Chris Davis’ Weight Loss Story: You vs. The Year

Chris Davis played a lot of sports growing up, but was never really thin. During his sophomore year of high school, when his father took a job out of town and he was left with his aunt to finish high school, he lost a lot of his motivation. “My aunt and her family are awesome people, but when my Dad left, I was broken mentally and started not caring about anything. I hung out with the wrong people and even started smoking.”

From that point in his life, his weight “yo-yoed” due to his unhealthy choices. “I ballooned up to 213 pounds and then as a senior, lost it. I was able to maintain my weight but I was still partying and my diet was horrible. I smoked and drank a lot, like nachos with chili and 4 tall boys for dinner every night.”

When Chris met his wife, they became pregnant very fast, and his weight gain accelerated. “We ate like crazy and I gained 20 pounds easy. Then I would lose a little weight but could never change my lifestyle. My wife and I had horrible eating habits, snacking every night and watching TV. Food had become a comfort and managed somehow to enter our psyche. If we had a bad day, we would always use food to cheer us up and we rationalized our unhealthy habits that way.”

Chris would eat until he was stuffed and then feel horrible afterwards. “I felt trapped by this problem, it affected everything in my life.”

In November of 2016, Chris found himself weighing 265 pounds and decided to change everything. He bought a Fitbit in December and found a challenge that Under Armor created called “You vs. The Year”. This is a challenge to reach 1017 KM’s in the year 2017. “I couldn’t stand myself anymore and I couldn’t stand being fat! I had to change and it needed to be drastic or I knew it wouldn’t happen. My blood pressure was through the roof and I was pre-diabetic.”

Chris was on medication for blood pressure and cholesterol and decided to stop taking the medication and get healthy. (DISCLAIMER: This is a profile of what someone did. I am not a physician and in no way suggest that you stop taking medication without the consultation of a doctor first.) “I decided I was going to run. I stopped taking my medication in December to prove to myself that I didn’t need them.”

On July 19^th, 2017, Chris visited his physician. “My blood pressure was perfect and he was amazed at my health and that I hadn’t taken medication in 8 months. This was the best feeling in the world!”

Chris has lost 70 pounds and has seen his waist size go from 42 to 32! “At 35 I can say I’m feeling the best that I have ever felt in my life. It’s amazing how much more confidence I have and my energy levels are sky high! When I first started running I couldn’t make it a mile and now I’m running 5 to 8 miles a day!”

As I read through my notes and was trying to decide how to end this post, I decided that I couldn’t really improve upon Chris’ message, so I will leave you with his words on what’s next.

“My drive to be the best me is raging. I’m going to keep going. I’m going to go as far as I can to see what my body is capable of
as long as God allows it. I have to prove not only to myself, but my family, that your health is the most important thing! I’m taking full responsibility for setting the example for my kids. They don’t need to see laziness, they need to see beast mode Dad. Now my whole family is way more active. My wife has been inspired and I’m proud of her because she is my little queen Fitbit stepper. We challenge each other constantly and she is always beating me.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that no matter what is going on in your life, STOP making excuses! Get off your butt and get moving! Go hiking! Go walking! Start building that foundation of good health and build upon it. Drink more water! God is good y’all! I’m not perfect and I have a lot of work still, but I hope to show that anything is possible.”