Four years ago Christian never could have imagined that he would soon run a marathon or be seen by those around him as a motivated athlete. The road to becoming a fit, healthier version of himself was not always easy – but Christian succeeded and tells us here how he reinvented himself.
“I feel much better in my body now.”
I was a chubby kid and over the years I just kept putting on weight. In 2015 I got on the scale and had hit 180 kg. My son was four years old at the time. He was actually the one who inspired me. I didn’t want him to be ashamed of me. Plus, I wanted to be a role model.
“I was out of breath after climbing just three stairs.”
I know from experience that the beginning is especially tough when you want to lose weight. Changing my diet and integrating exercise into my daily life were the biggest challenges for me. When I started seeing the first results – and especially feeling more positive about life – it motivated me to continue. Now exercise has become part of my daily life; I can’t even imagine my life without it anymore. I’m especially proud that I ran in a children’s race with my eight-year-old son during this journey.
“Getting in shape is not a goal – it’s an attitude.”
When I decided to lose weight, I started with walks that gradually got longer and faster. That’s how I eventually started running. I liked this kind of exercise so much and the positive effect on my health that I focused more and more on jogging and regularly set my goals higher:
- In 2016 I finally managed to run 10 km at once.
- One year later I was celebrating my first half marathon.
- With an ambitious training plan I made another dream come true in September 2019: I ran the BMW Berlin-Marathon.
“Nothing changes until you change yourself. Then suddenly everything changes.”
A lot depends on your environment when you decide to lose weight. I was lucky that my lifestyle change was welcomed with enthusiasm. Some people may have secretly thought that I couldn’t really change. But I am proving to these people that change is possible and worth the effort. Exercise is not a necessary evil anymore – I love to work out and it is contagious. Many of my friends and colleagues started running too and come to me for advice.
“Anyone can achieve great things if they believe in themselves and don’t give up!”
Running changed my life. Today – after losing 75 kg around my middle – I work out every day and alternate between strength and endurance training. Instructions and tips from blog posts combined with workouts and training plans in the adidas Training app and adidas Running app helped me stick with it and stay motivated.
Seeing and feeling the progress in my daily life is an incredible feeling that I wouldn’t want to give up. In this process, I also learned that you can’t only listen to your ambition, you also have to pay attention to your body. All of my motivation and enthusiasm led me to an overuse injury, which forced me to skip a planned marathon in 2018. It was a small setback that taught me to be careful and not give up. Now I weight 105 kg and feel much healthier and confident. I never would have managed it if I hadn’t been persistent and disciplined.
If you are at the beginning of changing your life like I did, start slowly and don’t get discouraged!
Do you want to share your story with us? Tell us your success story and inspire millions of adidas Running and adidas Training app users!
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Source: Fitness - runtastic.com
