My Story….in a nutshell! (originally written in early 2011)

Posted: May 16, 2012 in Uncategorized

**Note:  I wrote this in early 2011 while working out of Just Add Muscle inc.  Due to relocating, I am no longer there on a day to day basis…however, I still remain in close contact with the guys their and do meet with individuals for nutrition consultations when I’m in the area (I currently live about 2 hrs. away, which makes it very reasonable for me to get there as needed to meet clients).  I would be providing a disservice to everyone if I didn’t encourage you to check out Just Add Muscle inc. online, on Facebook, or in person!  Also, their long awaited elite supplement line XPS is now available!!!  You’re all in for a treat…I’d like to give a special thanks to Rene G. and his team over there, always there for a friend when needed and a great mind in the supplement industry!!   

    Allow me a moment to introduce myself and tell you a little about my story…. My name is Jason Croce, I am a certified sports nutritionist/ bodybuilder/ strength and conditioning as well as a contest prep coach!  At the age of 5 or 6 I started lifting those dumbbells that you can adjust by adding water, sand, or rocks as you get stronger…hey, I just wanted to look like He-Man, what can I say!….I continued on to have quite a bit of success in a wide range of sports thru high school, all the while continuing my dedication to the love of training!  After high school and suffering a couple of serious injuries I was almost relieved that I was now able to focus solely on building my physique!  I won every teenage contest I entered culminating with the lightweight class and Overall Championship at the NPC Teenage Nationals in 2002 (I was recently told, I was, and still am the only lightweight to ever win the overall title, but I have not yet confirmed it myself w/ the NPC).  The very next year I immediately through my hat into the NPC National Championships (before there was a welterweight class)…although I placed out of the top 15 and was not happy, I did feel like I was bigger and better than the year prior and I knew I could hold my own on a Mens National stage so I wasn’t devastated….yet!  Without a doubt in hindsight I would have done the Jr. National’s or Jr. USA’s if given the chance to do it over.  The next year while vacationing I had a freak accident which caused massive internal bleeding, which required a 5 pint blood transfusion (the human body holds about 8) and a week stint in the hospital…needless to say my training suffered some serious setbacks!  Then, in November of 2006 I competed in the NPC All South Bodybuilding Championships in St. Augustine, FL….I won the middleweight class as well as the Overall Championship! Now I was back on my game, right?  I thought so anyway (which was all that really mattered in my mind)….so I concluded it was time to try out the West Coast and enter the 2007 NPC USA Championships in Las Vegas!  This is where the story takes a turn….5 weeks out I caught an upper respiratory infection and even though I took 6th in the welterweight’s (which I still think was a gift if I’m being honest), I took it really hard!!  I felt like I had let everyone down, and that I was a failure…honestly, I still can’t bring myself to look at those photos to this day!  Knowing how disappointed I was not being at my best, the gym that I worked and trained at in Ft. Myers, FL took up a collection to pay for my expenses so I could redeem myself at that years National Championships being held in Dallas, TX!  Hesitant at first, the sore loser in me took over and I decided to go for it!….after an intense prep I left the airport feeling confident, arrived a few days before the contest, weighed in, no sweat….Thursday night, looking freaky!  Friday afternoon prejudge, what happened?  I still can’t really answer that question, chalk it up to mistiming, or nerves, or whatever you want but the bottom line is I choked!  This is when things really started to take a toll on me!!!  I was absolutely crushed, until then I had never felt anything like it….I thought the post USA’s depression was bad, that was nothing!  I continued to beat myself up for a couple years and became almost bitter toward the sport, not that bodybuilding ever did anything to me but I needed something to blame for why I felt so low!….Thank goodness there are great people in my life who saw this decline in me as a person and told me the things I knew but didn’t want to hear or admit….I gave in and went to a Therapist who was amazing at helping me see life from a new perspective, one that I had lost to depression and my own self pity!  Which brings us to the present…got my priorities in order, I’m back in the gym training harder than ever and have a wonderful group of athletes that I work with from nearly every walk of life from the quintessential “soccer mom” to elite NFL & MLB athletes!….I’m also proud to announce that I have recently teamed up with the supplement superstore Just Add Muscle w/ 2 locations in Cape Coral, FL, where I am available at in person Monday thru Saturday.  If you don’t live near bye, no problem, I provided virtually the same services and nutritional guidance via email and/or phone calls….my goal is simpily to share as much REAL science and information as possible, while teaching each client how to systematically apply those principles to themselves in order to acheive their desired results….health and fitness is a lifestyle not a fad!  All it takes is discipline, consistent training, and someone to hold you accountable and push you in the right direction!  If I positively influence only 1 person….thats a check in the win column as far as I’m concerned!…..stay tuned to the website as we (myself and Just Add Muscle) have some really cool things planned in 2011.  I plan to share videos and pictures as well as interviews w/ many of the athlete we sponsor and work with on a regular basis!…..Oh, and to answer the question I’m asked most often….I never say never when it comes to getting back on stage!  Guess you’ll have to wait and see!!  

Thank you & God Bless,
Jason Croce

Comments
  1. Lisa O'Brien says:

    Hey J, glad to hear you are back!!! Lisa O’Brien

    • jasoncroce says:

      Hey Lisa! I didn’t go anywhere, just figuring all this social media, blogging, networking integration stuff out…finally! Haha I registered my blog as a website domain jasoncroce.me so anyone can read my articles, both the new ones and the existing ones (60 or so). Hope all is well with you, and I encourage you to read thru the blog and see what may interest you and please, share with friends…spread the gift of health!! Thanks for the comment…talk to you soon!
      ~Jason

  2. zelda carelzen says:

    Hey jason, I was watching body building something or other on tv with my mom when I was jounger and I stil remember you to this day. I always whanted to be a bodybuilder but everyone said its not for girls and I was so dissapointed so the years took over(mom and whife) but I’m glad to see that you are back on your feet and moving foward… Stongs my friend

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