Our Trainers

Jacob Bingham, APEX Certified Fitness Pro

Hello my name is Jacob, all my life I was considered a “chubby” person and my key phrase was “delicious”. I thought I was fine, I had no problem with myself until I tipped the scales at 250 pounds as a freshman, and needless to say I was unhealthy. I didn’t like being like this, change had to happen. I had no clue how to do this. Everything I had ever learned about weight loss was from my brother in the sport of wrestling. They would run an overly excessive amount, eat next to nothing and sit in a sauna, and when they made the weight class they would weigh in and eat like pigs and get their weight back up. This was mind boggling to me; why not keep the weight off year round.

I am a firm believer in the cliché “work smarter not harder” I figured there had to be an easier way for me to become healthier. I went to the local bookstore and picked up books like Weight Loss for Dummies, Body for Life and even The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. While flipping through these books I noticed a constant, they all focused a very large portion of the chapters to eating habits. I grabbed a nutrition book and commenced reading. I soon came to realize that my eating habits were horrible; I ate too much; I had no clue of proper portion sizes and I was ignorant to what a balanced diet was. Armed with the new knowledge I tried it out. My hardest obstacle was with my eating habits; after my whole life of being able to eat whatever I wanted, it was hard to set restrictions on my self, but I was determined to live a healthy lifestyle. I found that I was attached to certain foods as if they were a friend, it sounds odd but food was the only constant pleasure I had. Ice cream never called me names, but it is much like a drug addict saying the same thing. Yes, I was addicted to food. I had to make a choice, if I wanted to feel better and look better. I would have to control my eating habits. This was much harder than it seems. Like I said earlier I was determined to be healthy, my goals or the food.

Right then and there I started making changes in the way I looked at food. Food was no longer a form of entertainment; it was fuel for my daily routine. I no longer ate unless I was hungry. After a short while great things happened, not only did I lose weight but I also felt better. My physical and emotional state had a new lease on life, I looked better, felt better most of all I felt confident. After my battle with my food urges was over. I decided to follow in the steps of my brother and join the wrestling team. My coach said I had to lose weight, I was still weighing 225 pounds and in high school that is considered heavyweights 216-285 pounds. I didn’t feel like getting injured, or losing every match in my wrestling career. I was determined to lose weight to go to 189 pounds. I had to become much more active, I was determined to make this weight class in 6 months.

I started jogging with my brother every night; I worked harder in wrestling practice. I didn’t always win, but eventually I made 189lbs. The best part about this whole story is that I had become a creature of habit. I had grown to love my extra curricular activates as much as the food I once clung to in my time of need. Since these were now habits that I enjoyed I kept consistently doing them, with very little effort I got down to the next weight class and competed at 171 pounds. It wasn’t just easy it was fun. The hardest part is just doing it. I don’t worry about weight any more but I still carry many of these habits with me today. I still love to jog, I love wrestling, I love bike riding and most of all I love my new confidence.

At the time, for me to lose weight it seemed as the hardest thing that I had ever done. What made it easy was that I made small changes here and there, than just added to it. I didn’t jump headfirst into it; I believe that you will have a much greater chance for failure if you try to do the extreme to early. I did not diet, this is what made the transition easier. Diet is a short-term word. Diet is something you do for a month before you go to Hawaii, than go back to your old habit. I now realize the importance of creating a long-term strategy. A lifestyle change is something that will stick with you. Take it from me, its not hard. It just takes the initial concentration and dedication, but like a snowball rolling down a hill, it grows.