Gamer to Gym Rat Part One Introduction

Welcome to part one of my Gamer to Gym Rat series.  This is a written and video series about getting back into shape, balancing gaming, family and hobbies.  I started this in January of 2017 and fast forward four months and I’ve dropped 30 lbs and close to getting back my abs that I previously had.  But before we go there, I want to do an introduction to myself, my life and fitness previously.  The purpose of this “guide” is to promote healthy gaming and life style habits.  As I fell off the wagon in 2014 and gained 40 lbs and lost all my gains previously.  I want to prevent others from doing that and having better balance than I had.

Athletics

I wasn’t the most athletic of kids, but I spent most of my life exercising.  When I was around five years old the first sport I was introduced to was wrestling then soccer.  I stuck with soccer long term and ended up playing all the way through high school.  I graduated early and then moved on to the military (Army Infantry).  Here’s where I learned about hardcore training and pushing beyond what you thought you were capable of.  25 mile road marches, half marathon runs, 1,000 push up days, all meant to strength ones mind to endure pain.  After I left the military I decided to go back to an earlier love wrestling or grappling and picked up Jiu Jitsu and Judo.  I competed in both sports for about three years than moved on after multiple injuries and decided to purse body building.

Losing my Way

The purpose of explaining this to show you that I know what it takes to get in shape and even compete in sports and athletics. However, I lost my way around Jan of 2014.  I started to get some success in the streaming, gaming world and went all in working 12-14 hour days seven days a week.  I accomplished my goal by being the number 1 source of information for Elder Scrolls Online but it cost me, a lot.  I quickly realized how much time I spent down in my dark dungeon instead of exercising and spending time with my family.  It wasn’t until my wife told me about all the parks that she had visited that I realized, “wow, I’ve been a shitty husband.”  But even that wasn’t enough to make a change.

The Catalyst of Change

Along came the greatest moment in my life, the birth of my son Maximus in April of 2016.  Now I really had an excuse not to work out and change my life, I had a child.  Then came one of the most shameful moments of my life when I caught myself blaming my son for the lack of motivation and effort for getting back into shape.  Here was the child, who didn’t chose to be born, I did that for him and I was making excuses.  That was the ugly moment I had to look myself in the mirror and call myself a piece of shit for blaming my problems, my lack of self control, my inability to be motivated on a baby.  From that moment on, I said I will use Max as motivation, not frustration and everything changed.

The Long Road

Now I knew that this would be a long process and my goal was to get in the best shape of my life at 33 years old in one year.  I wanted to show Max, not talk about it, what discipline, hard work, determination and motivation looks like.  And let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy.  I’ve had a hernia, ruptured my ear drum, been sick off and on for months and Max has been sick as well.  But like all things in life, if we have a goal, a clear vision work towards it every day and improve oneself.   This series is about just that, still maintaining my love for video games but sharing something of equal if not greater importance, a guide on living a balanced life.  Because this is something I’m not known for, it’s more of a self therapy.  So I hope you will join me on my adventure Gamer to Gym Rat.

 

Check out Part Two Purpose here.