“We do today what they won’t, so tomorrow we can accomplish what they can’t.”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

My fitness journey started almost five years ago when I decided to join a gym to break the streak of heart disease that took both my father and his father before him at young ages. As a former college athlete, I was very confident in my ability to accomplish my goals without any help. I would scoff at people taking classes thinking they were less athletic than me and needed guidance because they didn’t know what they were doing. Personal trainers were for beginners or people who lacked motivation.

In June of 2018, Jennifer, my wife convinced me that we needed to join the newly-opened Life Time club in Cypress. I didn’t care where we went as long as there was a weight floor. Jennifer quickly jumped into studio classes.  I sat back and watched my wife lose almost fifty pounds and she fell in love again with the group fitness community. It became part of her every day.  I was just sitting on the sidelines watching her take back control of her health. With her results glaring me in the face, I could not sit by and not be on the journey with her.

So I conceded and decided to take one 5AM cycling class every week. This is where I met Kim who has become one of my most favorite instructors. She is someone who guides/pushes us to our EDG in her friendly and dry humored way. She encourages me to set small goals and crush them, then reset and crush again… so I did. Then I met Iliana. STRIKE has become my most favorite class that LT offers. Her STRIKE class offers the calorie burn that I need with the variety and action that I crave. Iliana knows exactly how to push you to your limits then grabs you right before you fall off the cliff. She has been a major influence on my family through subtle guidance and constant encouragement.

I met a 60day participant in cycle class.  Since joining LTA Cypress he has undergone complete transformation.  He too was a “big guy”.  When I saw all that he had accomplished, all the things I dreamed for myself and my health, I knew I needed more help. I needed to complete mindset change.  With the encouragement of my wife, Iliana and Kim, I joined the 60day program and met Pam.  Simply put, Pam has CHANGED my life. I never fully appreciated the amount of science that goes into truly learning what works for your body.  She has changed the way I work-out, the way I approach nutrition and the way I fuel my body to support the level of exercise I do. We entered this challenge with me thinking that forty pounds was a nice goal and would get me to where I wanted to be.  After my final weigh in this morning, I am lighter and in better shape than my wife has ever known me.  I fit in clothes that I haven’t since high school.

LT has offered me something that the other gym never would have– I have made friends and built relationships that have inspired me.  This is a community that embraced me as a “not so in shape” guy and pushed me to catch up to some other elite levels.

Words cannot express how excited I am about my future now and the family I have gained through this place/program. I am going to be a fit bodied guy, not a fat guy who lifts heavy weights.  Pam has inspired me to go far beyond my original goal and as I sit here fifty-four pounds down, and talking to her about how we are going to get the last 15 off, I know there is nothing I can’t accomplish.  So I WILL do a mud run with some friends that I have gained from this program and in 2020 my positive commitment is that I am going to try every class that LT offers at least twice.  If eight weeks can produce this, I can’t wait to see what the next eight months or eight years does.  Because of these people, I will be healthy enough to be around to see my kids get married and my grandchildren born, something my father or grandfather never did.

Thank you Jennifer, Pam, Iliana and Kim!