Getting in shape, physically and mentally
“These achievements are crucial because they’ve helped me to develop a positive outlook not just on fitness or nutrition, but life in general.”
Meet Brent, a client who, through making health changes, has truly taken back control of his health and his life. I am grateful that he wanted to share his story and perhaps help others to do the same.
Here is Brent’s story:
By the summer of 2015, I had hit rock bottom. I was living in my parents’ basement, a 26-year-old two-time college dropout with a drinking problem that was out of control. After a particularly rough incident, I had decided to seek out counselling to try and sort out my life. It was here that I was diagnosed with depression and began to truly understand my personal issues.
I grew up in a small oil patch town in Alberta. Recreational activity in this town was nothing more than drinking heavily. As an only child, social interactions with others had always been difficult, and places like school and later work were often anxiety inducing. This made my hometown’s love of drinking especially dangerous for me, as alcohol seemed to medicate my issues with anxiety, and helped me forget about my problems.
Through ongoing therapy and personal discovery, I managed to find answers to my problems. Within a year of starting counselling, I had dropped alcohol for good, left home, and by the spring of 2020, finally graduated college. As a communications grad, I settled on the Okanagan as the perfect place to start a new career in the marketing industry. My college even set up a practicum in Kelowna to help me get started in May. I couldn’t wait to cross the mountains and start my new life.
If you’re paying attention to the year that I graduated, you probably know that this wasn’t how things played out. COVID-19 swiftly dashed my hopes, at least in the short term. I lost my practicum and with it, any chance to begin networking in the Okanagan. I wouldn’t even be able to move to Kelowna until September, and when I did, I had few connections socially and none professionally. I was alone and unemployed, the perfect combination for the anxieties that I had overcome to creep back into my life. This time, instead of turning to alcohol, I turned to food. Specifically prepackaged food, for which I developed a taste for after hoarding it through quarantines.
By the end of a particularly sugar-laden holiday season, I had begun 2021 at nearly 250 pounds and a body fat percentage over 35%. More than enough for my doctor to determine me clinically obese, but more importantly, enough to again induce me into improving my condition. Luckily, a Google search would lead me to FIT Nutrition’s 8-week program. I had always been averse to diet plans, having fallen into the trap of thinking they would have me starving on tasteless, non-filling morsels of lettuce. Still, it was only eight weeks, which seemed reasonable to attempt...
Continue reading Brent’s transformation story at fuelignitethrive.com/blog.
Ready to take back control of your health? Join Tania’s 8 Week Nitro group program, or book online for your personal assessment today.