03/27/2026
It's a small world after all. Working with Kevyn B., I came to learn that his cousin was the person who helped me break into the bodybuilding world back in 2003. Kevyn's journey was more than just mental and physical, it was also a sprititual journey and it started as a gift from God as he prayed for someone to help him find is health again...Please do read the full story below.
MY SILENT JOURNEY BACK TO PHYSICAL HEALTH
Kevyn Bashore 3/09/26
Today marks the one-year anniversary of when I began a journey to reclaim my physical health and life once again, with the help of Andy Sharp, of Sharp Health and Fitness.
In 2010, at 48 years old, I had started a professional diet and body/weight-training program with Bobby Bashore, my dad's cousin, who was a world class body builder, and entered a phase of the greatest physical condition of my life. During this time, I was also engaged in Spartan Races and the like. It was when I began running "barefoot" on deer trials through mountains with the Vibram toe shoe (glove) on my feet. After my beginning success of working with Bobby, my sister, Crystal, followed my lead and also entered a period of her greatest physical health. As heaven would ordain it, about fifteen years later we both would be working with Andy Sharp to regain our health, a man we had no idea had been trained by our relative, Bobby, in Pennsylvania in 2003/04. Irony
of ironies.
In 2024/2025, about fifteen years after our greatest season of health and wellness — my sister and I were both at our worst seasons of ill health and non-wellness — and the
tables turned: I now followed my sister's lead to work with Andy. Crystal lead the way. She found him in North Carolina and worked with him long-distance. But this time was
different. We both had been around enough mountains to realize that we needed to understand why we couldn't hold onto physical health beyond a year or two. The key was in realizing that food addictions are deeply rooted in childhood, our body, our family,
our culture, our soul, and can stay with us for our entire lives.
I knew I couldn't begin a health program until I was ready, willing, and financially dedicated to whatever it would take to eat well, consistently. I knew I needed to know
when I was ready to start. I felt like God answered my prayers and arranged for me to begin exactly when I did: March 9, 2025. I also knew I needed a program focused solely
on food health first. Then on muscle building. I wanted to eat well, eat better, learning what my body needs specifically, scientifically, to exist each day, and what it needs to repair and build my muscle on workout days, ultimately rebuilding my health and body systematically and wisely. That is exactly what Andy's program provides. In January of 2025, I was at my heaviest in my entire life: 198 pounds. My sweet spot for weight was 168 pounds. Or so I thought. That weight was when I had lean muscle. But over many years, I inexplicably lost all my muscle, and I came to a shocking revelation during the past year of just how severe my fat gain had been. In 2020 to 2022, I had been a radical Keto dieter for two years. Decades ago it was Whole 30, and other health diets, but after years on each one I would always hit a wall. My undoing
would always be when I finally asked a simple question: "Do I really want to live like this for the rest of my life?" The answer was always no — and I would instantly stop whatever plan I was on. Inevitably, without a rudder — I would end up eating randomly
and eventually gain back the weight I had lost. And more. For each diet, the doubt began with: "Do I want to eat high fats for the rest of my life?" or "Do I want to weigh my food for the rest of my life?" or "Do I want to give up desserts for the rest of my life?" or
"Do I want to give up potatoes or corn or dairy or fruits or red meat or eggs or (fill in the blank) for the rest of my life?" The answer was always: No. No. No. No. No.
What pushed me to work with Andy? I felt like I was dying. Leg injuries throughout my life (I relish running "barefoot" on deer trails in the mountains at sunset) finally caught up
with me and I had to stop running. I believed I would never run again. Plantar fasciitis is a severely debilitating injury. The lack of running and body building, coupled with the mysterious deterioration of my muscle, left me mentally numb. When I looked in the mirror — I couldn't accept what I was seeing. How could someone who tried so hard all my life to be healthy in body, soul, and spirit, be so unhealthy? To my astonished horror
I witnessed jellied fat hanging from my arms and body. After having reached my peak physical condition at age 48 to 55, I found myself now living in what felt and looked like a 95 year old body at age 62. This was more than I could fathom or endure. I had no
hope left. My will and energy were dissolving, disappearing day by day into a quicksand lethargy, while my body, mid-section, was simultaneously expanding uncontrollably into
a pear-shaped balloon. This reminded me of older relatives on both sides of my family tree who were lean, but ended up with pot-bellies. It was as if it didn't matter if I tried to
be healthy or not: all roads would lead to a pot-belly. I had even reduced my eating to one small meal a day for dinner, and I still gained weight. I felt powerless to stop the
decline and madness.
Much prayer and cries to heaven came forth. Meanwhile, Crystal had started working with Andy. I watched her intensely and interviewed her throughout her first six months
with him. I was curious and suspicious. Not sure I trusted him. I watched Crystal progress and fail and progress and stumble and progress and so on. Most importantly, She was committed. She asked Andy many questions and was honest with her food
addictions, challenges, and failures. For many years, I had witnessed my sister's plunging into an unhealthy oblivion and an out-of-control weight gain. I silently grieved the loss of the sister I knew. I felt guilty for feeling unable to accept her as she appeared
to expand to over a hundred pounds beyond her normal weight. At one point I told her this: "If you tell me you feel healthier at this weight, I will support you." Years later, that's
exactly what she said to me. She felt free and healthy. I was aghast. I could not hold true to my promise. This weight on her, and now on me, did not feel like healthy bliss. It felt like a monster that had devoured our true identities and suffocated the life we were
meant to live. I could see that my sister must certainly be eating far too much food. That seemed obvious. But if that was true, then it must also be true for me, as well. So how did I come to the point where I wasn't able to monitor and regulate the amount of food I
was eating? I would begin my journey exactly six months after Crystal started working with Andy.
And here’s the reason I was able to start: a gift from a friend. I asked God to give me a sign by a certain date as a confirmation that He was green-lighting this financial, time, and life commitment to a complete physical health overhaul. No one knew my prayer.
On the date I set for an answer, I received a surprise financial gift from a friend living in a nearby state for the exact amount to pay for my first month on Andy’s program. I was amazed by God’s, and my friend’s, kindness and generosity. As it is evident for anyone reading Andy's reviews, and depending on the services
arranged with Andy (I chose to enter the three-month package), there are daily morning weigh-ins on a special scale that provides twelve body analyses, five meal check-ins a
day through texted photos, weekly measurements, and monthly reviews. These mandates can appear overwhelming and excessive, but there is a definite logic, reason, and science backing his system. Planning, buying, cooking, and prepping meals a week
at a time was something that at first made me angry. It took much time and effort. Why couldn't Andy simply do this for me? The result was impactful. Doing it all myself eventually gave me back my autonomy and a sense of regaining control of my life.
Getting used to weighing food again took time to adjust, as well, as I was very against living in this manner in the past. Ultimately, I was committed to doing whatever Andy
recommended — and the fat on my body began to disappear pound by pound, day by day. At the start, I had already lost about five pounds from my heaviest scale weight of 198.
My official beginning weight when working with Andy was 193 pounds. I thought I would only need to lose around 25 pounds. I was severely wrong. It turned out that I lost 49
total pounds and 45 pounds from the start date with Andy. My lowest scale weight over the past year hovered around 148 pounds. Although this weight appears on paper to be normal for my size, it is a severe weight for me to manage, so during the past nine
months I have fluctuated my average stable weight between 155 to 160 pounds. For now, I think this might be what I continue to aim for. If I attempt to gain more muscle, that may change. Andy's system of daily weight and body system analysis, plus texting him a photo of each meal and snack per day, was a practice that seemed overwhelming at first — but one that I came to appreciate and relish. In fact, after I ended my three-month personal work with Andy and started my solitary journey, I realized that going cold-turkey was not healthy for me, so I continued texting myself a photo of every meal and snack for at least six months. This, oddly, kept me running on the system that was created and I
became my own accountability partner. Crazy. But it worked.
To my surprise, I made it through my first three months of severe food changes and regulations without stumbling, except at the end when I went on a five-day birthday vacation. But I turned that around quickly. I was eventually able to begin running on mountains and working out again. Something I highly doubted I could ever do again. So what have I learned during this journey?
First of all, I had to admit a hard truth to myself: I will never have what the world considers to be the perfect physique or beautiful body. I was born with severe bowed-
legs and had to wear braces as an infant in order to twist my legs into normal positions.
The challenge is that my foundational bone structure was never “cured” or fully altered. I inherited genes that caused my bones to be bent in abnormal directions, making it
impossible, without a miracle, to walk, run, or stand as a normal person does, or to build muscle on my chest, shoulders, and legs that comes naturally to many men. Ultimately, I am in no competition with anyone else on the planet. The only measure is
that I do the best I can to take care of the body, soul, and spirit God has given to me to be a temple of the Holy Spirit of Christ. And to Love God and others as I love myself: a challenge I face every moment of every day. Possibly the greatest challenge of working again on my physical health was finally coming to terms with the reality of food addictions and body changes. I am still
astonished that after a year of working on my health, the daily process of coming to the food table with intention and planning is still as difficult as it was on day one. Each meal
and snack is a literal fast. I am not at leisure to eat whatever I want at whatever time I want. I am trained now, again, to eat every two or three hours. And each meal or snack is regulated. Eating outside the parameters of my specific foods and measurements leads instantly to fat and weight gain. Coming to terms with the reality that my food and meal choices are either regulated for life or not, is an imperative. And if I choose to go back to an unregulated feasting, I must embrace the reality that I will gain 50 or more
pounds again and potentially never regain the unction or energy to tackle health and wholeness again. This is sobering. It seems that drug and alcohol addictions bring people to this same
realization. It is wisdom to understand that food addictions are very real and potentially the hardest addictions to conquer, because we simply can't survive without eating. Facing and fighting food addictions is a sometimes minute-by-minute battle. Food is a powerful fuel. A motivator. It is with us every day of our lives. It can act like a companion, if we empower it to be so. It can temporarily diffuse sadness, grief, pain, suffering, depression, hunger, anger, loss, despair, loneliness, hopelessness, rejection,
shame, failure, and so on. It can numb our ability to face our pain and suffering within. It is meant to grow and empower our bodies for good. It surrounds and girds and colours and infuses every holiday, every family event, every community feast, every relationship celebration. Food is named after heaven (Heavenly delights, Angel Food Cake, etc.) and hell (Death by Chocolate, Devil’s Food Cake, etc.). Food can be a blessing or a
curse. We choose whether food has heavenly results or hellish consequences; a wholistic experience or a feeding frenzy for the beast within. God made food good. Gardens good. Feasting, festivals, and celebrations good. The enemy of our soul and
our own downward thinking turns food into a crutch, a weapon, an idol. God made food. On the seventh day of creation he said, “It is good.” That included food and eating, as well. I am reminded that Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into wine. Jesus’ final meal before his crucifixion was with his closest friends, his disciples.
And we are promised that at the end of time as we know there will be banquets, feasting, and celebrations with Christ.
In the meantime, learning to navigate, guide, and steward hunger, desires, and appetites, is a godly endeavour — and a solitary battle.
I recommend working with Andy if and when you are ready to tackle your physical health and wellness issues fully and completely. His plan is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to dive in fully with your time, energy, wallet, and commitment to food prep,
daily accountabilities through text, and standing quickly after stumbling or falling. Enter this door with the knowledge that there is no turning back to exit the way you came in.
We must walk forward in faith, hope, joy, and fortitude.
Is it worth it? This is a question only you can answer.
Is your body, health, and wellness worth it? Such wellness can afford us the ability to expand health and wholeness into our mind,
soul, emotions, as well as into our creativity, productivity, relationships, and spirit. This is called human flourishing.
Jesus calls it abundant life. A life only he can give us.
May it be so for us all.
Jesu Juva.
Soli Deo Gloria.
