Believe it or not, this is me August 2009 in Las Vegas

I was roughly 305 pounds and WHO KNOWS what percentage body fat!

Yea, that’s right I started my fitness journey as a 22 year old 305 pound FAT GUY!

I mean LOOK AT ME! It’s hard for me to even look at the photo below. I don’t even know who that person is anymore!

Simply put, I was overweight throughout my whole childhood.

I rarely did anything that was considered athletic.

I was made fun of, picked on, bullied… you name it! I lived it!

As I got into my teenage years the weight just kept piling on.

By the time I hit my twenties I was well over the weight of what is considered clinically obese!

I smoked cigarettes, ate Twinkies, ate candy, drank soda, drank beer/liquor and got drunk a lot, and I played video games, watched movies and TV all day. When I ate, the servings of food were huge whenever I sat down for family dinner.

You name the lazy activity and I did it!

I was a mess and I didn’t even realize it at the time.

Then something happened!

Something I will forever be grateful for…

Something that changed my life forever.

During a night out I wondered why my best friend Brian was getting all the attention from the ladies at the bar we were partying at.

I had never had trouble getting attention from the opposite sex up until recently as I had just got out of a 2 year relationship.

During that time I had ballooned up to 295 pounds!

So during a moment of drunken weakness I asked my best bud…

“Why are you getting all the girls! Why can’t I get any attention!”

Being the honest blunt best friend that he was… he gave it to me straight!

“DUDE IT’S BECAUSE YOUR FAT!”

He was right, I knew he was right, I knew that was the answer the whole time yet for some reason I still had to ask.

I needed him to tell me so I heard it.

What he said next though, I wasn’t ready for, and it was the moment that forever changed my life.

Being the good friend that he is, he said…

“Dude you’re coming to the gym with me! I will force you to go to the gym everyday for months! I’ll force you to go with me until you are at the point to where it will feel weird to you when you don’t go!”

From that night on he was a man of his word and the very next day he dragged me to the gym at World’s Gym in Hamburg, New York. The gym I still work out at to this day…

Everyday Brian would call me and drag me to the gym at least 5 times a week.

and let me tell you! At first, it suuuuuuuuuuuucked so bad!

Especially that first month! It was the worst!

But after that it became easier and easier and before I knew it 6 months had past and I started to see changes in my body.

I’ve been hooked ever sense!

There were even days where Brian didn’t want to go and I went by myself.

and you know what…

He was right! When I didn’t go it felt weird!

Like suddenly my whole life was out of whack just because I didn’t go to the gym.

That feeling propelled me and transformed me from a 295 Fat Guy who never worked out a day in his life, who ate Twinkies and doughnuts all day; into a 170 pound shredded Personal Trainer and Natural Physique Competitor who eats healthy and works out every day!

 I’m so proud of this photo above! But I am in even more proud of my career path in becoming a Personal Trainer!

I am so grateful for my profession. It’s my passion and life mission to help as many people as I can with their fitness journey using my experience knowledge and expertise!

I truly hope by sharing my journey that it inspires you, especially if your overweight like I was.

Feel free to snoop around on my website and read my blog articles and even check out my Online Personal Training services.

Hope to speak with you soon!

 

-Branden Bridge

“Fitness is my passion, Fitness is my Vice, Fitness is my Life!”