Two hundred pounds ago, 24-year-old Cal State Long Beach engineering graduate student Edgar Ortiz never thought he would be a healthy man with $10,000 in his wallet.
“I’m literally half the man I used to be, but twice the man I was,” Ortiz said.
In November 2009, Ortiz’s best friend and physical trainer at Fit For the Ground Up Ruben Cervantes gave him an ultimatum on their friendship: “Get healthy or our friendship is over.”
A combination of health scares, including heart disease and diabetes, and the ultimatum made Ortiz want to change.
Unable to do normal exercise routines due to the danger of the heavy weight he was carrying, Cervantes helped Ortiz make lifestyle changes in his diet.
Ortiz learned how to eat nutritional meals, and gradually, the weight started to come off from his diet alone. This allowed him to start exercising.
According to Ortiz, his cravings were curbed with some self-motivation and quick results.
“I had my own gravitational pull,” he said, laughing and pointing at his stomach. “Now I can shop anywhere. It’s really cool. Also, seeing people’s responses to my new body motivates me to lose more.”
In spring 2012, Ortiz learned of the “Shaklee Cinch Transformation Story Contest” from Cervantes’s father, who suggested he enter.
In order to enter the contest, Ortiz wrote an essay about his transformation. When he moved on to the national round he competed against 9 others in Las Vegas on Aug. 9 and triumphed when the crowd cheered for him most.
Ortiz won the contest and $10,000 prize. He first used the money to pay off his credit card debt.
Now, working 40 hours a week as a software test engineer intern for Cisco, he said he will use the rest to buy himself a new red convertible Mustang next week for his birthday.
Ortiz’s successful weight loss did not come easily. There were many setbacks, such as having pneumonia last summer and breaking his leg two months ago.
Just a few days ago, Ortiz started working out his legs again. Despite the agonizing pain from the stretch alone, Ortiz never once complained about his leg throughout the grueling workout.
“I call him Mr. Wayne, because in the last Batman movie, Mr. Wayne got injured and went away for awhile, then came back … and it boosts his ego,” Ortiz’s friend Arturo Magana said.
Although Ortiz’s dramatic transformation is astounding to all, he still has not had a “shining moment” throughout the process.
“We’re still working on it,” Ortiz said. “The highlight will be when I am completely comfortable with taking my shirt off at the beach.”
Not only did Ortiz’s body change, but his focus on life changed as well. He said he became more focused in school and has gained more confidence, which helped him land his internship.
In giving advice to others looking to lose weight, Ortiz said they should turn to their friends and loved ones for help.
“Realize everything you do every day has an impact on your life,” he said. “People would tell me, ‘Oh I wish I had your self-motivational energy.’ We all do – it’s just what you focus it on.”