THE IMPROVED ME

This post was originally going to be a post about how proud I was of myself for packing my own meals and bringing them to South by Southwest with me this past week. You should have seen the food choices. It was either BBQ, Pizza, more BBQ, MORE pizza and a random cupcake truck. Oh, and all the alcohol you could imagine. Not too conducive to my current lifestyle choice. But I had done this before. I spend a good 2-3 hours the day before I leave to prep, cook and pack up all of my meals for the days I’ll be gone. Every meal measured to the gram, packed in a ziplock bag, frozen overnight and flown with me in my Trader Joes cooler bag. I’ve never felt so proud as when I unleashed my first meal on the airplane and everyone looked at me, mostly out of curiosity as to what I was eating, but I also got a few remarks: “Hey, that looks great!” and “Wow, you are disciplined!” That’s right, I am. But this discipline and love for health and fitness didn’t come quickly or easily with me…which brings me to the topic of which I have chosen to make this about….THE IMPROVED ME.

It’s surreal that I am writing this 5 days before I embark on my first tour with my band Say Anything in over a year. Boy, what a year it has been. I’ve grown so much. Transformed my body, my mind, my life, my soul…my whole being. No longer am I ashamed and scared. No longer do I crack jokes to hide my insecurities. I embrace them now…openly. What sparked this? It was my WILL and my WHY. I wanted the change more than I wanted the slice of pizza…ya get me???
But the truth is, I always did and being home for an elongated period of time made it possible for me to make it happen. My passion for health and fitness kept growing and growing everyday. Every meal where I chose to make the right decision, every work out where I pushed myself until I couldn’t do another rep, and every time I got my 7-8 hours of sleep and didn’t go to that part with all the temptation. It was all part of the transformation. I can’t begin to describe the pride I feel while writing this. I am 1- year smoke free. I don’t drink to forget my problems. I tackle my problems head on!

My drumming has improved leaps and bounds from being in better shape. I feel more confident behind the kit, like I can do ANYTHING! I play with more power, control and use my body in a more efficient way than ever. Those drum heads don’t stand a chance against me. I get off stage not winded but ready for more! and what’s my rewards after a show? My Shakeology :)

Being a Beachbody coach has made me accountable to everyone around me. I have met so many incredible people through Beachbody and my Challenge groups. Everyone has inspired me and changed my life in ways that I can’t describe. When I talk about health and fitness to friends and stranger, it makes me want to work harder and more passionately on my own health and fitness. It’s such an incredible thing! We should never keep quiet about our issues. The more we share with each other, the less alone we feel. We’re all here on this earth to help each other and be there for one another. Food is essential to our survival and the more I can share the truth about what foods we all should be eating to lead a FULFILLING life, then I am in.

Is this lifestyle meant for everyone? I think deep down we all want to be healthy. Do we all want to be leg pressing 800 lbs or doing INSANITY DVD’s until we can’t do another pushup? Who knows. But what I know that is when you do add health and fitness into your life, it only makes everything else in your life that much better. This lifestyle is definitely for me and I’m excited to meet everyone on tour and spread the wealth of health!

Love you all,

Coby