Former Mr USA bodybuilder details extreme weight gain that saw him rip through 5XL clothes
A former winner of the elite bodybuilding competition Mr USA has opened up about the raw moment he tore through his clothes after gorging on burgers.
Nick Trigili reached rock bottom during a 2017 New Year’s Eve party when his immense weight gain caused his 5XL jeans and shirt to tear - a stark reminder of how polarized his life had become.
Just three years prior, Nick was officially crowned Mr USA at the young age of 25 - a dream of his since he first fell in love with bodybuilding at 15, while working at a gym.
However, achieving his lifelong dream shattered his motivation, triggering a massive loss of purpose that completely unraveled his disciplined lifestyle.
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"When I won, everything came to an end for me," the 39-year-old explained. “That is the show I always wanted to win, and I achieved it by 25.
"It was a let-down when I won; I was like 'what do I do now?'.
"Right after the show, that was my darkest moment - I felt lost.”
It left him ditching the chicken and rice and replacing his clean, lean diet with that of fast food, burgers, and pizza - which saw him eventually balloon to 260 pounds.
"When I left bodybuilding, I thought f*** this; I am eating whatever I want - fast food, restaurants, burgers, and pizza," he confessed.
"I would never eat at home; my fridge was empty - I went completely the other way."
But it all came to a head during that New Year’s Eve party in 2017. After tearing his clothes trying to squeeze into them, it offered him a raw moment of self-reflection.
"I was up all night crying, I was upset, miserable, wondering how I got myself here,” Nick explained.
He ultimately vowed to get his life back on track, and with this new determination to reclaim his health, on January 1st, 2018, Nick booked medical exams to assess the internal damage from his binge-eating.
He continued: "Blood work is something I have always done since I was a teenager. I went back doing what I was doing, by getting a comprehensive blood work that tests your organs, hormones, everything. I also got a CT, heart and liver scan - everything I could do."
Now an expert nutritionist sitting at a healthy 225 pounds, Nick uses his transformation to bust a major fitness misconception.
"People always make the mistake of overdoing it, and think you need to be in the gym every single day," he explained.
"I recommend people do a day on and a day off. This will yield the best results for people as they are giving their body a break. You don't work seven days a week 24/7, so why would you put your body through the stress of working out seven days a week?"
Topics: Mental Health, Fitness, US News
Joe Yates