Hey, I'm Carter.
I have lost over 145 pounds and have since made it my life's mission to help others achieve similar success. My mission is to help others eliminate their struggle with weight and experience all of the amazing benefits that living a healthier life can provide both physically and mentally.
Ever since I can remember, I've struggled with my weight. I was always considered the "husky" kid in my grade.
I led a happy life despite my weight problem. I had a loving family and a wide social circle in grade school and throughout high school. Mentally I was well off, but physically my health was getting worse and worse.
It wasn't until I got to high school that my weight started to become a serious issue. At the age of sixteen, two significant changes took place in my life. I got my license, and my parents got a divorce. It was these two changes that initially led me to become morbidly obese.
I turned to food to deal with the frustrations I had towards my parent's divorce. Having a fresh driver's license that allowed me to go wherever I wanted - whenever I wanted - created a recipe for disaster.
I visited fast food chains like Mcdonalds & Taco Bell on a daily basis. I would have 2-3 extra meals a day from these places without telling anyone and, as a result, quickly ballooned from a "husky" kid to an obese young adult.
Although I was using food to suppress my emotions, my social life didn't seem to suffer much. In fact, I was involved in many extracurricular activities. I was the head anchor for my school's news team and was even the president of a few clubs!
It wasn't until I began to notice the physical toll that being obese was having on my body that I became consciously aware of the problem at hand.
Being obese comes with its physical limitations. I couldn't run properly, I was always "winded" and participating in day to day activities became harder than they should have been.
Even the small act of getting up and off the couch became a struggle against gravity!
I knew that I had a weight problem but the number times I had tried and failed different "Diets" had left me with the mindset that I was destined to be heavy forever.
Although my immediate family was leaner, my extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) had all struggled with their weight and most had health ailments like Type 2 Diabetes and High Blood Pressure.
I assumed I had "fat genes" and accepted it...
My sophomore year of high school was when I reached my heaviest weight of 305 lbs. By BMI standards, I was morbidly obese and well on my way to developing many of the adverse health complications that plagued my family and most Westernized Societies.
It wasn't until I acknowledged the long list of negative complications that being obese was causing me that I finally realized the need to make a change.
If I wanted to live a long and healthy life free of disease and discomfort, I needed to change NOW.
Although the biggest "shock factor" of my weight loss journey comes from this stage (losing 145 pounds), I didn't have any life-altering changes that took place. I was still involved in all of the extracurricular activities as before and still had the same friends.
I was just "skinny" Carter now.
It wasn't until AFTER I lost weight that I began to realize the root cause of my weight problem and how I had been using food as an emotional suppressant.
When I became physically healthier at a lower body weight, I had done nothing in the way of addressing my mental struggles.
Instead of using unhealthy food to suppress, I turned to healthier foods.
Even worse, I had developed a worse relationship with my body and food AFTER I lost weight.
Once I identified this, I felt as though a light bulb had gone off in my head. I quickly started working towards changing this negative and toxic mindset. I began reading everything I could on the psychology of food and losing weight and since have been helping others achieve freedom from food and their unhealthy habits.
I am proud to say that I have greatly improved my relationship with my body and food. As I go on my journey towards optimizing my health and happiness, I hope to help as many people as I can follow me on the same journey towards health & happiness.
Want to learn more about my philosophy towards losing weight and living a healthy, happy life? Click Here