Alexander Tate

Hello. I’m Alex Tate, and health and fitness has truly changed my life.  I graduated from Lakeville South High School in 2008 and went on to attend Gustavus Adolphus College to become a Health and Exercise Science Major. I have always been a little chubby my entire life but when I went to Gustavus things really took a turn for the worse regarding my health and fitness.  I was partying too much, not getting enough sleep, exercise was limited and having a diet that mostly consisted of pizza and beer I accumulated over 90 lbs. of fat in 4 years to put me over 300lbs.  Being a health and Exercise Science major, this was a huge embarrassment.  It brought on feelings of being a failure and an embarrassment to the major.  When I graduated from Gustavus in May of 2012 I could not stand the way my life was turning out and I needed to make a drastic change in my life before I would spiral into a depression and self-loathing.  Luckily enough I had an internship at Puravida Fitness that changed my life forever.  The staff and community of Puravida were so supportive and encouraging that they gave me the strength and confidence I desperately needed to get my life back together.  In the summer that I was an intern at Puravida fitness, I dropped about 35 lbs. (even with a broken leg, but that’s a whole different story that’s not important). It was such a good experience that I knew that personal training would be a great fit for me and luckily enough my charm and chubby good looks landed me a job with Puravida.  I got my Certified Personal Trainer through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and started training in October of 2012.  I kept focused with my diet and exercise and kept losing weight with the support of my clients, co-workers, and most importantly my friends and family who kept me positive and motivated with their words of praise.  I now am sitting here at over 100 total lbs. lost in 17 months and I couldn’t have done it without them. It is now my passion to help out people who are in the same situation that I was in and need help to improve them to be the best that they can be.  It’s truly an unbelievable feeling to know what your passion is at such a young age and I encourage everybody to truly dig deep and find theirs.  Well that’s my story up to this point and I can’t wait to keep adding to my journey.