Growing up I was extremely active, attending various extracurricular activities. That was great, but left me hungry most of the time. I developed a bad habit of snacking regularly on sugar-based foods as a quick fix.
As I grew older and focused more on my studies and reduced the levels of extracurricular activities, my bad habits continued and I slowly gained weight with a bad diet throughout my teenage years. My first job was at McDonald’s, and the free on-shift food didn’t help.
I graduated university at 21, tipping the scales at almost 300 pounds. At this point I wasn’t really aware of my weight and the potential harm that I could be doing to myself. It just became part of my identity. Ryan Forde
It wasn’t until the 2012 Olympics that I really started to take stock. Living in London during the games, I remember being captivated by the whole thing and one event in particular: the Triathlon. Two guys competing for Team GB, the Brownlee Brothers, were absolutely dominating on the world stage. They are about my age and from near where I am from; however, they were in peak physical fitness and I could barely climb a flight of stairs without getting out of breath.
I’m not 100 percent sure how it came about (I’m sure alcohol was involved), but I challenged myself to complete a triathlon. And six weeks later, I did. After completing my first triathlon, the following year I joined the Triathlon club, Tri London, and started […]
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