Who knew attending attending the San Jose Fit Expo would have such an impact on my life. In July of 2012 I attended the my first fit expo with only one intention to meet Ufc fighter Tito Ortiz. I walked around all day not knowing what anything about supplements or who any of the athletes were. In my mind I felt like everyone was watching me. I was close to 350 lbs when I attended my first fit expo. I felt awkward and out of place. I wandered around waiting for the Q&A and meet and greet with My UFC hero Tito Ortiz. As I sat listening to him speak he said something that hit home. He woke up one morning and looked in the mirror and did not like what he saw looking back. I had that feeling a few month before when I started my weight loss journey in march tipping the scale at 386 lbs. on the way out I saw the only booth I recognized which was the Gnc booth. The one thing I have noticed about the athletes at Gnc are how encouraging and interactive they are with the people who attend the events. This is also where I met my trainer Bill Sienerth. Not knowing anything about supplements I tossed my bag full of samples away on my way out. Knowing what I know I now I kick myself for that choice lol.
My next fit expo was the La Fit Expo 2014. I was about two months into working with Bill when he invited e down to La. He was giving a seminar on Sunday and asked if I would attend and speak a little about my journey. Once again the vent was amazing. I was a little more in tune with what was going on and who some of the athletes where. I got meet a ton of awesome people like 4x Mr Olympia Jay Cutler, Tito Ortiz, Duane Ludwig and Many others. I got to meet more of the Gnc athletes. Wade & Karl Gillingham, 8x Ms Fitness Olympia Adela Garcia. These athletes where very encouraging and supportive of not just me but everyone they came in contact with. On Sunday Bill took the stage for the seminar. As I sat there and listened I got nervous knowing eventually he would call me up on stage with him. Even though wasn't going to say much I had to face my fear of getting up in front of people I didn't know. He called me up and put up my before picture. As I began to answer his picture it clicked in my mind that I would eventually want to speak and tell my story to inspire others. We came off the stage and Mr Natural Olympia (1998) shook my hand and gave me some words of encouragement. I got to meet Tito Ortiz again and show him my picture from when I met him 6 months before. I asked him to sign my 5 xl punishment shirt. I came away from this event with a dream and goal of motivational speaking. My weight was about 260 at this time.
I attended the San Jose fit expo for the second time in July 2013. It had been a year since I had attend this event that had had impacted my so much. I meet new athletes that I had not met before and some that I had meet from the previous year. I went with some of my former wrestlers who had me show my before picture to some of the athletes we met. I remember meeting Greg Plitt an showing him my before picture. He was blown away by my before picture. His exact words were omg lol.he grabbed his video camera and did a small interview of me right there in his line. I told him why I started and how my trainer Bill had made my personal healthy life plan. We talked for what seemed like for ever lol. He was very supportive and encouraging. I was a walking around the expo and ran into Mark "Flex" Anthony. He was such an amazing person to talk to. I had on my Bill Sienerth shirt and he knew right away who I was lol. The event was full of reflection of where I had been the year before and how far I had come. This year I knew not to throw my goodie bag of supplements away lol.
This years La Fit Expo was awesome. I got to meet and see new and old faces from my previous visits to the expo. I got into town others day before the event itching to do some sort of workout. So I rented a bike at the he Santa Monica pier and met up with Bill. We took off and headed north towards Malibu. We biked for a while and headed back. I started thinking that at this time last year I never would have been physically able to do the ride. I got to the expo early on Saturday and stood I the massive line to get in. My first booth to visit was 360 cut. I wanted to meet Dean "the freak of physique" Fazzolari. He was such a great person to meet in person. I follow him on Instagram and love his motivating posts and new workout ideas. I got some 360 cut sample and could not wait to get home and try there preworkout called activator. I showed him my before picture and got picture with him. My next stop was to see 4x Mr O Jay Cutler. I had taken my son Nathan a few weeks before to meet him in San Jose. Nathan stood in line for almost two hrs to meet him. He got a picture with him that jay later posted on Facebook and Instagram. He called him his new bodyguard bat boy. As we left he said that muscle man bill had bigger muscles than Jay Cutler lol. I made a copy of the picture he got with Jay and Nathan signed it so I could give it to him. As always Jay was great to meet. He loved the picture Nathan autographed for him. I went to hear Jillian Michaels speak at her seminar. She was amazing to listen to.. I made stops at Evogen nutrition booth to meet Steve Kucklo as well as virus athletic wear to meet Cub Swanson. One of my great healthy snack food finds from day one had to be the ratio bar. Every time I hear all natural,gluten free, gmo free I think of something with no flavor and tastes like cardboard lol. This is not the case with this protein bar. It tastes amazing. I tried the cake batter flavor and it literally tasted like a spoon full of cake batter. I tried several others through the out the day and in my opinion no other bar came close to it in flavor or even in its texture. I highly recommend grabbing some from your local Gnc.
Day two went by faster than day one. Even though the crowd wasn't as big I was passing time with one of my former wrestlers Phil Tubera. My first stop was the bodybuilding.com booth. Was in and out in no time. We went back later and the line was at least a 2 hr wait. Next stop was the optimum nutrition booth. I wanted to meet Steve Cook again and have him sign my picture I had taken with him from the San Jose Fit Expo. He noticed right away that I had lost more weight since we had last taken a picture. Phil said out load show him your before picture coach. I showed him and he couldn't believe it. He asked me how I had achieved my weight loss so far. I explained to him that I was on a healthy life plan designed by my Trainer Bill. He asked if he could ask me a few more questions and I happily said yes. He called over his swoldier nation video camera guy an started to do a mini interview asking my why I started and how stay motivated. He asked me what advice I would give to other obese people just starting out. It was a very cool experience because I was there to meet him and he spun the tables around and was more interested in me story. As I left I thanked him for his time and the autograph I got for Nathan. He said the pleasure was all his and thanked me for sharing my inspirational story. I had to meet Maria Kang (aka the fit mom). She came under fire for posting a picture of her an her three kids with the subtitle what's your excuse. I shared my story with her and showed her my before picture.she was so humble and her message is not one of fat bashing mom butt what I took from her was even as parents we need to take the time to set an example for our children and live a healthy life. We we moved onto the next booth which was Dana Linn Bailey( 1st ever ms physique Olympia winner) Dana and her husband rob where amazing people to meet. Once again Phil told me to show here my before picture and the response I got from Rob and Dana was awesome. I explained how I had lost the weight and they were very encouraging as well. We went on to meet one of Bills friends Mark (flex) Anthony. The first ever men's physique Mr Olympia.. He is such a down to earth great person to meet. It seemed like day two flew by so fast lol. Another great expo in the books and can't wait to hit the San Jose fit expo in July. Bill and I wrapped up the weekend with an awesome upper body workout at the iconic Golds gym in Venice,ca.
We ventured home on Monday stopping a long the way to enjoy the beautiful pacific coast. It was time of reflection for me as we drove I thought back on the past two years. I never would have been able to hike ride or experience all that I have if I had not taken that step of faith to change my life. With the amazing support of my wife Nancy I am experiencing life like I never have before. If you ever have a chance to attend a Fit Expo event I encourage you to do so. it may change your life the way it changed mine.I encourage anyone who reads this and is thinking about starting a healthier lifestyle to not wait till tomorrow or next week. Start today. It's as easy as going for a walk or bike ride. Make simple changes in your eating habits. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Make it fun set small goals for yourself. Daily goals that turn into weekly goals that then turn into bigger goals. I look back and don't regret not starting earlier. I know that the path I took before now sets my path for the future. I take my past defeats and learn from them. I think the highlight of the trip was having Bill meet my family. He got meet my why. My family is what keeps me going. I want to lead by example for my children. I want them to see that leading a healthy lifestyle can be fun as well as taste good. I also want to inspire people along the way and show them that it is possible to lose weight with out any surgery or crazy diets. Hard work and dedication pay off. If your thinking of starting your weight loss journey click on the tab to my trainer Bill Sienerth's website at the top of my page. If your looking for encouragement and accountability I urge you to follow and join FitFluential on Facebook and Instagram as well as follow there CEO and founder Kelly Olexa.
