Giovanni Regalado knows all about getting in shape. Going from being obese in the 5th grade to becoming one of the top football players of his class, the sophomore takes pride in his accomplishments. As a self-proclaimed and friend-proclaimed fitness guru, Gio, as his friends call him, is in love with the his healthy lifestyle.

“Usually [my day] starts off with waking at 5 a.m. Then I eat something usually high in protein or with lots of vitamins, then at 5:30 a.m. I pack my stuff and go to school for football weightlifting. After a long and exciting day of school, I will go to the Vaughn Center or any gym and work out again for an hour and a half, then do thirty minutes of intense cardio. Each day I like to work on different muscle groups. Then on day five I overtrain a certain muscle group. Finally I go home and my mom or dad will have a nutritious dinner for me to eat,” Regalado said.

Gio suggests for anyone that is looking to take on a healthier lifestyle to start making changes slowly.

“Just start by running and weightlifting and slowly transitioning your diet by making it healthier. It’s as simple as that,” Regalado said. “I recommend it to everyone because exercise is key to a happier lifestyle.”

If one were to look at Gio now, however, it would not be easy to guess what the elementary version of him looked like. But it wasn’t always dumbbells and protein shakes for Regalado.

“It started when I was in the 5th and was obese and sick and tired of not being fit. I wanted everything that could be offered to me,” Regalado said.

From hitting the gym to making healthier decisions, Gio is all about the daily grind of earning his success.

But working out everyday is no easy feat, especially for a student athlete. As he dresses for varsity football and runs the 200m in track, Gio says that he tries to workout every day, even during his seasons. His hope is that he won’t get out of shape. Add some homework on top of that, and Gio’s schedule is pretty full, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Practices are very exciting. All this energy is flowing and everyone is flying around hitting each other, having fun, making jokes. It does get tiring after a while, but it’s all worth it,” Regalado said. “We will usually go over some offense a little in the beginning and then we’ll break it down into positions and depending on what day it is we will do defense or offense. And then we condition at the end.”

And just how does this gym animal manage to muster up the motivation to hit the machines day after day?

“It starts off on me thinking about who I want to be and how I can make a change to my body. Or I can get mad from something that’s recently happened or I will just naturally get pumped for no reason,” Regalado said.

That’s an impressive mindset, especially for a 16-year-old. It’s safe to say that fitness is one of Gio’s passions, and a passion that won’t be fading anytime soon.