When I was in my late teens and early twenties, fitness and weight training were a part of my daily lifestyle. I could eat what I wanted and relied on my fast metabolism and exercise to keep from gaining fat. As a teacher and coach in my twenties, my schedule became hectic and workouts and diet began to quickly take a back seat.

As I closed in on 30, I became a high school assistant principal and a father. My exercise, diet, and personal health remained last on my list of priorities. My career advanced as a principal, my wife and I had a second child and after 8 years of study, I earned my Ph.D. However, I had also picked up poor eating and lifestyle habits along the way.

I continued to lose weight and noticed I was now losing inches and my body was reshaping.

In 2010, I made an appointment with my father’s cardiologist to get checked out because I was experiencing shortness of breath and was having nightmares about having a heart attack. At 38 years old and nearly 265 pounds, I was scared and knew I was on a path that would kill me. The cardiologist told me that I had to do something or I’d be dead by 50. He pointed to several indicators: stress, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no exercise, alcohol, and poor diet. I had no energy, low self-esteem, and hated to take off my shirt at the beach or the pool. Finally, after a few episodes of shortness of breath and chest pains while playing with my children in our backyard, I was truly terrified and began to look for the right option to reach a healthy weight.

God intervened and placed my brother in my path a few days later. I have no other explanation. He began to tell me about Nuviva, a company that his college buddy, Jeremy Avner, worked for as a nutrition coach. He tried to convince me it was time. I had to do something.

We traveled to the Orlando Nuviva together on August 2nd of 2011 and we left with Phase 1 materials and the vitamins and supplements to get started. The money was an area of concern for our family since it was an unbudgeted expense. My wife was supportive and encouraged me to do it after we discussed how I felt about my health and body. After all, the long-term cost of a heart attack, diabetes or other weight related illness would impact our family more than the preventative cost of the Nuviva program.

I started Phase 1 on August 3rd as we packed our car for our annual end of summer vacation to the beach.  The next four months can best be described as a miracle! As I made my way through the 4 phases of the program, it was clear that discipline and hard work would be the keys to my success.  I lost about 30 pounds in the first 30 days. Jeremy and Dr. Broillette were motivating and positive when I would see them in the office or speak to them on the phone.

During the next 30 days of the program, I began to exercise and started a running program. I continued to lose weight and noticed I was now losing inches and my body was reshaping. The transformation was happening before my eyes.

The Thanksgiving holiday came and went and my progress continued to my amazement. As Christmas and New Year’s went by, college football bowl season tried to become a distraction. I sit here today, a week before Super Bowl Sunday, weighing 198 pounds. My waist went from a 42.5 to a 32.5, and my neck from 18.5 to a 15.0. My metabolism went from average too fast and I now have to eat more than 3000 good calories a day to maintain my very fast metabolism and weight. My blood work came back — night and day in 5 months’ time! I am a new man-all because of Nuviva!

I am scheduled to run a half-marathon this month! When I think about that, it is just mind-boggling to me because I struggled to jog around the backyard with my kids a few months ago. I cannot tell you how great I feel today! I am asked everyday by the people who know me, “How did you do it?” I just say, “Nuviva saved my life.” I did it for my family, but I realized I needed to do it for me! You have 1 body and 1 life to live in this world! You can do it too!

Steve K