Nick Ruffini
White Dragon Training
Nick’s story has some amazing highs and dramatic lows. Nick has turned his trials into victories and his struggles into some of his most valuable life lessons - you can tell from the moment you meet him that he cares and understands.
I haven't spent a ton of time with Nick but generally you can size someone up within just a few minutes of meeting them, and Nick seems like a genuinely good guy. In 2016 Nick became a personal trainer a year after having his life forever changed from a Crohn's disease diagnosis. During his recovery, he turned to an elimination diet, cutting down to a baseline of six well balanced ingredients that he knew his body could tolerate. Each week he would add a new ingredient and at the end of the week measure to see if he felt better or worse. Using this methodology, Nick was able to dramatically rebuild his body.
Nick now owns and operates White Dragon Training sharing his lessons learned with professional bodybuilders and those just wanting to live better!
Growing up, Nick had always been involved in sports and was very athletic. He also had really good grades which landed him a full-ride scholarship from the Air Force to USF and in his sophomore year was established as the Athletics Officer in charge of physical fitness for his entire detachment. It looked as if everything was coming together quite nicely for Nick, at least until September of 2014 when he started experiencing frequent and unexplained diarrhea.
In addition to the diarrhea, Nick began having blood in his stool, was throwing up, and had developed both abscesses and mouth sores. He was hospitalized twice, put on prednisone, and given his diagnosis six months later. But by the time they got his symptoms under control the damage was already done. He had dropped from a 205 pound athletic build down to 160 pounds, he lost his job, the people closest to him, and even though he already packed his bags for Air Force field training he received word from his superiors that he was being medically discharged. He was stripped of his scholarship and his future.
Nick was devastated but he turned what seemed like his defeat into a love for bodybuilding. He slowly transformed his body into a beast of lean muscle showcased in competitions across the world. However in late 2019, due to a series of events, Nick tapered off of his medication and his baseline diet and started to flare again, this time losing 70 pounds of the lean muscle that he had worked so hard to gain over the three years prior!
Nick is rebuilding his life yet again and remains positive and hopeful through it all. He graduated Cum Laude with a degree in physics and astronomy and is looking to go back to school to get a PhD. Nick highly recommends bodybuilding for everyone, including those with IBD, as it allows you set your own pace, to stay active, and can be individualized based on personal goals.
In life, you aren't always guaranteed good health for tomorrow. Nick's motto for life has become, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain!" He encourages everyone to not be scared of the storm but instead to put on their rain boots, splash in the puddles, and admire the beauty that exists even within the storm. Yes, at some point the storm will pass, and yes that will be a glorious day, but don't miss the wonder of the storm while you are in it. Find ways to laugh, dance, and have fun even in its midst. We all have responsibilities in life but find what makes you live life to its fullest and do more of that! "Never let your past story get in the way of your future dreams!"
Nick's hope for all of us with IBD is that we all become our biggest advocates - for ourselves and for the larger community. There are major healthcare implications for our nation in the years ahead if we don't start addressing the increasing population of young adults with chronic conditions now. Nick is partnering with a movement called "The Invisible Wave" to help enact legislation that will help support the 20 million millennials whose lives have been unexpectedly devastated by chronic conditions. You can read more about this amazing cause in the links provided below.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Nick.
Nick is a personal trainer in central Florida. You can find out more about his offerings and his interest in the Invisible Wave Movement in the links below. Nick also has shared his story with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and can be read here.
White Dragon Training: www.whitedragontraining.com
Invisible Wave Website: www.invisiblewave.org.
