I was an overweight kid. I played soccer in high school and was rail thin. After graduation, I ran long distance for fun but had the frame of a boy, not a man. When I entered the fitness industry I gained about 70lbs of muscle and weighed in at a fatter 280lhs. I was the biggest and strongest guy at the gym in nearly every way. Since, I've cut down a few times into the 3-5% bodyfat range, and maintained no higher than about 8% for about two years or so, keeping my focus more on maintenance, new skills and activities and time with my wife and son.

At the beginning of September 2014 I was bitten by one or two ticks and became infected with Lyme and a variety of other diseases. Despite treatment I haven't slept a full night since; and it's doubtful that with my persisting pain that I can ever sleep more than about two hours consecutively. I was incapable of any activity until nearly November at which point I resumed rock climbing and some lifting. In December I began incorporating squats and deadlifts with no weight, then with only the bar and slowly rebuilding though with fits of back spasming.

My nutrition never really fell off; but with no sleep, very high stress, incessant pain, and the inability to do any kind of intense activity for so long I've easily lost 10lbs of lean mass and gained 30lbs of fat. Thanks to my knowledge and experience that's all the setback I've suffered. Anyone familiar with the disease knows there are many people who lose their lives, jobs, sight, use of limbs, minds and will to push forward with Lyme.

Between it and nutrition some of the direst situations in life have hope. There is always the possibility of progress. There is often the glimpse of it as well. And when you get everything just right there is seldom a lengthy time of stagnation or regress. This improves individuals, families, communities and the world.

Repeated studies show that a 30 minute morning walk is as or more effective than anti-depressants and mood stabilizing drugs. Those of us who've tasted or lived deep within high performance fitness know the psychological lows it can drag us from and the mental highs it can drive us to.