"People were staring, but (when I took my shirt off), people were like, 'OK, never mind. This dude isn't here to play games," said the Army Green Beret.
Few took this Army veteran seriously when he entered a body building contest, but he proved the doubters wrong when he beat most of the competition despite having only one arm and one leg.
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Georgia native Jared Bullock, 32, was serving as an elite Green Beret in 2013 when a roadside bomb expolded during his tour in Afghanistan. The blast took his right arm and leg.
“I’ve had a few bad days in the beginning,” Bullock told InsideEdition.com.
He said he was able to survive by setting goals for himself each day. They included being able to attend his son's birthday and running a marathon.
Eventually, he decidedanother milestone would be to entering a body building competition.
"I like challenges and I figured this would be one that would take a lot of time and prep to accomplish," he said. "Also I'm very competitive."
He started by going to the gym.
"For everything that's on the left side, I [work out] normally," he said.
The trickier part was working out his right side, where he would have to use ankle straps and different prosthetic legs to adjust for his amputations. "I'd try to create the same pull on the other side to help maintain symmetry and balance," he explained.
In combination with a diet of lean meats and whole grains, he quickly began building up to his goals in time for the Daytona Beach Classic, which was held last week.
When Bullock and his trainer arrived at the competition, he said he immediatley bonded with the participants since many of them were also veterans, though they looked much different than he did.
"One of the things I deal with is my confidence. I have it, but I do look different," Bullock said. "People were staring. I thought, 'This is going to be awkward."
But the moment Bullock removed his shirt during warm-ups, the atmosphere changed and the other participants began taking him seriously. "People were like, 'Okay, nevermind. This dude isn't here to play games."
He ended up coming in 5th place out of 12 contestants, and joked he placed above many people who competed with the advantage of all four limbs.
"I felt pretty good," he said.
Read: Veteran Who Was Struck By Lightning Fights For His Life Several Years After Escaping IED Blast
Despite having just completed his first body building comeptition, he said he's looking forward to his next, as well as an upcoming race he plans to run.
He even plans to go back to school and finish his degree in business.
"I like to live like nothing happened," Bullock told InsideEdition.com.
Watch: Amputee Veterans Reveal Why They Showed Off Their Battle Scars in Latest Nude Photoshoot
