“You Can Reach for the Stars”

Rescued from the Depths by Self-Education, Determination, and a Little Help from His Friends.

When misguided supplement use as a teen sent his testosterone plummeting, Adam Castro entered a dark phase that was slowly killing him. Even after overcoming struggles with chemical dependency, his health issues continued as he reached as much as 356 lbs. Now 26 years old, he’s used fitness to not only lose over 100 lbs, but also turn his entire life around and make it into something he’d only dreamt of.

Life-changing transformations like yours start long before the decision to turn your life around. What’s the story behind yours?

I’d always been on the bigger size. My father was bigger, but athletic, so nobody really thought much of it. It was about the time I was in the third grade that it really changed. My parents would always take me and my sister to eat at this family burger spot down the street from our house, and I would always get half of a burger and my sister would get the other. On this one particular day, my sister didn’t want any so I ate the entire burger and that’s when I realized I could eat more.

Sounds like a dangerous discovery.

From there it was all downhill. My father is a great man, but with me being his only son, he kind of spoiled me. He was my enabler, buying me anything I wanted to eat whenever I wanted. By the age of 12, I could eat enough food for a family of four.

What did your mom think about that?

Not much, really. We’re Mexican, so she would cook at home, tell me to eat at home, and it would be pretty healthy. But then my dad would say, “Forget that, let’s go get you something you like.” She wouldn’t say anything, it’s like that machismo thing.

Was it a matter of seeing how much you could eat, or just a love for food?

Both, but more so the love of food. I’d enjoy it so much it’d drive me to eat more. I’m talking an entire order of carne asada fries — which is like a half pound of fries with another half pound of asada meat, sour cream, and guacamole; or from this one local chain, I would get the six-piece fried chicken with half a pound of coleslaw and baked beans, four pieces of toasted bread, and a large soda — and still eat some of my dads fried zucchini fried. I ate it fast, too. My mom used to say I ate like I was in a race.

Were you active at all as a kid?

That was the one thing that kept me from really ballooning, the fact that I played sports since I was 5. Don’t get me wrong, it did help for a while — just not enough. It was like a paper dam trying to hold a flood. My eating habits only got worse from there.

What about when you got older?

During high school I started working out at a local gym with my dad where I met a trainer who sold me the world and started selling me “protein pills” which I became addicted to, getting strength gains that I swear to you felt like I was the hulk. I wasn’t losing weight, but I was getting bigger and I liked it, eventually going to buy my own “protein pills”.

Guessing they weren’t really protein…

Nope. I still remember the name to this day because it would change my life. When I was 18, I felt really sluggish — even more than normal — so I went to the doctor and had blood tests done across the board. Most of them were bad like always, but one stood out to the doctor: My testosterone, which came back at an abysmal 68. I found out that I had been taking test booster regularly for the last three years of my life, and my doctor let me know how bad the consequences of this could be.

How’d you handle the news?

That was when I really crashed. I started hanging out with the wrong people and really fell off the deep end for about two years, sinking to my lowest.

Can you tell us about that?

During my low years, I dove into drinking heavily. I didn’t even like the taste of alcohol of any kind, but it made me forget how I felt, and that I did like. I started Hanging out with my new “friends” more and more, and drinking and drinking and drinking. I got to the point where I could be drunk in public and you couldn’t even tell I was drunk anymore.

How’d you pull yourself out of that downward spiral?

You feel like you’re a piece of trash when you have to steal money from your parents to get your fix. The entire time, I knew that wasn’t who I was, but I didn’t care. Then one day I had enough, decided I was going to turn my life around. I quit cold turkey. I suffered for a week with cold sweats and that kind of stuff. I knew my parents knew what I was going through when I had stopped, but they never scolded me. They knew I was trying to change and they encouraged me quietly

What was the next step for you, once you were clear of that?

I knew I had to keep on changing, so I started to workout again — but still not doing the research I should have done. I started buying all kinds of pre-workouts, loving the feeling of being cracked out while I worked out, feeling like my skin was literally tearing.

A lot of brands are all about the stimulants.

Yeah, and they had me convinced I should be, too. I tried so many. During 2013 I actually bought my first JYM product — and returned it. I remember saying, “What Is this?!? I feel nothing, it’s garbage” and kept on keeping on with my other pre-workouts.

What changed your mind?

I kept at it for a while until I nearly had a heart attack from one of my pre-workouts. I started caring about my health and actually researching, and I kept coming back to JYM and a couple other brands.

What were you looking for, specifically?

I wanted to find out what exactly gave me that itchy feeling, which was beta-alanine. I started looking to see which companies used it, which didn’t, how much to take, and why.

How’d you eventually settle on Pre JYM?

[Renowned fitness expert Dr.] Jim Stoppani had just done something on the beta-alanine which I came across. What I really appreciated was that it wasn’t a boring read — it was interesting in the way it was explained. Then I messaged each brand that beta-alanine and asked how their product could help me, and Jim was the only one who replied.

How did that conversation go?

It was surreal when he responded, because I obviously didn’t know him at all. He was famous, and he owned his own company. I seriously thought to myself, “This guy is never going to respond.” Within a half hour, I heard a ping and bam! I got a message explaining what he was about, and a link to his supps — not to buy, but to research. That’s what sold me.

He could have easily just said, “Oh, yeah, you want to be healthy, buy my product,” but Jim didn’t. He educated me and let me decide why I should buy his over anyone else’s.

So is that when your self-transformation kicked off?

Sort of. I didn’t really become fully invested until 2016, maybe by my third tub of Pre JYM, when I joined the JYM Army Facebook group and did my first challenge with Jim. It was a couple of weeks before the Summer Shred Challenge was going to kick off. I debated on paying the $14 after my $1 30-day trial was up until about two days before it actually started. That’s where I changed who I was once and for all.

What was that first challenge like? You’d already been lifting. How did it compare to previous programs you’d done?

What I had done with my trainer was about it, really, and knowing now what an actual program is supposed to be I’d never call what I did a program. Super Shredded 8 — All I can say is intense, intense, Intense. I got pushed harder than I ever had, and there was no one there but me! Seeing the army’s progress pictures really helped me keep going too!

What surprised me the most about the program was the time it takes going into a program to program yourself into study exactly what you’re about to do in terms of nutrition supplementation and workouts.

Before this challenge, I literally just thought you showed up, lifted some weights, and ate chicken salads. didn’t even know what macro or micro nutrients were before reading Dieting 101. After, I knew what I really had to do to start losing weight. I’d say that challenge was my first real building block. During the challenge, I really learned how determined I could be on my own without someone in my ear the entire time.

Which programs have you done since then?

I’ve done Super-Man, Jim’s Giant Program, Down and Up Mass, and HIIT 100. Super Shredded 8 was my favorite, that’s where I saw the most gains.

Going on two years since the start of your JYM journey, what do you think you’ve learned in that time?

What I’ve learned about myself and life is that I hold the power to mold my life to be what I want it to be. I can accomplish about anything I want in life now that I have one, because what I had before wasn’t a life at all. I was a shell going through the motions, most likely leading to an early death.

Now, thanks to Jim, I’m a man who is relentless in the gym and in life, determined to accomplish all my goals. I have the job of my dreams, and never would have been able to obtain that if I hadn’t changed my way of living. I’m hoping in the future to attend some classes and get my personal training cert to start helping people change their lives the way Jim helped me, while I continue to learn from Jim because the biggest thing in life is to always stay teachable.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, and for sharing your story with us. What message would you like to pass along to anyone reading your story?

Thank you, man. And I’d like to thank anyone who took the time to read my story and get to know me.

As you can see, I wasn’t always what I am today. I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum, and have suffered a lot getting from that rock bottom to the top. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my resolve, and Jim Stoppani. It’s not only for his supplements or brand, but being a man who is always willing to take time out of his day to reply to a message others would find meaningless.

What I love about this line is that his message gets instilled into everyone who educates themselves. Take the JYM Army, for example — I’ve made some of the best and encouraging friends from all over the world on there, all who share some similar stories as mine and have helped push me to keep chugging on.

No matter how worthless you feel, how hopeless you think it is, it isn’t! Never forget that I was like you, thinking the same exact thing. You can accomplish what you want. You can obtain what you’ve only dreamt about. You can reach for the stars, and people like me will be right there alongside you, reaching too. I’m here for anyone who needs me because we all need someone and, when I needed someone, Jim and the JYM Army came through for me.

Adam is an active member of the JYM Army Facebook group page, and can be found there relating his journey to others and sharing the knowledge he’s gained from Dr. Stoppani’s methods.

For more on proper nutrition through Stoppani’s Dieting 101, programs like Super Shredded 8, the Giant Program, and Down and Up Mass, as well as tons of articles and videos from one of the world’s foremost experts on training, supplementation, and sports nutrition, check out JimStoppani.com.