Overweight Teen Erick Sandoval Gets Jacked!

Athletic But Overeating My Way to 308

Before my transformation I was always an athletic person. I played sports throughout my entire life but I never focused on my diet. I would eat large amounts of food because I would think that it helped me in sports. All it did was make me three hundred and eight pounds.

I never liked trying any new foods and I would only eat fast food. Burger king was my favorite place to eat. I would ignore what other people said about my weight, like my doctor and family. I thought that it didn't matter because I played sports and I was an ?athlete.?

My turning point was when I went to Florida with my family for my brother's wedding at Disney. I wouldn't really fit on any of the rides, or if I could I felt uncomfortable.

I also noticed that I was going to the bathroom a lot which was unusual. Diabetes runs in my family and I did not want that to happen to me. I saw the struggles that my father and grandfather had to deal with. Going on this path and being 308 pounds by the age of 16 was something I had to change.

I would train twice a day with my brothers during the summer. I would workout with them in the morning at the track and do cardio. After this I would go straight to football practice to do resistance training.

Fried Foods and Football Dinners

During my transformation I struggled with football dinners. We would have huge amounts of food catered to us before a game. I would try not to eat as much, or use portion control even though I was hungry after a long practice.

Also my family is Hispanic and I live with my grandparents. My grandma cooks a lot of fried food. So coming home to that was very hard.

To overcome these obstacles I would eat throughout the day and drink a lot so I wouldn't be as hungry during those times. I also told my family to throw out all the garbage food and all eat healthy.

All of this paid off. No one had seen me during the summer. When I returned to school everyone noticed my weight loss. I didn't think I lost that much weight because I saw myself every day. It was at this time I realized I had lost 50 pounds. This was only the beginning, but this milestone meant so much to me because all my hard work was starting to pay off.

Getting it Done with Training, Diet and MTS Nutrition

I would train twice a day with my brothers during the summer. I would workout with them in the morning at the track and do cardio. After this I would go straight to football practice to do resistance training. Thankfully I had a coach who would assist me in training and taught me to do proper lifts.

I watched my portion sizes and made sure that I was weighing my foods. I would use MTS Nutrition whey during this time to help substitute some foods.

I think my biggest mistake was not taking in enough food because during the weight loss. I lost a lot of strength. I should have taken advice from a nutritionist to make sure I was trying to not lose as much muscle.

Once I reached 190 lbs it was one of the best feelings. After losing 118 pounds I felt relieved, proud, but not satisfied. I want to keep improving and bettering myself every day in the gym. Noticing that I lost all this weight and finally making it made want to inspire others to do the same. I try to push people to do the same.

Dealing With Haters and Doubters

When dealing with doubt or hate I either would ignore them, or take them completely out of my life. I want to surround myself with people who will only motivate me and push me to better myself. I don't want to have people bringing me down or making me complacent because that is the last thing I want to do.

Your motivation should be your future and your life. You want to be able to live a long healthy life. Be able to inspire others and live a healthy life so you can enjoy it with the people that you love.

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Never settle for what you do and always find a way to improve yourself. It takes time, but in the end, it will all be worth it when you look back at your journey.

Advice for Others, and Moving Forward

I have 3 important transformation tips for others:

1. Portion control is BIG.
2. Always train with intensity, you get what you put in.
3. HAVE FUN. don't think of it as a diet, think of it as a healthy LIFESTYLE.

Your motivation should be your future and your life. You want to be able to live a long healthy life. Be able to inspire others and live a healthy life so you can enjoy it with the people that you love.

My life right now could not be any better. I am working out 4-5 days a week and am powerlifting. I am trying to improve all my lifts and hopefully compete one day in a powerlifting meet. My goals are to keep improving my main lifts and to get some abs!

Since my transformation ended I have seen improvements in everything. I am getting stronger, I am able to run more. My knees don't hurt anymore and I see a lot more muscle and vascularity.

I failed during previous attempts to change my body because I never had anyone to push me or motivate me. I never found a reason to push myself and I would always relapse and pig out. But once I realized that it was a health issue I had to make a change.

I succeeded this time because I had someone their to push me, my brothers and my families support. Once I saw results, I didn't want to stop! it's like an addiction!