I have been interested in nutrition and fitness for over 10 years.
Back when I was 16 years old, after being tired of being chubby during my entire childhood, I decided to take action and signed up at a local gym, where I found my love with weight lifting and bodybuilding.
When I was a kid my mother would always force me to go to a club to do some kind of sport, in order to lose some weight (or prevent me from gaining more!) and make me healthier, so I tried many different things such as football (soccer, for Americans), basketball, paddle tennis, swimming and martial arts. I enjoyed most of them, but for one reason or another I would end up quitting sooner or later.
Unfortunately, and although my mother always cooked meals for me and my brother at home (we would seldom eat out), she didn't really understand what was the healthiest thing for us to eat, and didn't question that my weight issues started by the food I was eating instead of by physical inactivity (I would always play outside, but also liked to spend hours in front of the TV or playing videogames, as most kids do).
I would eat a lot of sugary cereals, dairy products, cookies, candies, chicken nuggets, sausages, etc. That made me reach a weight of ~80 kg (176 lbs) at age 13.
So, going back to the topic, at age 16 I decided to make a U-turn in my life and started exercising seriously and paying more attention to my diet.
I started to go 3-4 times / week to the gym for the first couple of months, and soon increased it to 5 times / week. I was beginning, for the first time in my life, to lose fat and build some muscle which made me begin to have more self confidence.
I also started to read as much as I could about nutrition in order to understand how the body was affected by the foods we eat and how they could help me to boost my strength and performance at the gym.
At first I was caught in the typical bodybuilders' diet (that is, tons of chicken breast, tuna, eggs, rice and oatmeal as well as supplements such as protein powders), but at least I was starting to refine my diet and was already avoiding more processed foods like sweets, refined sugars, oils, etc.
At age 19 I decided that I wanted to take a step further and began to study fitness more in depth, and became a Certified Fitness Coach in 2006.
I kept up with that lifestyle for about 6 years, when I hit rock bottom.
My life was going through a lot of stuff. I had moved to another country, couldn't find my path, I discovered my father was sick, and I started to restrict my calorie intake to very low numbers for my activity levels, maybe as a self-defense mechanism.
I developed the anorexia mindset and couldn't eat normally without feeling guilty and disgusted with myself.
Eventually, things got worse and my body started to feel the need to binge eat, which I would counteract by fasting for a whole day afterwards or by restricting my calories even lower than usual and going to exercise for a couple of hours on end.
I dealt with that hell for about 2 years, when I had a kind of revelation.
It dawned on me that I wanted to change. I NEEDED to change.
I went on a 8 days water fast to break the binge-purge cycle and decided that I would become vegetarian afterwards.
Of course I did know NOTHING about vegetarianism, so I began to research and read as much as I could about the healthiest diet possible, not only for me, but also for the environment. I was feeling very spiritual by then, and looked into vegetarianism because I felt that I no longer wanted to eat animals.
I must admit that I have "that kind of personality" in which, when something gets in my head, I'll pursue that until I get it. And I have to get it RIGHT.
Some people call me perfectionist. Some call me OCD. I just call myself passionate :)
So, during my fast I found out about "The 80/10/10 Diet" (a fruit based diet), and decided to adopt it once I broke the fast.
And there is where it all started...
I followed that way of eating for about 6 months until I found "The McDougall's Diet", so I started to incorporate more starches into my daily nutrition as well.
I had good success by mixing both diets into one and getting the best out of each.
By that time I had started to run, and fell in love with the sport. I was getting up every morning and religiously go for a run before breakfast.
I was feeling energized, strong, balanced and GOOD overall.
Fast forward to today, I have been on this high carb, low fat, plant based and active lifestyle for over 3 years, feeling better than ever before, running marathons and races regularly, and trying to inspire and influence other people to get on the wagon too!
