When I was at school I went to see my careers advisor, I had no idea what I wanted to be.
He told me to keep my options open.
Basically he told me he didn’t have a clue what I should do!
At that time I was fat, probably about 3 stone overweight or at least 3 stone heavier than I am now – I was 16 then, now I am 38.
I loved sport but wasn’t very good at anything.
All my friends had medals and trophies and I had nothing.
I remember saying to my Mum that I had never won a medal – that really bothered me.
Maybe because my Dad and Grandad both had sporting success and me not, it almost seemed like I was a let down – A failiure.
I was low on confidence, no girls paid me any attention, I got out of breath easily and I wanted to change.
I just didn’t know how.
I started going to the gym – I loved it.
Then I remember a friend or so called friend saying to me:
“How come when you go to the gym all the time you don’t look any better?”
Kids can be cruel but to be honest he had a point.
Despite the negativity I kept going, it made me feel good.
I dint lose any weight!
A couple of years later not much had changed other than I had got a bit fatter – alcohol became a regular indulgence.
I went on holiday aged 18 with my friends to Greece – typical scenario.
A group of 10 northern British lads drinking too much and trying as hard as possible to hopelessly attract the opposite sex.
On my return I got my A Level results which were not good – Too much drinking, not enough learning and if I am honest probably not enough believe that I could achieve anything worth having.
Then it all changed!
I’d had enough.
Instead of going to the gym 2-3 times a week, I went 5 times.
I lost weight, got a lot better at running and then aged 19 won my first medal!
It was in rowing and was the first of quite a few – ridiculously all are in my Mum and Dad’s loft, even medals from the National Championships. Just shows the medals don’t mean much, its the experience which counts.
I remember thinking that I am so glad I am not fat anymore and I can eat what I want.
Oh dear – what a mistake.
I thought that I had made it.
Twenty years on I still have my struggles.
Every time I get changed and see myself in the mirror I check to see if I have got fatter.
I religiously weigh myself every Tuesday and Friday.
I measure my waist every week.
I spend all my free time learning more about nutrition and training – I still love it.
I have though learnt that I will never be satisfied with what I have got – it’s not in my nature, I always want more.
Why do I tell you all this?
Because I never read anything from so called “gurus” telling you how they struggle, how they’ve failed and of their struggles.
But…..
It is from our failures that we learn the most – As the great Winston Churchill said:
“The definition of success is to go from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm”
Combine these first hand failures with knowledge and I think that is where the magic happens.
And this is exactly why I wrote my book – The Triathlon Nutrition Code
http://www.nutri-tri.com/e-books/
It has in it all my knowledge from official learning and probably more importantly all my knowledge from my own experiences and from the experiences I have had working one to one with so many.
At £9.99 / 14 ish USD that is incredibly cheap and can hopefully help you NOT make all the same mistakes I did.
The fact I’ve sold so many and had reviews like:
“Awesome book, easy to read, full of tasty recipes and with so many helpful tips. I thought I was doing pretty much everything right but this really has opened my eyes – Thanks” – Beverly Thompson
Means it must not just be me who thinks its awesome, Thanks Beverley!
Go and get it:
http://www.nutri-tri.com/e-books/
Jamie “I am going to dust those medals down” Leighton