IBD: B. Beckford wanted to get into the fitness industry and... he did (photos)
This super-model has something special and he is not afraid to show it.
On the contrary, he is proudly presenting himself before camera with his colostomy bag on to raise awareness of inflammatory bowel disease.
This is his life story
"At 17, Beckford decided he wanted to get into the fitness industry, so he started to take his training and nutrition more seriously. 'I adapted my diet to achieve those goals, and completed a personal training and nutrition diploma to learn more about diet and training,' he says.
It wasn't long after this, however, that Beckford was diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease that left the lining of his colon covered in ulcers, cutting short any chance of his getting into the fitness industry just when he'd started working towards it.
'I was diagnosed at about 19, so I was still very much learning the ropes,' he says.
Beckford didn't know what was wrong at the time, but he'd started to notice that he was losing weight and seemed unable to put on muscle. His condition deteriorated for around five months before he was diagnosed.
'I was trying to go to the gym, but I couldn't eat afterwards because I felt sick, or I was so fatigued that I couldn't get there in the first place,' he explains.
He also became very limited in what he could eat, and certain foods made his condition worse.
For 10 years, Beckford endured the chronic pain that was just one of the many symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
Despite being dosed up on serious amounts of medication, his condition continued to flare up from time to time.
In 2013, he was admitted to hospital after a particularly extreme flare up, and with no other viable option he had to undergo surgery.
Beckford underwent an ileostomy – a procedure where the large bowel is removed and the small intestine brought through the abdominal wall to form a stoma, which allows waste products to leave the body. He was bed-ridden for six weeks and lost nearly 19 kilos.
After the surgery, he was told that he would never be able to train heavy again. This was a real blow for a man who'd always dreamed of entering fitness competitions.
Beckford also had problems with nutritional absorption, and this combination meant it would be very difficult for him to gain muscle, so the odds were stacked against him getting into fitness-model shape.
Feeling weak and unable even to walk after his surgery, Beckford scoured the internet to find out how others in his position had managed to regain their fitness, but he came up with nothing.
'I felt there was no hope,' he says. But despite being told he would never achieve the kind of physique he wanted, he went after it anyway.
It was a slow process, and his weakened abdominal muscles meant that even walking was a struggle at first.
So Beckford decided to set small goals every day, such as walking to the end of the road or walking around the block.
'I had to regain my fitness before I could even think about getting into the gym and starting to work on building muscle,' he says.
Beckford started doing pilates and yoga to develop his core strength and give him a little strength and robustness before going back to the gym. Conscious of the fact that he could damage his intestine very easily, he bought a hernia belt and a mouldable cup to place over his stoma for protection. 'T
he problem is that with any kind of big movement, such as a deadlift or squat, everything goes into the core, and that pressure needs to go somewhere. So it will try to push out the abdominal muscle where the weakness is, and the bowel will herniate', he explains.
His advice for those coming back from similar surgery is to take the same slow and steady route he did. Start easy, and if something hurts, stop doing it. 'You have to be really in tune with your body,' he says.
From this gentle start, Beckford's fitness went from strength to strength, and his body started to take shape. It's virtually unheard of for someone who has undergone an ileostomy to get into the kind of shape Beckford wanted, but that didn't deter him. Finally, after a year of hard work in the gym and true dedication in the kitchen, Beckford is in the shape of his life and has left the days of constant pain and suffering behind him."
The result is not only visible on his looks (see photos) but also on his actions as Blake Beckford has set up the #FightWithBlake campaign to raise awareness of IBD and having an Ostomy and to demolish any stigma surrounding it.
For more info on this campaign: blakebeckford.co.uk
Δημοφιλείς Ειδήσεις
Το παρασκήνιο της αναβολής της συνάντησης Μπάιντεν-Ερντογάν και το μέλλον των αμερικανοτουρκικών σχέσεων
