By Kevin Smith – I was like most young college kids at 22. I just wanted to drink, party and meet girls. Then one summer night I went to bed late after a night hanging with some friends only to wake up with my world turned upside down.



I woke up disoriented, stumbling around, my balance was off and my vision blurred. I panicked and rushed to the emergency room. After a number of tests and pokes with needles, I was told I had multiple sclerosis. I didn’t really know how to comprehend this terrible news. I thought it was a death sentence.



Doctors told me I would no longer be able to work on cars or stay out in the heat and had me start taking medication. I gave up all dreams, goals. I threw my entire future out the window.





This was not the life I had once envisioned myself living. I was given medication after medication, and nothing was helping. I was getting worse with every passing day. I began to feel more depressed, watching my old classmates starting their careers.



Everything all changed when my little brother Jeff, came down from Oklahoma. He plays football for Oklahoma Baptist University and has a rigorous weight training regimen. He accompanied me to one of my doctor visits, to help find out what we could do about my legs because they were in a constant pain, and the medication I was taking was not helping.

As I questioned the doctor, my brother watched him search the Internet for what medication he could give me next. When we left my brother informed me of what he had witnessed and said “That’s it, let’s do it my way now.” I went home, got rid of my medication and got my first gym membership.



I spent hours studying workouts and nutrition. I was hooked — the iron bug had bitten me. Within months of working out and eating healthy, I had full function of my body with no pain, and I feel better than I ever have in my life! I have been symptom-free for three years.



I constantly encourage others to push themselves past what they perceive as their limits. The skinny 115-pound guy that had once given up was no more. I bulked to 160 pounds, ripped from head to toe and have been setting goals more often now than I ever have before.

See Kevin’s progress on his Facebook page.