Javier Tejada

I look athletic now, but I never was. As a kid I was high energy but I loved junk food. But mine is story of coming up from the bottom and learning to be healthier and more disciplinedI made it to 250 pounds at 5’8” which was pretty unhealthy(I know because stairs were becoming a problem. I couldn’t breathe at the end of it). I played 12+ hours of video games a day and I worked so much all I had time to eat was fast food twice a day every single day.The changing moment was when my pants didn’t fit anymore. I was a 34 when healthy and had made it to a size 40. I went into Sears, saw what a size 40 pant looked like and realized “that’s enough. You’re going to change now. No more of this”I began working out and in the process lost 70 pounds to be able to make it to Marine Corps boot camp, and while that didn’t work, what did work is finding my love of weight lifting and lifelong improvement.I learned to lift on my own, following by interning at Parkside CrossFit to be taught by Connor Green and Gabriel Grier. They taught me the fundamentals of good, strict form, and how to take that and teach others.I now work at Parkside CrossFit as a coach and could not genuinely be any happier. To teach others what I know so their life is easier for it makes me smile. Bonus, in the words of Gabe “You’re learning to be harder to kill", which is always good!