A change had to be made... And it had to be real.

It is always said that the events that have happened in your lifetime make you into the person you are today. Sometimes these events occur gradually, but sometimes they can be a real kick in the face, and force a change to happen. The story in this article is one that changed the life of someone forever. This is a true story, and hopefully I can use it to motivate others.

Picture this. You're in middle school. 7th grade to be exact. You still hang out with the same friends you always have and you just can't wait for each school day to be over so you can go home and play video games and hang out with friends. This is was precisely the case for the main character of this story (who I am choosing to keep anonymous at the moment). This person was all in all a normal kid at the time, except he had a bit of a problem he was unaware of at the time.

Like I said earlier, sometimes events occur and leave a gradual effect. Well, this person had, at such a young age, developed a bit of an over-eating problem that didn't exactly go well with his video game loving sedentary lifestyle. All of a sudden, this kid started getting a lot of stomach aches. The doctor figured he was just like any other kid. Probably faking it so he wouldn't have to go to school the next day, thought it was just stress. However, on his 13th birthday, things did not get better.

The sickness had started to keep getting worse, stomach pains constantly with no putting them at ease. Finally, the family decided to go to a GI specialist to try to make sense of all of it. The specialists there did a lot of blood work, and after all the tests had been ran, they uncovered the problem. At age 13, this young boy had Fatty Liver Disease. The doctors told him that if something didn't change, then he would soon need a liver transplant. This boys life was at stake.

A change had to be made... And it had to be real

The reason I am telling this story from such a perspective was because this is MY story. I was that young boy who at such a young age, literally ate his way into such a critical disease. I had Fatty Liver Disease, which meant that my liver wasn't functioning properly. The liver is supposed to help get rid of the toxins in the body, and mine was doing a very poor job. This was a real kick in the face.

However, the story did not end here. If you have casually met me or have not known this part of my life, you probably never would have guessed before now. This story caused me to completely flip my life around. I did this in many ways. I actually joined Weight Watchers, I was the youngest one there. I developed much healthier eating patterns. I also took up exercise, which has now become one of my biggest passions (seriously, I am always in the gym). All of these habits allowed me to reach a healthy weight, and kick Fatty Liver Disease in the butt, no surgery required. I am still continuing all of these practices today because I love being healthy. I never want to go back to the way I was.

The moral of this story is.... don't do what I did. Don't wait before you decide to take your health into consideration. Don't let yourself get sick and develop health problems that could easily be fixed with a healthy diet and exercise. As in many cases... The time to act is NOW.