How #IWANTABZ Changed James' Life

Enter James:

There won't ever be another day that I'm not working to be two steps ahead of everything I do.

I'm going to put in so much work from now on that it would be unreasonable for me not to be successful.

I think my expectation of winning this contest was unrealistic with some of the struggles I was dealing with. But I only came to that conclusion after it became obvious that I wasn't going to achieve the level required to win.

I hit bottom hard for a minute.

But I kept my whiteboard with the last month's progress on it, and I realized that the gains I made as a person are far more valuable than having a body fat percentage low enough to show my abs.

I'm also thankful that I don't have excess skin to deal with. When I started running again, even the movement from loose skin was painful.

I even went and got a spray tan so I could better see my progress because I'm extremely pale.

I told myself I was going to run a 5K, and I did it.

I have a belt that no longer fits. I fit into shirts that I had saved for years because I told myself someday I would fit into them. They hung on my door for years, and I walked past them every single day.

Now I have the opposite problem with some shirts. The large shirts I bought at the Arnold don't fit because my arms, chest, and back have gotten too big.

I still have a little weight to lose before I get exactly where I want to be, but I'm getting close.

My arms are jacked. My right arm measures 15.55 inches, and my left is pretty close. Hopefully I'm only a couple weeks away from where I want to be.

I've been doing keto, and even though I feel bloated at times, I've lost five pounds in the last week alone.

I developed a repetitive stress injury from not getting enough magnesium. Now I'm also adding more potassium because I haven't been eating enough greens.

I didn't do enough research on Lyme disease and how it affects magnesium levels. After four years of Lyme disease wrecking my energy through magnesium deficiency, it only took a couple days of correcting it before my energy came roaring back.

I've also been taking Aminos twice a day along with Greens.

When I started this contest, I was still occasionally dealing with Lyme symptoms—mood swings, vivid dreams you couldn't wake up from, oversleeping, and constant fatigue.

Now I wake up feeling like I could fight a bear.

I thought I broke through a wall when I ran the Arnold 5K, but honestly, it feels like the last couple weeks have been where I've made the most progress.

In March, there were only four days that I rested. I had one cheat meal—a chocolate bunny. I didn't even eat the peanut butter or the banana that came with it.

There were days I went to the gym twice. I'd do cardio and extra work, but I didn't even bother marking it on my whiteboard. I'd just snap a picture of the treadmill and keep moving.

Over the last couple days, I've been able to run again because I believe my foot injury was largely caused by magnesium deficiency.

I paid for my NASM certification, but I pushed myself so hard during this contest that I didn't make time to study. Now that the contest is over, that's my next focus.

I used to read while walking. When my foot injury got worse, I switched to cycling.

I never gave up. I just kept working harder every day, even when the brain fog kicked in or when every step felt heavy.

I never gave up. And I'm never going to quit on anything I truly put my mind to.

For the first time in my life, I have real self-confidence.

Growing up, my mother constantly put me down. She conditioned me to believe I was never going to be anything. My father told me something similar when he said I was going to end up just like my brother.

But I believe differently now. I believe in myself.