General Reflection

Personal Development 

     Prior to the pandemic in fall of 2019 -my freshmen year at College of DuPage- , I made a commitment to put all my energy into school, my health and fitness.  

    Growing up I never cared for my health. For too long I was doing myself an injustice, failing to discipline myself and eventually I hit my rock bottom in 2017. I was the heaviest I've ever been at an unprecedented 160 pounds-just a shy of being considered obese. I became insecure. I didn't value myself and in my eyes my physique was grotesque. My insecurities would affect not only my performance in school, but in Basketball. During the summer league I was guaranteed the role as a starting point guard. However, instead of honing my craft, I spent majority of my free time sitting in a chair, eyes glued to the screen playing video games. Come game-time, I made it very difficult to perform at a high level and I slowed myself down with my weight. Consequently, I became a bench warmer and rather putting up in-game numbers, I was averaging about 100 claps, 20 high-fives, and filling up 8 cups of water a game. School wasn't any better: I was a D average student who frequently showed up late and nearly failed my first period class. 

   

    During my junior and senior year, I was able to make some changes. By the end of 2017, I lost 30 pounds. The following two years my weight fluctuated from 130-140 pounds as I somewhat maintained that body composition. On the other hand, school still wasn't pretty, but I was no longer a D average student. Ultimately after a poor four year performance, I was lucky I graduated. Although I made progress, I was satisfied with average results and still was leaving fuel in the tank. Moreover, my standards were low and my limited beliefs were killing my potential. So, as I moved on to college I decided I was going to change my outlook in life. I was going to venture out to endeavors I failed to even try and care for in the past. 

    When I lost weight back in high school, I succumbed to instant gratification and took an unhealthy approach. I didn't change my eating patterns I just restricted more. So, I was still regularly eating poorly and not properly fueling my body for the active and healthy lifestyle I was searching for. Thus, I started to educate myself about mindful eating. I then taught myself through trial and error how to cook. Eventually I got better and began to cook for myself three times a day. The same goes for the fitness game. I had to devote hours to study and even today I'm still learning and getting better. With the knowledge I acquired, I concocted different training programs for the whole year and followed that regimen. C.O.D's Chaparral fitness center became my home gym as I was there six days a week - Bless C.O.D for granting full-time students a free membership. As time passed not only did I fall in love with the process, but I was seeing results. In terms of school, that improved as well. For once in my life I was doing homework, I took it seriously, and actually cared what my grades looked like.

 In the Spring 2020 semester, when the pandemic shut down the country, I had to made the adjustment. Undoubtedly, it hurt when I couldn't go back to C.O.D and the Chaparral fitness center, because that was pretty much my second home. However, like others, I started to train at home every day. I went out to buy resistance bands and a pull-up bar. Weights were either sold out or were too expensive, so I was going to train using bands and calisthenics. It was perfect because my body was unfamiliar with bodyweight movements and band exercises. To my luck, we happened to have a very old and neglected treadmill sitting in the garage. I took advantage and put it in my room. Now I could continue my strength/resistance training  and incorporate cardio without having to leave the house. In terms of my meals that didn't change. I was still my own personal chef and cooked everyday- shout-out to Target for the curb-side pick up, they changed the game. I'm going to be real, school was initially a struggle. The online transition was rough, and I couldn't maintain concentration. I was able to adapt to the pandemic just about in every aspect of my life except school.  As a result, I made the decision to drop three of my four classes because my GPA would have suffered. Fortunately, I was able to complete one of my classes and finish with a solid grade. 

    Flashforward to my sophomore year at C.O.D, I began to refine and master the routine. With the implementation of a routine, I know precisely what I’m going to do with the 24 hours I have in a day and therefore I’m able to get priorities of mine completed. When I first implemented routines in 2019, it first helped build consistency, after a while it turned into a habit, but when I repeatedly did the same thing over and over again, through time it became muscle memory. Hence, I started to develop a great work ethic, learned to be disciplined, furthered my craft, and ultimately got results. In the long run, I learned to value delayed gratification as well. With my schedule, I give myself about 9 hours a day to work on school and because of that it made it so much easier to get work done. My grades were looking unorthodox and compared to the old me, it was hard to fathom I was putting up those numbers. As for my fitness and health journey, I continue to be enamored with the grind. I've even gotten better with my cooking technique as the meals is more palatable. Thanks to my parents I was also gifted dumbbells for Christmas and now I can somewhat feel as if I'm in the gym again. 

My routine is built on priorities of mine that hold a great value to me. In order to make time for School, fitness, and nutrition, I forsook video games and Basketball. Even though my days are repetitive, I wake up everyday and still look forward to the things I do. Not only do I enjoy what I do with my life, but most importantly I feel my self- relationship has grown. As I continue to make strides in personal development, I envision living a salubrious lifestyle for as long as I can.