have to work on. I also make time to respond to every single direct message I get on Instagram. It takes up a lot of my time, but I think it's worth it. I know how powerful it can be to have someone you look up to tell you to keep going.
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