OriginsHow Cornerstone Weight Loss Began

First things first, thanks for being a reader of the Cornerstone Weight Loss Blog. Here’s to hoping for your sake that you’re not only a reader but a doer also. The mission is to help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look, so putting what you read into practice is the the aim.

Many people ask me my reasons for starting Cornerstone Weight Loss when there are so many other companies that provide guidance in weight loss.

This is a fair ask, though I have been resisting making this into a blog post because I did not know how it would help you.

As more and more people have asked about the why behind Cornerstone Weight Loss it seems like its origin story could be a help to you. Maybe not in the way that a scientific, peer-reviewed study would help you, but perhaps in the way of helping your spirit through the emotional roller coster that is weight loss.  

You have probably read in a previous post that Cornerstone Weight Loss was created for YOU.

Yes, YOU.

If Cornerstone Weight Loss was created for me, that would be silly since I have already taken control of how I look through knowing myself and how food affects me. Passing on the information in this blog is my way of giving back to those who aren’t yet ready for one-on-one coaching.

That being said, this story you can totally ignore. If you’re here on this blog for great information on weight loss only and can totally care less about this story, feel free to say “no” to reading this.

Here goes…

In the beginning, I was a fat kid. Not just a fat kid -like a chubster– but borderline morbidly obese. The only thing that really got me through my formative years alive was my social skills. This was only made possible by timing of birth. Being the youngest of my siblings by almost 15 years gave me a leg-up on socialization, not to mention the neighborhood kids I grew up with were all about three-to-five years my senior.

If you were a fat kid too, you can probably imagine back to a time when you didn’t notice how fat you were until someone pointed it out. 

How many people were around you when it was pointed out?

*Side note: it NEVER happens in private.

Let’s call this point enlightenment. Though probably not the positive spin that word is normally given, this was the point when I realized that there’s something wrong and nowhere to hide. It’s not like you can put your fat in a backpack and carry it around inconspicuously, after all.

Enlightenment, in my opinion, is the fork in the road for most fat kids. Either we lose it though getting taller, enter into sports that helps us lose it, or dig in more to the cookie jar and become a straight-up king porker. 

That last one is how I rolled. 

Now, being a fat kid was hard enough, but being a fat teenager absolutely sucked because I was fat with the added charm of acne. 

*Side note: in the grand scheme of things and seeing how other people in less-fortunate places live (I live in the United States), we can all realize these are first-world problems. Suck is suck, though, and the Theory of Relativity seems to have its merits here…

The thought of change

It was during these teenage years that I realized that something needed to change. I was perpetually self-conscious. I dreaded every time I had to have my shirt tucked-in or take my sweatshirt off that I used to hide myself. During this time is when I began to do some work into achieving weight loss.

As high school rolled in I enrolled into some sports, albeit hesitantly.

*Side note: actually kicking and screaming. I hated sports and had to be bribed (and kind of threatened) by my uncle. I’m very thankful he didn’t give any quarter to my weakness.

It was high school football where I first really started exercising. Though I hated football, it got me to start weight lifting. This was something that made my dad very happy. 

My dad, though not a sports fan either, was big into weight lifting. He happened to be living and lifting near Venice Beach, CA in the 60s and 70s when, in my opinion, bodybuilding was at its peak. 

*Side note: I get it, the 90s were good times too. We all have our opinions…

This began a sort of training course in weight lifting and gym etiquette with my dad as the prof, and I could tell he couldn’t be more thrilled. 

It was at this time where I reached that point where all fat kids go who lift weights and have no clue about how food affects their bodies…

muscle fat…

You get it.

Just like the opposite of those really skinny kids who love Bruce Lee because they can’t put on muscle, muscle fat uses the excuse of “I just like to be big.”

No you don’t, and you can’t hide from me. 

What I really wanted was to be big and lean, not big and fat. At that time, however, as you maybe feel right now, getting big and lean was a mystery. It seemed to be this thing that was either linked to all genetics or all drugs with no grey area.

Side note: Cornerstone Weight Loss is that grey area.

Getting into it

From high school all throughout my six year stint in the US Navy I stayed muscle fat. This was one of my biggest frustrations from my teenage years into my early twenties. As a previous blog post pointed out, it vexed me to see people eating like total trash all day long and maintaining a lean frame. 

All these emotions and aggravations led me down the dark path of many Yo-yo Diet Profiteers. If you want one of the stories click here I sacrificed so much time, money, and energy into these fad diets and snake oil for years which only poisoned my attitude further. My attitude got so toxic I was about to give up. In fact, I pretty much did. I went full tilt into long nights at the bars, eating like garbage, and neglecting my overall health.

I woke up years later on my 26th birthday in my studio apartment in Denver, CO in total disarray. I was 50 pounds overweight, hung over, and completely disgusted with myself. I knew something had to change or I was going to go down the road of obesity, not to mention the path of shame and dishonor that comes with knowing that I was actively choosing to not take control over myself.

It was at this time that I met the person who taught me how to better understand how food affects my body in a common sense way that put me in control of how I look…

If you’re still reading this, it looks like you’re relating to this on some level. Maybe you’re still in the process of weeding through the Yo-yo Diet Profiteer’s snake oil, or maybe you’ve been on the verge of giving up. Wherever you are, it seems to be leading you to read this blog. 

If you’re not ready to begin another weight loss journey yet and are in an exploratory period, you are encouraged to read the other blog posts and soak up as much information as you need to help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look.

The final part of this story will be coming in a future blog post.