Music producer Trappa MadeIt lost 143 lbs while in pursuit of a nutritional alternative to address his struggle with anxiety and depression.

In life there is a cardinal rule, “all rules need not apply.”

What works for one person’s journey is not the same for another’s. While it may be tempting to compare our lives to those of our peers, it is important that we remember to march to the beat of our own drums and discover what works for ourselves. The information and resources are out there, it is just a matter of discovering what works best for you and sticking to it with discipline.

For entrepreneur and music producer Trappa MadeIt, born Charles Hill, marching to the beat of his own drum would result in a lifestyle transformation that would improve his mental and physical health exponentially. In this process, he also went from paying $20 rent in the projects to now being the proud owner of everything he has.

Trappa MadeIt struggled with his weight his entire life, but it wasn’t until he decided to take matters into his own hands for his mental health that he would lose a total of 143 lbs.

His main reason for losing weight was because of his mental health

Trappa tells Goalcast, “The weight loss wasn’t my top priority, it was second on the list. My top priority was mental health. That was my priority, targeting anxiety and depression, and I knew that I could do so from eating correctly, from thinking correctly.”

So, I had to clean my diet, I had to clean my thoughts, and it was hard because at the time the conversations that I was having with myself wasn’t good.

Trappa

Trappa MadeIt survived 3 years of homelessness in Florida. He applied for public housing but was put on a two-year waiting list because at the time he had no children, so there was less of an urgency for him to secure a unit. He reveals, “I was homeless 3 years straight and I don’t mean ‘sleeping on a friend’s couch’ homeless, or you know, ‘bouncing from place to place’ homeless… I mean homeless, outside, cardboard box, eating out of the dumpster, waiting for 7/11 to bring out the donuts, when they’re about to throw those donuts out… Homeless like that.”

When he finally made it into public housing, Trappa made the most productive use of his time and circumstances. He “used that moment as a stepping stone” and “took advantage of the $20 rent.”

“I worked. I educated myself at the time. I didn’t have any schooling, my last grade completed was the 8th grade… So, I took my GED that I had, and I went back to college, and I started taking courses, weatherization courses and things like that. I started getting into jobs … just saving my money, working hard, you know…I took all of that energy and seized that moment to go to the next, to better myself for my future, so that’s what I did.”

He eventually recognized his vicious patterns

With hard work and focus, things started coming together for Trappa MadeIt. The music producer says, “I started getting into the right investments, I started getting into stocks, I started getting into real estate.” Trappa even got into CBD brokerage early when it was “fresh” and unsaturated.

Trappa MadeIt began educating himself on real estate. He says, “I was watching YouTube videos and I wanted to apply it and see if it would work, and it did. It worked for me, I ended up closing the deal and I was like, ‘This worked! I just made like, $7,000 that fast!’”

He then moved from his hometown of Asheville, NC to Atlanta, GA after putting out a song with popular rappers Moneybagg Yo and NBA Youngboy. The record called “Stormin” was well received with 20 million streams online. The track opened up doors for Trappa MadeIt in Atlanta where he would first rent a home and then buy a house a year later.

When Trappa was homeless he lost a great deal of weight, but as soon as he got into public housing, he put it back on. He was smoking heavily, drinking, and was addicted to food. The weight gain caused him great anxiety.

The entrepreneur reflects, “I can’t say at the time that I knew I was depressed, I had been through these events that had taken place in my life, there had to be some sort of trauma there.”

Trappa MadeIt continues, “I felt like the things that I was doing at the time were really affecting my body, it was affecting my mind and I crashed out. And that’s when I realized that I needed to make a change.”

Trappa was prescribed benzodiazepines, such as Xanax and Ativan, by his doctor for the anxiety but says that they stopped working for him. He began to misuse his medication, doubling up at times, and became concerned about the road he might be going down.

The business owner says, “I just seen a vicious cycle, being in that environment, seeing what drugs can do to someone’s life. Just seeing other people’s lives, and I was like, ‘That’s not the road, I don’t wanna be this guy.’ ‘I don’t wanna be this person’… This is how it starts. From a trauma, from a prescription, and now you’re an addict.”

Trappa says that he quit the prescriptions, smoking and drinking all cold turkey. However, while he had quit all of these addictions and habits that did not work for him, he still had the weight issue. He says, “I think I turned to food more.”

He educated and motivated himself without any help from others

The business owner went from weighing around 260-250 lbs, to eating increasingly more, and then hitting his heaviest weight of 340 lbs. The anxiety returned and became even more prevalent for Trappa. It got to the point where he couldn’t leave the house at times. He couldn’t travel. The producer says, “I would spend money just recklessly trying to cater around that fear.”

He gives an example saying, “I didn’t like being stuck in traffic, so I would rent like a Sprinter for the whole month. Just throwing money away so I could be comfortable, and I could be laid down in the back, I can have the A/C on, that’s the kind of stuff that I was doin’. Just crazy stuff so I could avoid those fears or scenarios where I could be uncomfortable and so I realized this isn’t gonna work.”

That was when Trappa decided to get serious about nutrition. Prior to his realization, he had tried the keto and paleo diets, gone to the weight loss clinic in Asheville twice, and had a trainer at Gold’s Gym. None of it worked. So Trappa sought to educate himself on the nutrition needed to “fight the anxiety.”

The entrepreneur’s mind was still processing everything that he had been through. He says of that time, “I was on autopilot from everything negative that I just came from. From the homelessness, from the projects, from all of that stuff, from childhood, so I’m replaying all of those negative conversations that I’ve told myself.”

I felt like the things that I was doing at the time were really affecting my body, it was affecting my mind and I crashed out. And that’s when I realized that I needed to make a change.

Trappa MadeIt

Trappa found the key to his issues and decided to put a plan into action. The producer recalls, “So it was extremely hard to think cleaner and eat cleaner but the way that you do anything is the way that you do everything. So, I applied that.”

Trappa MadeIt says that the weight started coming off and he was down to 290-285 lbs from 340 lbs, and then he “got stuck.” He went through what he calls a “vicious cycle,” where he would put on 10-15 lbs, lose 20, gain another 10-15, try a diet, lose weight, and then gain weight again.

The frustration got to Trappa but did not deter him. He explains, “I’m watching these other people’s extreme weight loss journeys and I’m reading all of their stories and I’m like, ‘Why I can’t be there? Why I can’t be in the winner’s circle?’ I was that person that was watching the success stories, and that’s when I got the Nutri-Shed.”

Trappa MadeIt discovered that he didn’t need to take a multivitamin and wanted to supplement his diet with the missing vitamins through nutrition. He went to get bloodwork done to find out which vitamins he was deficient in. Then the thought dawned on him, if they can check his vitamin levels, then surely they can check hormone levels and imbalances. Trappa asked himself, “what foods can I add that will make these hormones balance out?” He says that it was then that he got the formula for Nutri-Shed.

Trappa describes, “And, I started taking it, and it worked, and it sped up my metabolism. It boosted my immune system. I had pre-diabetic symptoms, I had high blood pressure problems, it reversed that so it’s like, I should have been taking this! The weight started falling off, I started feeling better, my circulation got better, I just felt better as a person, my anxiety improved, my depression improved…”

Trappa says his strength comes from his son believing in him

Trappa no longer has to worry about fighting off the negative thoughts alone. He has, as he says, his “best friend” with him, his 4-year-old son.

Trappa MadeIt lovingly explains, “I talk to him, he’s so smart, and intelligent. It changed my perspective. I guess before he got to where he could talk and really respond and just interact with me the way that he is, you know, I loved him since then… but the way that we are now, the bond that we have now, everything that I’m doing… because I tell him that he’s the greatest he feeds that energy back into me. So randomly he’ll say, ‘Dad you’re the greatest.’”

With his son mirroring his positive energy back to him, Trappa explains that he has changed the narrative in his mind. The repetitive negative conversation has been replaced by father-son love.

Trappa MadeIt shares, “It’s his voice now, when I’m going through hard times, I don’t have to tell myself these negative things anymore because I hear him, ‘Dad you’re the greatest.’ So that’s what he does for me, along my journey.”

On what he would say to someone who can relate to where he was before his transformation, Trappa MadeIt says, “I guess I would tell someone in that situation to sit with themselves and have a deep conversation with themselves about where they want to be at. What do they want to do, what’s bothering them?”

Trappa continues with his powerful message saying, “All health is wealth.” And then specifically speaks to anyone who is unhappy or depressed to the point of asking themselves first thing in the morning, ‘I’m here?!’ or ‘Awww, I gotta do this again today?!’

Trappa MadeIt says to that person, “You know when you get to that point, don’t give up. Because that is a unique position that you are in because now you are done with your old self. That feeling of fed up, that feeling of suffering, that is the new birth.”

Trappa wisely adds, “You have reached the end point of the old you. So now, the new you, you can literally step into… And it’s scary, I was scared, the transition was scary, but you have to make it and you’ll be so happy that you did.”

my journey started for targeting an inner experience for me, it was personal for me… If I could have felt like this and still been that big, it wouldn’t have mattered to me. But, I did understand that that weight was what was causing me to feel that way.

Trappa MadeIt

Trappa has a few secrets to his overall health transformation. He reveals, “Not only do I take cold showers, but I have also given up my bed, I sleep on the floor, and I do go outside, I try to make a habit of it. I go outside at least 3 times a week and take my shoes off and do grounding, that’s where you get in contact with the ground, with the earth.”

Trappa says that the cold showers release endorphins which help combat depression and anxiety. He says they are also beneficial for improving circulation and skin conditions, are good for your metabolism, for boosting the immune system and for cardiovascular conditions as well. Trappa adds that sleeping on the floor helps with circulation, blood pressure and posture.

Additionally, he has not had any surgeries or procedures done. He doesn’t even have a gym membership just a solid routine. It consists of drinking 2 bottles of room temperature water first thing in the morning. Then, he does 15-20 minutes of yoga stretching followed by a 15-minute paced walk. He then takes his cold shower, has some Nutri-Shed, and 30 minutes later he makes his typical breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, and dry cheerios.

He wants to use his experience to help others in similar conditions

Trappa MadeIt not only decided to walk to the beat of his own drum, but he makes the beat too. The entrepreneur and music producer actively sought out what was going to work for him specifically and in doing so he came up with a formula that helps others in similar situations.

When it comes to what to expect from him in the future, Trappa says he sees himself being a “motivator” and sharing his story globally: “I want to get out into the world and connect with people, I want to give information, I want to give knowledge and hope and encouragement to everyone who needs it.”

Trappa MadeIt sought to combat his mental health struggles and level up his life in all areas in the process. The success that he experienced is proof that when you educate yourself on how to put in the work to care for yourself and then do it, you can achieve incredible things.

Carve out your path and design your life in a way that is tailor fit to you. Prioritize your mental health and take steps every day towards becoming your new self. When you put your wellness first, there is no telling what amazing side effects can occur as a result. From homeless to homeownership, and from poor health to physical and mental wellness, anything is possible.

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