Bastian’s Success Story

The number on the scale was one of the triggers for my weight loss. I felt more and more uncomfortable in my own skin and started socially distancing myself because of it.

I wasn't exercising much anymore because I was ashamed and just sweating the whole time. It was especially bad in the summer. These days I love the summertime.

The most important aspect for me was, of course, my health. Nevertheless, my goal from the beginning was to work towards an athletic body. I wanted to finally feel good again and look healthy, instead of always being a downer. I wanted to dare to go out in the summer and feel completely comfortable in a t-shirt.

I reached my goals by completely changing my diet from one day to the next. In doing so, I changed to a low-carb diet, only drank water, completely cut out alcohol and replaced my dinner with low-fat yogurt with various flavors. Throughout my weight loss, I didn't cheat at all and strictly adhered to my diet.

To get used to exercise, I started by working with TheraBand resistance bands to prepare my body and joints for training. I did a lot of cardio and mainly rode my bike. Gradually I got into strength training, working out 2–3 times a week, because discipline is everything!

I started one and a half years ago and wanted to live a healthier life. As the first pounds started coming off and I wanted to start exercising, I had to go to the hospital because my left eye was blurry. I found out my optic nerve was inflamed and was diagnosed with MS. That was definitely a setback, but it didn't matter to me at first. I was released from the hospital and everything was okay again, until 2 months later when the optic nerve in my other eye got inflamed.
This time I was shattered. I was demotivated and was scared I wouldn't be able to reach my goals. Luckily, I was able to rise above it! Sensible adjustments were made and, fortunately, apart from some loss of vision, my illness was under control. Since I now know that nutrition and exercise can help fight my illness, I more motivated than ever before.

Set clear goals, look for a picture of the figure you want to achieve or set yourself a goal weight.
Self-acceptance is important. After all, only you can make changes and listen to your body. Don't come up with any more excuses or lie to yourself. Have a goal? Then go for it!
PS: The ultimate tips that I give to everyone: Low-fat yogurt for dinner and staying hydrated throughout the day.

Now that I've gone from a body fat percentage of 30 down to 10 and can slowly start seeing a six-pack, I want to start building muscle. It's not easy since you have to get used to eating more after losing weight, but no goal, no results!

I've suffered for years because I was ashamed and didn't dare to go out. You start to change and become a more negative person because you're unhappy and don't feel comfortable in anything you wear. You feel like others are staring at you when they look your way, like you've let yourself go. In hindsight, now that I know about my illness, I'm mad at myself for letting myself go all of these years. Complaining is always easy in the end, but making changes isn't. If you don't feel good about yourself, you have to pull yourself together as much as you can and do something about it, look for support instead of throwing your own pity party.
At the same time, now that I've been diagnosed, I want to show everybody that you can't give up and that there's nothing more important than your health. Maybe even help give courage to others with MS to fight for their goals and fight the illness with exercise. Even when mobility is restricted, you can achieve a lot through your diet.