If you don’t want to read the whole article, I’ll save you a little trouble: I was fat, I got motivated and lost weight, I am no longer fat. But really, it goes deeper than that. It’s not all about losing weight an being skinny, it’s about feeling positive about your body image no matter what it may be.

Back when I was in elementary school I was always the runt of the boys in the class. I weighed the least and was the shortest. They’d always brag about how much they weigh and from then on I correlated higher weight with more social power. As I moved into high school I was dwarfed even more by the basketball and football teams, but it was never in the forefront of my mind. I believe that it was buried somewhere in my subconscious because as high school went on I found myself eating more and more. At one point I’d grab a bowl of cereal at home, if any period was canceled in between then and lunch I’d be sure to grab a sandwich or cinnamon bun in the cafeteria, plus lunch, maybe a soda toward the end of the day, and then another meal after school if there was rehearsal or practice. And of course, when I got home there was always dinner or leftovers. Needless to say, the skinny runt of the class reached 200 pounds by sophomore year.

And the worst part? I was proud. I thought that tipping the scales at 200 was a good thing, like I was finally an adult. I maintained that state of mind throughout the remainder of high school and most of the way through college. At 220 pounds, I never put on the “freshman fifteen” because I had already quadrupled that over the past four years. But I never considered myself “fat.” When I looked in the mirror I never thought that I was fat or obese, just “a little overweight, nothing to be worried about.” Then one day, I got the message.

I’d like to confirm what multiple scientific studies have shown, watching professional wrestling does give you poor body image. Especially if you’re working with wrestlers every weekend. I still never thought I was fat, per se, but “out of shape.” My perception kept changing, but I still maintained a positive attitude. By the time I actually started to concentrate on fitness I was around 210 pounds, down from my maximum. I easily dropped 10 pounds by just managing my diet. But after a couple weeks of counting calories and all that I got sick of it, figured 10 pounds was good enough, and went about my life. Because that 10 was all extra weight, I didn’t put it back on. I felt pretty good about the weight loss. Not enough to keep going, but good enough.

About six months later I decided to really focus on my weight. I started working out for half an hour a day, managed my diet again, and at that point was extremely motivated. It was an easy route to another 15 pounds, but an injury back in January sidelined me and I fell back into old habits. Then it happened. I got The Call.

I think everyone gets The Call at least once in their lives. I was at over 190 pounds, eating McDonald’s at least five times a week, and would eat mostly steak or ground beef for dinner. I got the results of a blood test and they were less than stellar. My “good” cholesterol was low, my “bad” cholesterol was high. The doctor said they were the test results of someone in their fifties, not someone twenty-two. I was a walking heart attack, and I was scared shitless. That was back in June, now toward the end of July I am at 176.6 pounds and I manged to both raise my good cholesterol and drop my bad cholesterol by 40 points. How? Why?

The why is simple, it was a moment of clarity. I had a problem, and I needed to fix it. I was literally going to die, and I needed to save my own life. That may seem overly-dramatic, but that’s how it felt to be told that kind of news. I had to do something about it.

The how is a tad more complicated. I’ve managed to couple a change in diet with increased exercises and supplements. I’ve almost completely cut out red meat, switching to chicken and fish. I’m not the biggest fan of chicken, so I usually try to find salmon, swordfish, or some kind of whitefish. Regular soda was long ago replaced by diet soda, or some other kind of low or no calorie drink. I’m doing an hour workout a day (up from 30 minutes), followed by a protein shake with banana in it. The supplements are some sort of CoQ-10, fish oil, and flax seed; all of which are supposedly for lowering your cholesterol. I don’t really know a lot about supplements, I usually referred to them as voodoo until recently, but I guess I can’t argue with the results. I’ve maintained this change for longer than any other regimen in my life.

The difference this time is that it is not a “diet,” it is a lifestyle change. The key is lifestyle change, a really cheesy phrase that late-night infomercials have bastardized. Focus, discipline, and actually wanting to make your life better. I wanted to change, I didn’t want to be unhealthy anymore, I was scared and determined. After dropping from somewhere over 220 to 176.6 pounds I look better, feel better physically, and feel better about myself. I’m actually looking forward to changing in the dressing room with the wrestlers this fall, I’m not the fat guy anymore.

So if you’re looking to lose weight hopefully my story will motivate you to do things the right way. Don’t frustrate yourself with counting calories or fad diets, do some research and find the thing that works for you. And remember, it’s all in your mind.