01/04/2026
As a kid, I loved sports. Growing up I played: football, basketball, soccer, baseball, cross country, and track. I was a kid that felt naturally competitive, and when I was moving my body was when I felt my best mentally. I didn’t sit very well in school and found school to be pretty boring by the time I hit Middle School. It was hard for me to focus and was deemed “ADHD” and put on Adderall at the age of 12. At the age of 12, I also had my first major injury. I broke my right shoulder on my growth plate. The bone between the shoulder and elbow is called your “Humerus”, and my Humerus bone stopped growing because of the break being on the growth plate. My right arm is 2-ish inches shorter than my left.
My freshman year of high school would be my next major injury. I was at a Track Meet in Newaygo when 2 of my buddies were going to get McDonald’s. I had $3, so I asked them to get me 3 Double Cheeseburgers. 20-minutes after eating the McDonalds my intestines blew up. I became severely ill for the next 4-weeks. I had the worst case of stomach pain and diarrhea that you could imagine. When I finally went to the doctors, they had me get a colonoscopy as soon as possible. During the colonoscopy, it was clear that my large colon was severely infected and inflamed. I had Ulcers on the lining of my large colon, and polyps were growing on the lining as well. This led to the doctors diagnosing me with an autoimmune disease called “Ulcerative Colitis”. I was told that I would have to take this anti-inflammatory medication called “Asacol” 6 times a day for the rest of my life. Oddly enough, our doctors never once said anything about food or nutrition. The first thing I ate after the Colonoscopy was McDonalds breakfast.
So, I continued to take the Asacol pills throughout high school, and throughout my sports seasons. When my stomach would hurt, I’d just take more pills. I ate a very Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). Cereals like Lucky Charms for breakfast. School food or fast food for lunch. Then my parents would usually cook up a good dinner. Looking back, dinner was probably the most consistently healthy meal of the day.
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