Wednesday, April 7, 2010

MMA MOTIVATION

Time for another story of motivation from my facebook friends. This one is great, especially because I'm such a huge MMA fan. It started for me just watching UFC on TV with my boyfriend. Then when he started training, fighting, and matchmaking, I started going to local shows. Watching live is something else. The level of athletisim of some of the fighters is unreal. True dedication and passion to the sport.
As I became more of a fan and started going to fights, I came to know other fighters and their girlfriends/wives & became friends with them. The girls started going to an MMA class and I had a great time with it and got in great shape. It was hard, but so much fun since we were all together and just giving it a go. :)

Anyway, without further ado, lets meet Dave!



Dave in 2006, just starting martial arts ^, and Dave after his latest match, this past March! v
Here's the email I recieved from Dave:

Hi my name is Dave and this is my story. From when I was 17 years old until May of 2009 I was never under 220lbs, at my heaviest I was nearly and probably went over 250lbs. I never felt like I looked as much as I weighed, plus I was active, I played baseball in the summer and would snowboard in the winter, so I never thought that I was fat or unhealthy. Still everytime I stepped on the scale I was never happy with what I saw and I want to make a change.
In September of 2006 I started learning martial arts from a co-worker and started my transformation. I lost 20lbs over the course of 3 years training twice a week, nothing big but I noticed I felt better overall and started to think maybe I can lose weight if I really wanted too. I found a local MMA gym in my area and started training there in May of 2009. I set a goal to reach 185lbs and that is what I weight I would fight at. I started working out 6 days a week for 2 hours and totally changed my diet. Just 3 months in and I had surpassed goal by 15lbs! That's right in 3 months I had gone from 220lbs to 170lbs, 50lbs from were I started. With this new confidence I reset my goal to make 155lbs and fight in the lighweight division by the end of October.
Needless to I made it and not only have I kept the weight off, I have improved the over quality of my life. I look back on all my old pictures and can not believe how much different I look now from just a year ago. Not only have I found something I am good at, but I have also served as inspiration to others in the quest for losing weight and getting in shape. My advice is to stay paitent and stay strong mentally, there were many times I wanted to quit because I hit a wall and didn't think I could do this but everytime I wanted to quit I thought of a reason not to.

Dave's story illustrates beautifully how motivation and hard work pay off. Yea, it's tough. Yea, sometimes you might want to give up. BUT DON'T. Grit your teeth and press on. You can do it!! :)

If anyone else has inspiring/motivational stories to share, send it to me at Healthyishot@gmail.com you could be featured on my blog next! :)

PS Looking for more info on MMA in central Ohio? Check out http://www.midwestcombat.com/!

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