My Story 18: Jet Luga

Story Title: From Fat To Fit
by: Jet Luga

I’m Jet Luga. I’m 22 years old and I’m currently based in the great province of Cebu. In October of 2012, I made a commitment to get fit and healthy. Why? Because I badly needed to do so.

Throughout my life up to that point, I had been the ‘fat kid’. At my peak, I weighed over 280 lbs. I wasn’t fit at all. I had all the vices and junk food rotting my system to its core. Looking back, it was a wonder I even had the strength to get out of bed every morning. I had always been considered overweight even when I was a kid. Of course, the scare tactics of heart disease and obesity never shook me. I had always believed that one day, I’d eventually find the time to lose all my fat and get fit. I had all my academics and extra-curricular activities to serve as my alibis to postpone my fitness journey.

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In the 4th quarter of 2012, I had just come back home to Cebu after spending 4 years at De La Salle University in Manila. I was without a job, and really, without much to do. I thought to myself that this was a better time than ever to actually just take myself up on the promise I had made to actually get in shape. I had no more excuses.

I did what any modern-age man would do if he wanted to get something done. I scrounged the internet with this simple search query:

“How to lose weight”

INFORMATION OVERLOAD…

I was bombarded with articles relating to concepts that I didn’t fully understand at the time! “HIIT” “High-Protein Diets” “CrossFit” “Afterburn” “Metabolism”

I had a lot of studying to do…

I enrolled at a gym the very next day (as advised by numerous articles that I read)… I went grocery shopping that very weekend (with a list full of ingredients deemed permissible by those same articles). I bought a bunch of Men’s Health Magazines and took every bit of information that I could absorb to heart. I made a commitment, and I was dead serious about it.

A couple of weeks go by… 7 pounds gone.

This substantial amount of success overwhelms me. It excites me. I start upping the ante and I dream up more difficult goals.

A month goes by… 25 pounds gone.

Wow! I start doing more things, I try exploring more healthy food options. I play basketball a whole lot better. I notice that I jump higher and I’m running faster. My friends start to notice the difference in my body, but I’m not contented.

4 months go by… 50 pounds gone.

I’m feeling great! I’ve gone beyond the traditional treadmill, and machine-lifting exercises. I welcome running on trails, plyometrics, olympic weightlifting, and CrossFit into my regimen. I feel like I’m unstoppable. My friends are REALLY impressed with what I’ve been able to accomplish, but I feel that it isn’t enough.

A few more months go by… I’m nearing losing 100 pounds in total.

I’m in great shape and all of my old fat boy clothes look terrible on me. I start having them altered and am rebuilding my wardrobe from scratch. I start fitting into brands that I never used to fit in before. Topman. Zara. Forever 21. Everyone was telling me that I looked great, and honestly, I felt great. The success is a drug, and it kept me hooked.

I lose 100 pounds.

I’ve done it. I reach a pinnacle of fitness that is rarely obtained by average men. I lose 100 pounds of fat. I look at my fitness goals and think to myself. Where do I go from here? Do I just maintain? Or do I evolve?

I choose to evolve.

I take up mountain biking. I signed up for the Cebu City Marathon (which I ran successfully under my target time). I make a commitment to get stronger and leaner with each and every day. I choose to embrace the concept of the grind and valuing each and every step that I take in my journey to fitness.

As of this writing, I’m down to 165 lbs. That’s a long long way from the 280lbs behemoth that I used to be. I feel great. I haven’t had a softdrink in over a year. I don’t even THINK about fast food anymore. I don’t feel tired so easily. I get compliments from everyone I know regarding my achievements. Heck, a lot of my friends are even heeding my advice on certain fitness issues.

But despite all that, I still have my goals for myself that I have not accomplished. I am still on a journey to fitness. I still believe in progressing everyday and gradually improving to become bigger, better, faster, stronger.

I’m far from what I once was, but I’m not yet who I’m going to be. — END

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