Hello family, friends, and the internet world. For those of
you who don’t know me, my name is Zach Smiley and I am from Oklahoma City. This
is the first article of many to come that I am going to write about diet,
exercise, and health; but this particular article is not about any of those 3
topics.
I am going to start by telling you my story. Not because I want praise for my accomplishments (I am proud of them with or without anybody else’s approval), but because I want everyone to understand that I understand the struggle with diet, fitness, and health. I struggled with it throughout my childhood and into adulthood, and to this day I have times when I struggle with it and want to call it quits. So either we are on the same page, or I am a few chapters ahead, either way I want you to know that I have been there and that I am only writing these to help others that are there. There is a lot of information out there; a lot of true information, and even more false information, and I hope to give you a source for information that you can trust and is reliable.
So let’s get this shin dig started! Shall we?
Growing up I was always the chunky monkey…. the rolly poly…. the fat kid! I was pretty active throughout my childhood though. I loved (and still love) playing sports. Baseball and football were my favorites and I dabbled in soccer. I was also pretty active at home when I was much younger as well. Playing outside, riding my bike, or going to my school down the street to play on the jungle gym were regular activities for me. I was still big though; and I only got bigger.
Going into middle school I was one of the fattest kids in school. I remember, and always will, weighing in at 210 lbs when I was 11 or 12 years old. That’s crazy to think about now, but it’s true. Around this age was when I started trying to lose weight dieting, and this continued on and off for years to come, but my activity level wasn’t what it was when I was even younger. I stopped going outside so much and started playing video games.
Going into high school, I was still getting bigger, and getting bigger fast. A major part of me getting bigger in this stage of my life was that I stopped playing sports, almost entirely. I won’t lie; I was scared to death to join the football team. Even though I was fat, I wasn’t tall. I was probably about 5’4” or 5’5” and when I saw the coach and the senior reps standing at the sign up table they looked like giants and I said to myself “Nope. Not gonna happen!” and skipped right by. I did however sign up for baseball, which I was better at anyway. During this time I had started playing video games even more. I really got sucked into gaming when I started playing Halo 2 online. I got into competitive tournaments and played online for hours a day with my friends. I loved it. After football season was over during my freshman year, a friend talked me into getting into off season training with him for next year. That same day we had our first session after school. We warmed up with some stretching and then the coach had me and my friend start doing some back pedaling drills. We were back pedaling 10 yards and then turning towards the goal post and sprinting to it. 3-4 reps in and my grace (passed on from my momma) reared its ugly face and I tripped during my back pedal. I fell on my arm and broke my wrist. I had my wrist reset at the hospital and the Doc told me it would be a few months of healing and I could go back at it. I was in a full arm cast for a while, and then was switched to a wrist cast. When I went to get the cast removed entirely, the Doc explained that somehow the growth plate in my wrist had slipped back out. In other words, I somehow re-broke my wrist without even knowing it. This called for surgery and that had me in a cast through baseball season, and I never even touched the field.
The entire time my wrist was broken I got even more into the competitive gaming scene and ended up going to a national tournament hosted by MLG (Major League Gaming) in Dallas, Texas. This helped in my weight gain and I ballooned up during my last 3 years in high school because I kept gaming and never got back into playing sports.
During those high school years I did try and take control of my weight. That was actually part of why I tried getting back into football; but nothing I did ever lasted long, if for even a few weeks, or even days. I tried doing the latest fad diets and started working out a bit, but again, it didn’t last long. During my senior year, I started using HGC and following the diet regimen to go with it (which I recommend to NO ONE), and I actually lost 50 lbs in about 2 months. I was so proud of myself but after I hit that mark I just went back to my old habits. I regained all that weight plus some, now weighing in at whopping 285 lbs. On a kid that is 5’8” (5’9” on a good day) it wasn’t a very good look, and I was huge! I was disappointed in myself, and cared, but not enough at that time.
I am going to start by telling you my story. Not because I want praise for my accomplishments (I am proud of them with or without anybody else’s approval), but because I want everyone to understand that I understand the struggle with diet, fitness, and health. I struggled with it throughout my childhood and into adulthood, and to this day I have times when I struggle with it and want to call it quits. So either we are on the same page, or I am a few chapters ahead, either way I want you to know that I have been there and that I am only writing these to help others that are there. There is a lot of information out there; a lot of true information, and even more false information, and I hope to give you a source for information that you can trust and is reliable.
So let’s get this shin dig started! Shall we?
Growing up I was always the chunky monkey…. the rolly poly…. the fat kid! I was pretty active throughout my childhood though. I loved (and still love) playing sports. Baseball and football were my favorites and I dabbled in soccer. I was also pretty active at home when I was much younger as well. Playing outside, riding my bike, or going to my school down the street to play on the jungle gym were regular activities for me. I was still big though; and I only got bigger.
Going into middle school I was one of the fattest kids in school. I remember, and always will, weighing in at 210 lbs when I was 11 or 12 years old. That’s crazy to think about now, but it’s true. Around this age was when I started trying to lose weight dieting, and this continued on and off for years to come, but my activity level wasn’t what it was when I was even younger. I stopped going outside so much and started playing video games.
Going into high school, I was still getting bigger, and getting bigger fast. A major part of me getting bigger in this stage of my life was that I stopped playing sports, almost entirely. I won’t lie; I was scared to death to join the football team. Even though I was fat, I wasn’t tall. I was probably about 5’4” or 5’5” and when I saw the coach and the senior reps standing at the sign up table they looked like giants and I said to myself “Nope. Not gonna happen!” and skipped right by. I did however sign up for baseball, which I was better at anyway. During this time I had started playing video games even more. I really got sucked into gaming when I started playing Halo 2 online. I got into competitive tournaments and played online for hours a day with my friends. I loved it. After football season was over during my freshman year, a friend talked me into getting into off season training with him for next year. That same day we had our first session after school. We warmed up with some stretching and then the coach had me and my friend start doing some back pedaling drills. We were back pedaling 10 yards and then turning towards the goal post and sprinting to it. 3-4 reps in and my grace (passed on from my momma) reared its ugly face and I tripped during my back pedal. I fell on my arm and broke my wrist. I had my wrist reset at the hospital and the Doc told me it would be a few months of healing and I could go back at it. I was in a full arm cast for a while, and then was switched to a wrist cast. When I went to get the cast removed entirely, the Doc explained that somehow the growth plate in my wrist had slipped back out. In other words, I somehow re-broke my wrist without even knowing it. This called for surgery and that had me in a cast through baseball season, and I never even touched the field.
The entire time my wrist was broken I got even more into the competitive gaming scene and ended up going to a national tournament hosted by MLG (Major League Gaming) in Dallas, Texas. This helped in my weight gain and I ballooned up during my last 3 years in high school because I kept gaming and never got back into playing sports.
During those high school years I did try and take control of my weight. That was actually part of why I tried getting back into football; but nothing I did ever lasted long, if for even a few weeks, or even days. I tried doing the latest fad diets and started working out a bit, but again, it didn’t last long. During my senior year, I started using HGC and following the diet regimen to go with it (which I recommend to NO ONE), and I actually lost 50 lbs in about 2 months. I was so proud of myself but after I hit that mark I just went back to my old habits. I regained all that weight plus some, now weighing in at whopping 285 lbs. On a kid that is 5’8” (5’9” on a good day) it wasn’t a very good look, and I was huge! I was disappointed in myself, and cared, but not enough at that time.
About a year after graduating, my best friend Sam (who was
living with my family at the time) and I moved out of my parent’s house and
into our own apartment. On our own we ate the classic poor college student
diet. Frozen burritos, pizzas, ramen noodles; anything that was cheap,
unhealthy, and easy to cook. 3-4 months
on our own and Sam had started putting post it notes on his door and around his
room with reminders on them, quotes from people, and just random thoughts of
his own. It sounds ridiculous, but one of those post it notes changed my life
forever. It read….
“It’s all about the mindset. With a good mindset, you can accomplish anything.”
It clicked right then and there. I knew it was time to change my frame of mind and get on the ball with my diet, exercise, and health. I thank Sam to this day for doing something as simple as writing his positive thoughts on a post it note, because that simplicity changed my life.
“It’s all about the mindset. With a good mindset, you can accomplish anything.”
It clicked right then and there. I knew it was time to change my frame of mind and get on the ball with my diet, exercise, and health. I thank Sam to this day for doing something as simple as writing his positive thoughts on a post it note, because that simplicity changed my life.
I talked to Sam that same day and told him that I really
wanted to start eating healthier and getting fit, and asked him to help me
stick with it. He was game from the get go. 11/9/11 was the day it all
happened. We stopped buying a lot of the junk we were previously eating (not
all, because Sam has the metabolism of a lion so he can eat whatever he wants
and have a hard time gaining weight!) and started substituting that with
options that were much healthier than our current diet. Things like Lean
Cuisine and Healthy Choice frozen meals, Special K cereals, and other various
changes. I had also started using an application on my phone called
MyFitnessPal (I still use it to this day) that helped me track my calorie
intake. This was my first step. My weight loss “journey” had begun, and I was
determined.
My second step came on Thanksgiving Day. I was at my Nana’s house with the family and they all knew that I had started trying to lose weight seriously. (They really knew when I only had one plate that day!) After dinner we were talking outside and my uncle asked me if I wanted to run a 5K race with him in March. I laughed at him that day and said no, but the next day told him that I would do it. So I started using my work’s exercise room to train for that. March rolls around and I run the entire thing, and actually beat my uncle by about 5 minutes! This solidified my drive even more.
For the next year and a half I ran and ran and ran and continued to change my diet to healthier and fresher options. I also started lifting a bit more following the StrongLifts 5x5 program. I lost 80 lbs doing so, but was stuck there for months. I ran 5K races, a 10K race, a half marathon, and then completed a full marathon this last summer with my uncle in San Diego, California. Once I had finished the marathon I knew that I wanted to make lifting my main focus and put the running on hold.
When I got back home from my trip to San Diego, I started doing some more lifting and doing tons of research on various routines and the science behind muscular function and growth. I had done a lot of research before too, but I knew I needed to learn a lot more to get the results I wanted. Since then I have read hundreds of articles and some books, and have gained a lot of knowledge doing so. I have read both of the Nautilus Bulletins by Arthur Jones, Body by Science by Doug McGuff & John Little, Running Anatomy by Joe Puleo & Patrick Milroy, The New Rules of Lifting: Supercharged by Lou Schuler & Alwyn Cosgrove, and have more books that I am working on. I have also read some books on nutrition and plan to read more.
We are finally reaching the end! Or is it just the beginning? I think that it’s the latter. I am now lifting using the knowledge I have gained along with the assistance and advice of Jay Horn. I have busted past my plateau and have lost 100 lbs total, weighing in at 176 lbs! My plan for the future is to build a good amount of mass (Mark Whalburg body hopeful! HAHA) and LEARN more and more about diet, exercise, and health.
I hope to become a personal trainer in the future, but until then I am just helping a few friends and family members who have offered to be my “guinea pigs” you could say! For now, I will continue to work on my own body, help my “guinea pigs” reach their goals, and expand my knowledge.
If you made it through to this point, thank you for reading and getting to know me a bit more! I could probably write a book with all the nitty gritty details in between what I have written here, but that is for another day. I hope that you continue to read my articles after this so that I can help spread around the knowledge I have gained and will continue to gain.
Have a good day and remember…… It’s all about the mindset!!!
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