"I Lost 98 Pounds In Less Than A Year" -Meet Ashton Caldwell.

What about Fitness excites me:

Fitness is such an amazing aspect of life because of the various of benefits. Its almost freakish to know how much the body can transform with just being active daily. As much as it is with the "gains", Fitness is just as much a release from the world in so many words. If you've had a troublesome day, it is no better therapy than going to the gym and blowing off some steam and sweating it out. So it would definitely be an understatement to say it excites me.

Current and starting weight:

I begin this transformation journey on May 31st 2016. I told my buddy "I'm getting ready to get serious and change up my whole frame".. I was 336.4lbs that evening. Today I am approximately 238.3lbs. It amazes me still to know I'm down -98lbs in not even a full year.

What were my insecurities prior:

I've always been a very confident person, but I was always ashamed of my chest and abdomen area. Very ashamed honestly. I would never go swimming with friends in fear of girls making fun of my MB's (Man Boobs) and my stomach.. if I did go swimming, I would swim in a shirt. Thankfully I had true friends that would swim in shirts with me because they knew how I felt. Lol! What are friends right?

What motivated me to embark on this journey:

It was many factors that played a role in me deciding to get my body right. An older gentleman at the gym gave me a reality check he said "I see you come in here lift all the weights young man! It's clear you're pretty strong! But do you want be the strongest mutha***** or have the body that others can be inspired by?" And I knew what he was really saying which was "you strong, but fat!".. LOL! So that was a main point, along with the fact I love helping others when it comes to fitness, and I knew I couldn't be giving advice and my body didn't look the best.

Do those insecurities still linger:

I believe it's safe to say that those insecure phases I had, have now past. Lol haha, if you ask people close to me they don't hesitate to say "Big-A never wears a shirt now!". But it's all harmless humor.

What do I love most about my body:

Hands down it would be my stomach! I used to daydream about having abs and a 6-pack, and knowing it was never going to be a reality, but once I knew the work-outs I needed to do and the strict dieting I needed to follow I knew I could achieve it.. and stand today with a 6 pack of abs and nearly 240lbs.. that isn't common, and it's definitely something I am proud of.

Thoughts that go on in my head while I'm working out:

Whether I was over 300lbs or 240lbs my mentality in the gym has always been the same, which is to go hard as I possibly can.

But I do find myself working out for a greater purpose nowadays though. So many people contact me with just expressing how much I inspire them that at times I feel obligated to keep grinding, and that's something I'm totally fine. So I guess you can say I get my motivation from others that lookup to me, and those are thoughts I have constantly.

How has weight loss changed my life?

Definitely shopping is less of strenuous task now. I no longer have to worry about if stores have my size in clothes, I don't have to order jeans online anymore because the retail stores don't carry my size. I no longer have to wear 2-3 undershirts trying to hide my Man-Boobs. I love playing recreational sports, so I'm more explosive, faster, quicker in everything I do. The most satisfying part is I can attest to anyone struggling with their weight and insecurities about it and let them know that I've been there.

Do people treat me different now?

Let's just say I'm getting more attention that I wasn't accustomed to getting prior. I guess I can leave it at that.. LOL! On a serious note, I do notice differences in others around me. It's actually quite amusing because during the begging of my process I was positing progress pics on social media and certain individuals would find it funny and hit me with the "boy put a shirt on! You think you a model now" (saying it jokingly), but the same ones that once joked are now the ones that send me the "make me a workout plan and meal plan bro" texts.. it's just funny how them tables turn. Lol

My best advice for anyone trying to achieve the transformation goals:

I did in this short amount of time is always remember it's 70% nutrition and 30% grinding.. the diet is most important! It makes no sense to buss your ass in the gym and go home and eat tacos and fries, you're making no gains that way.. so make sure your dieting is on point and just remember to grind harder than you did the previous day.

#fitness #weightloss #weights #health #gains #cleaneating #healthiswealth