I started lifting weights at 15 after stopping competing in swimming completions to focus on education. I swam seven to eight times a week on a constant basis since the age of 12, so stopping had a big impact on not only my spare time but physique.
When I was 13 I suffered from appendicitis and then after two weeks of being in hospital and returning home I caught sepsis which further delayed my recovery.
From the above issues I began suffering from IBS which didn’t get discovered until two years later. However, I never let that stop me from working out. I began working out at the gym and started to gain strength and notice a significant difference in my physique/confidence.
Then one year later I enrolled in further education in my school where I fell out of love with the gym but maintained playing football. I weighed a healthful 13st during this period. Three months into sixth form however I caught a aggressive virus after being on antibiotics from having tonsillitis. I was violently sick for two weeks straight when I went to the hospital on the fourth week of having the virus I was weighed in at 10st 7. I was skin and bone, anxious and still not well. Upon my return to sixth form I was completed on my weight loss, although this may be a compliment to some it knocked my confidence. I feel my best with a strongly built and solid physique. Not 6% body fat lean.
I was still not myself during this period, I remember the day I got a shower at my fathers house, his shower was significantly more powerful than mine, so powerful in fact I had to hold onto the rail, I then realised how weak I had become!
Sixth months down the line, I started to slowly but surely gain weight back and excel in my business and engineering studies after falling behind due to illness. I was till anxious and low on confidence but I had belief. I’ve been through the worst I would tell myself, the future can only get better.
Finally! I was told I had IBS, it felt like a relief due to the fact I could finally put my finger on why I was constantly bloated/ anxious and ill.
So I began to research, I began to read books, blogs, stories and scientific studies about the immune system, the GI tract, the bowel and general well-being.
I’ve learned a lot since then I feel very knowledgable on the subjects of all of the above and open to give advice or educate anyone on the above subjects.
Learning the above allowed me to fully train to the best of my ability. It reduced my anxiety, boosted my confidence, enhanced my physique and allowed to lift weights, swim and box on a regular consistent basis.
