The following is Shane’s journey in his own words:

Have you ever seen those #TransformationTuesday posts on Social Media with the amazing before and after images and thought to yourself, “I wish I could do that?”

I used to be that person until I decided to do something about it, and if I can do it, you can too!

I’ve been active for most of my life, starting with swimming as a child, then basketball in high school, and weight-training in University. Like many young men, I wanted to be big and strong like an action movie star. Instead of cardio, I focused entirely on weights and eating a lot. It worked for a while, I did become bigger, but over time, I fell into some bad habits that negatively affected my health.

I started my career in various I.T. sales roles, and although it started on a positive note, I slowly fell into a state of depression because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. Partying with friends became my outlet, and it helped me forget about my problems.

Binge drinking became a part of my life, and although it seemed to ‘help’ me at the time, it actually had the reverse effect on my physical and mental health. Combined with the fact that I also loved late-night fast food, my weight quickly sky-rocketed and at one point was sitting at 250 lbs. This pattern continued for a while until one day, something happened that changed the course of my life.

During my daily commute, I became winded while climbing a simple flight of stairs. It hit me that I wasn’t just tired that morning, I was tired all of the time. I was tired of the way I looked; I was tired of the way my clothes fit; I was tired of wasting my weekends lying on the couch; and most importantly, I was tired of being tired.

I slowly started to make healthier changes in my life. I reduced my alcohol consumption, eliminated junk food, decreased my sugar intake and started to become more active. The two things that saved me were running and GoodLife. I still maintained a regular weight-training program at the gym, but I also increased my cardio activities. I took advantage of the treadmills, elliptical machines and spin classes.

There were many times when I wanted to stop and give up. All it would take was for me to see one of my older ‘Frank the Tank’ partying pictures, and I knew I had to keep pushing. Over time it became easier, the key was to make my workouts convenient and part of my daily routine. In addition to packing a healthy lunch, I would bring my gym gear so I could go directly before or after work. This was crucial because if I had to go home at all I knew I would never make it out the door again.

I’m so happy I stuck with this healthier lifestyle as it’s had a tremendous impact on me in so many ways. Most people only see the obvious changes to my appearance (I’m currently at about 180-185 lbs), but what they can’t see are how these changes have had a greater impact on my mental health!

My gym workouts and running have made me infinitely happier. The more I run and workout, the happier I am! I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t made these changes with my life, but I’m certain I would be in a much darker place. If you’re reading this, I recommend you stop putting it off and make the change to a healthier lifestyle now–it won’t be easy at first, but I’m telling you, you’ll be happy once you see and feel the results.

Good luck, have fun and be kind to yourself! Follow my journey on Instagram: @shaneruns0630