I remember that day, July 4th, 2008 vividly; I was in Hilton Head, South Carolina with my family. We had spent the day at the beach and before we went out that night to enjoy the 4th of July celebrations, I downloaded the pictures from our digital camera. One photo particular struck me like a ton of bricks, it was of me and my oldest son in our swimsuits on the beach posing for a picture. I could only focus on me and was thinking how the guy in the picture wasnât the same guy I had a mental image of in my head. Anyone who has ever known me knows I have an ego the size of the Montana skyline and my âself-imageâ was quite different from the photo I was seeing. At that very moment, I looked in the mirror and told myself âyouâre doing something about this.â
It was not like I never worked out. I started lifting weights when I was 13-years old and continued it through out my life; however, I never ate right. For example, when I turned 40-years old, I beat my own personal record of bench pressing 405lbs. Quite an accomplishment in my mind. Still, my eating habits were hideous and my dedication to an organized and regimented work-out was sporadic.