Life of an unhealthy overweight...

I have been in and out of the gym for more than half my life. I started doing Progressive resistance training (PRT) during my second year in High school when my waistline was 34 inches. I was really frustrated then and was very insecure. What also motivated me was my friend Benito Labao who was in the same weight class as I am but had already started to lose weight in the gym. He lost around 4-5 inches in is waistline while I was still binge eating. He then told me to enroll in a gym owned by a former Mr. Philippines contender and a Mason. So I started to exercise the way they told me to and tried crash dieting. Because of my ignorance and poor guidance, I had injured my back after lifting ~175 lbs on a deadlift. I also had a series of stomach ailments due to my poorly made dietary plan. I eventually lost weight (~50 lbs and 4 inches in the waistline) but had experienced things only a desperate and misguided overweight person would encounter.

(Grade 5 Class Picture - Far left standing)

In College, I was in the gym only during summer vacation but did home exercises as often as I want. My fitness program was a product of my readings in magazines or articles and experiences I had gained over the years. Fascinated by the human body, I took up Physical therapy to further increase my knowledge on the human body and have used this information to improve my fitness program. Aside from exercising, One of my favorite hobbies include drinking with friends and drank tanduay, red horse beer and even "lambanog". I did this at least 2x a week to the point of intoxication. I was also smoking at least a pack per day for 2 years. My body looked healthy then but it was far from it.

(Medschool with my barkada, IBRA)

When I was in med school, constant stress led me to exercise almost every day to release tension. I also quit smoking, drinking alcohol and even going out with friends. The gym was part of my routine after class but I never tried to eat a healthy regular diet. I was eating fast food everyday and drinking coffee at least 3-4 cups/day. I also mastered the art of eating FULL meals while walking or in less than 5 minutes. My eating habits were irregular and unhealthy.

(My classmates in Medschool)

These are things familiar in a way to all of us. We exercise without knowing what it is for or how to do it correctly, we eat without knowing what we are actually EATING and we practice a poor and unhealthy lifestyle. If not for me being both a doctor and physical therapist, I would still be doing it all wrong. So now I try and live a life healthier than what it used to be. And pray that the ill practices I mastered before would not haunt me in the near future.