Winners / Jake Z.
Jake Z.
Dublin, OH
A majority of my adulthood I feel as if I was constantly digging myself out of a hole when it comes to fitness. I grew up an athlete. An elite athlete. I was always the fastest, jumped the highest and had a competitive spirit large enough for an entire team. Early 20’s I got a herneia on my front groinal wall. My intestines were physically spilling out of me. My athleticism was instantly gone. Over the next couple of years I gained a LARGE amount of weight. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and to top it all off, I was borderline diabetic. My mid 20’s were extremely stressful filled with depression, work demand, family members passing away along with divorce. Before I got my surgery, I was over 300 pounds. My father then had a heart attack and then had to have a quadriple bypass surgery. It was like seeing superman at his weakest. RIGHT THEN AND THERE… I knew I had to get healthy. After all, my life was on the line and I knew I was heading in that same direction. So I committed to get fit. I made a fitness “bucket list”. Not only did I want to become healthier, I wanted to go to the extreme opposite. Get to a point that I actually looked good, felt good and was full of confidence. Goal by goal, I made steps in the right direction. Little by little, I crawled for every inch of progress. So fast forward to my first 60 day. I was inspired by the transformation that previous winners had made. I knew that was what I wanted to do. That was what I needed. I did TEAM training. I did Pilates. Probably the hardest thing to do in the entire world by the way. That’s what I needed. That would take me to my next level on my fitness journey.
At my heaviest I was 37% body fat weighing in at 336 pounds. Starting the 60 day challenge, I was 22.6% body fat weighing in at 211 pounds. I was already inspired by several testimonials. In December I lost a man that was a large part of my life. He helped shape the man that I am today. I did this for him. That alone would drive me through my workout. Every day I walk into Life Time, I look at the board we have up as to why they entered the 60 day. I knew I didn’t do it alone. My results are directly a product of the Core 3 values. I had metabolic conditioning that made sure that my cardio was EXACTLY where I needed it to be. I nourished my body with Life Time protein, aminos, fish oil and multi vitamins. Also I have, what I believe to be, the baddest trainer around. Adonnai Santos #TEAMBEAST. He has helped push me to get my body to the next level.
There wasn’t a day that I wasn’t challenged. I knew he was a veteran and had several 60 day finalists. He helped me believe that my body will respond with the right program but its more than just the “Move it”. It MUST be all 3. My body responded. All In all I weighed out at my lowest of 175.3 pounds with 12.7% body fat. I fell amazing. I look better than I can remember. This transformation has been therapeutic. Everyday I looked in the mirror I know that I had to fight for health. There are many times that I thought about quitting. About having those red velvet Oreos. Thinking about all of that I had been through and thinking that I didn’t have the drive to do it. I didnt have enough passion for the trial. Everytime I walk through the doors of Lifetime, I know it’s going to be a grind. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to hurt, burn and sizzle. I just think on the first day of our 60 day, Adonnai said “Give me your all for 60 days and the sky is the limit” So I did. I can say that I gave it my all. Sure I had setbacks, I wasnt perfect. I if I had to boil it down to 2 words of what 60day was to me.
Worth it. #ThisIsMyBestMeYet