A Parent's Worst Nightmare Inspired Him to Become a Trainer

By Joseph Jackson

Last year I had back issues, numbness in my legs and I couldn't sleep. I weighed 365 pounds. My doctor said I was morbidly obese and suggested weight loss pills. I wore a 5XL shirt, a size 46 pants and had terrible posture. I had little-to-no confidence and felt defeated when it came to finding a workout routine that fit me and that I could physically do.

I made excuses why I couldn't take my son to the park because I was terribly out of shape and embarrassed. Honestly, I was concerned that I wouldn't be around to see my son grow up.

Needless to say, I was not in a good place physically or mentally last year. Fast forward to this year and it truly is night and day in regards to my mental and physical health.

I no longer have back issues and the numbness in my legs is gone. My body fat percentage is at 13% and my overall health is outstanding. I sleep great at night and no longer snore. I wear an XL shirt and a size 34 pants and have great posture.

I am super confident in my body, which has helped me mentally.

I can not only keep up with my son, Brayden, I'm actually doing laps around him! Haha!

As of this week, I weigh 218 pounds. I am so proud of everything I was able to accomplish and am looking forward to the future!I'm a Beachbody coach, group fitness instructor at Dynamic Health and Fitness and recently got my certification to be a personal trainer.

I love how the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification set the record straight as far as nutrition and fitness. I thought the whole process was very smooth. It gave me a different perspective on exercise and nutrition. Everything that I had learned before taking the ISSA course, came from self-studies and research.

During my certification course, everything was top notch, from the enrollment support to the test. I felt that the material was easy to understand and if I needed any help, that it was available for me.

Now that I have this knowledge, I plan on helping as many people as possible. I hope to gain clients privately or in a gym setting to have that one-on-one connection to really help others reach their goals.