Ryan is a military guy, with a military mindset. He knows how to give something his total commitment and completely sell out. He struggled with his weight as a kid, but through ROTC training he learned how to train his body to be a machine. However, as time passed, and life got into a rut, Ryan’s fitness and health had taken a back seat for a while and he wasn’t in a place that made him proud. In fact, he was pretty embarrassed. So he knew what had to happen, and he got to work.
Ryan’s Story =
I’ve struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. Growing up I always wanted to be a Soldier, like my dad. I remember dressing up in his Army uniforms and playing. Unfortunately, I also remember not being able to fit in my dad’s pants when I was only eleven years old. I will never forget popping the buttons off one of my dad’s uniforms because they were too tight. I hadn’t even made it to middle school yet.
People in my family have always struggled with weight. Growing up I just thought that being large was something that I was stuck with. By the time I got to High School I was pushing 190lbs at the age of fifteen. Most kids my age were about 135lbs soaking wet. I still wanted to join the Army but I thought it was out of my reach.
As a freshman I started dating the woman that I would later marry and she convinced me that if I wanted to join the Army I should join JROTC. So with a little bit of encouragement and a little bit of apprehension I joined the Palm Bay High School Marine Corps JROTC.
This was a turning point in my life. I discovered that through PT (physical training) I could change my body composition. I started to enjoy being active and I could see the weight coming off. I hadn’t discovered what it meant to eat healthy and so that continued to be hard for me to control.
When High School ended, I attended the University of Central Florida on an Army ROTC scholarship and Commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 2009. After getting married, Carrie and I moved to FT Benning, GA where I attended the Basic Officer Leaders Corse, Mechanized Leaders Course, Infantry Officer Basic Coarse and Ranger School. After graduating Ranger School in July of 2010, Carrie and I moved to FT Knox, KY. There, I joined the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. In January of 2011 I deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as an Infantry Rifle Platoon Leader. After returning from Afghanistan in January of 2012 I had a brand new appreciation for the United States and looked forward to making the most out of my time back here. Unfortunately, for me, that meant a lot of junk food and laziness. After about 5 months of “pigging out and lazing it up” I decided ENOUGH. I would realign my goals and get back to the person I once was.
Although I veered off course I had not lost sight of my goals. My goals were; “to get in great shape and live a healthy life that my Wife and I, (and our future children) could be proud of.” After watching some YouTube videos of P90X transformations I ran across Wayne Wyatt’s video. When I saw it, I was amazed at what he had accomplished and I began to crave amazing results as well. After looking into his transformation I found out that Beach Body had “coaches”. (People that had gone through the programs themselves and decided to help others get amazing results) I signed up for team Beach Body and made Wayne my coach. With the help of my Coach and the teamRIPPED.com community I was able to start again. This time I was starting with a new passion. I thought, I don’t want to have this amazing “90 day” transformation and be done with it, but instead I plugged in and committed to living a healthy LIFE.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows though. There have been days that I have had to push through mental and physical barriers in order to succeed. Just because I have figured out what it means to live “balanced” doesn’t mean it’s been EASY. Every time I put in a DVD or go for a round of HIIT I have to tell myself “The only way this is going to work is if I give it everything!” Well that sort of dogged determination has paid off because as I write this I am confident that I have cranked out one of the most impressive P90X transformations to date.
So why “fighting genetics”? It’s simple. There are some people out there who are predisposed to being athletic and having a good physique. I am not one of them. I have always told myself “The DESIRE to succeed will not be enough. I have not achieved great results because I DESIRED them, I achieved them because I made NO EXCUSES. I put in the HOURS and the EFFORT.”
You don’t have to settle for average. Be dedicated, put in the hard work and FIGHT BACK!!!
FIGHT BACK!!Ryan Johnson
Visit me at teamFIGHTINGGENETICS.com
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
