7 Stories in 7 Days: Day 6 - A More Energetic Father and Husband, Caleb Trotter's Story

Very Beginning

My life started changing around the point of becoming diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 12. I played football religiously as a kid, 9 years of YAFL football and recruited by West Mesa as a starting defensive end I had a good football career ahead of me. Throughout my time playing for West Mesa I noticed my health start to decline due to underlying conditions of Type 1 Diabetes. People typically think a disease like Diabetes with no cure is something that should bring you down. I took it as a fresh start, in the hospital I dropped from 135lbs as a kid to 100lbs. Shortly after being diagnosed I moved with my family to Idaho. From there I changed a lot of things about my personality, I was the BMX kid at school with the Rockstar T-shirt, gauges and the “I love boobies” bracelet. I feel like if I had a camcorder, my friends and I could’ve been a Jackass movie. I was the new kid in Idaho, the kid from “New Mexico.” A few years after living in Idaho I began my conformation through the Presbyterian church. Frequently going to week long church camps I really became close with God. Through youth ministries I became friends with a ton of people. After a few years in Idaho my family broke the bad news… I was moving back to New Mexico; after I had made a ton of new friends and finally felt like my life was really starting I had to say goodbye to all of my friends.

Moving back to Albuquerque I began to fall short of God, I would sneak out and often get in trouble. I disregarded my health. I feel like it was me lashing out in anger towards my family for stripping me from my new life. Going to Sandia High School my cousin had convinced me to play football at Sandia and from there I began to really focus on myself. After graduating high school my life became the typical Tik Tok video where getting turned down by girls constantly made me hit the gym and hit it hard. I wanted to be a body builder and would go to the gym daily, I was a gym rat. Complacency and wanting to be with someone and to feel loved dug into me and I gradually stopped going.

After having my daughter at a young age I finally decided to find someone to be with who would love me for me. I eventually met my girlfriend who is now my wife, we have 2 kids, a son and a daughter. Living my life with my wife is a blast, I would eat what I want and had the mind set of “you only live one life so might as well eat whatever you want.” The dad bod trend definitely did not help my situation, it seemed like every chance I had at finishing my kids Happy Meals I took it. This toxic life style had made me gain a ton of weight and feel self conscious about myself. I hate the way I look, I hate the stretch marks, I hate not being the best version of myself for my wife. The typical Tik Tok video entails leaving someone to finally go to the gym and be the best version of yourself and I don’t want to live that typical lifestyle. Breaking the bad habits my journey finally begins.

Now

The worst feeling is looking in the mirror and grabbing your belly fat in disgust. The complacency and bad habits begins to come out of ones self and begins to creep out and show itself in the mirror. The wanting to be the best version of myself for my wife and being able to see my kids grow up really made me get my ass off of the couch. Throughout my life I felt like the failure, my family all went to school, the prestigious ones, the doctors, the nurses, the fitness trainers. My life has been full of knuckle grinding hard labor. That’s the definition of myself, the knuckle grinder. I feel like my life was full of legal slavery jobs. I worked for a beer company helping deliver thousands of cases of beer a day. I would pray to God daily for a door to open, “please God the first door that opens I’m gone.” My friend messaged me on Instagram with a message telling me to apply for a job he worked at. It was my dream to be a video game designer. Did I leave that out? Yes, I’m a hardcore gamer. After 4 interviews and 25 days of training I now work for research and development for a Autonomous Semi Truck company (Yes, under the right conditions the semi truck drives itself in robotic).

Finally after getting a stable job I was able to buy a house for my family and here I am now. I finally have the courage to go to the gym, eat healthy and be the best version of myself. After weighing in at 283lbs I finally started to hit it hard the last few weeks and am now 273lbs. I plan to continue my journey to lose weight. I am constantly reminded and encouraged in my journey to keep going. My cousin owns Heartache Apparel and his mission as a man of God and his mission to help others is astounding. He will always be the protector. The extrovert that steps in front of my introvert ass to protect me. To push the bully aside, to lift me when I fall. I love my family so much. I stand by Heartaches mission and goal for others. I am excited to continue this weight loss goal. Glory to God. Thank you for reading my story.

Future

I hope that my story inspires others. I hope I can achieve my weight loss goal. I hope that I can continue in my job to become something more, to become a leader. I hope I can break bad habits and complacency. I hope that others can do the same. I want more energy for my kids, I want to keep up with them and love them with every ounce of energy I can. I want to be able to be the best version of myself for my wife. Thank you for reading my story.