“Believe in fresh starts and new beginnings” Zadra and Yamada.

I don’t think I have fully processed the last 60 days and how it has brought a new outlook and freshness to my life. It rejuvenated my spirit. The weight loss is dramatic, but it was so much more than that. In fact, while my goals were initially about weight loss, healthier eating habits, creating more discipline around exercise, and reentering competitive swimming, the Challenge has transcended those goals to help me embody the person I want to be and also has positively impacted those around me. It was cathartic and has significantly improved the quality of my life. I am grateful to the 60-Day Challenge team, my family, and Life Time Fitness for giving me the opportunity to participate.

After a series of life events that included losing my father to cancer, I was feeling knocked down and unmotivated. Physically, I had put on weight and mentally, I was feeling heavy. I am normally a very positive person, but I had a lot of negative self-talk and was feeling disconnected. I knew I needed to make changes in my life and had to do something about my weight and diet. My lifestyle and routine were making me feel rundown and exhausted. I was having a hard time making it through bedtime routine with my two beautiful toddlers. I kept telling myself that next week I would make a change, but weeks turned into months.

I desperately wanted and needed to do something to jump-start my path to wellness, but was finding it increasingly more difficult to get started. I received an email about the 60-Day Challenge, and after talking with a friend, we decided to do it. In signing up together, we knew we could motivate and encourage each other while also working toward our personal goals. That very day we went to Life Time, he joined the gym, and we signed up for the Challenge. I was reintroduced to the many features and resources Life Time offers.

Life Time puts on great events, and they were offering a ton of support for this Challenge. I received a lot of help and motivation from the 60-Day Challenge team. After my initial assessment and first personal training session, my coach outlined a weekly schedule that I rarely deviated from. I like to leave the coaching and planning to someone else so I can focus on the task at hand. I have a fulltime job, a busy family, and a very limited amount of time to work out. To complete the Challenge, I counted on Life Time to help me work out smarter.

The Life Time trainers and coaches are extremely knowledgeable and offer the latest training techniques and testing. They supplied recipes, workout tips, and videos that were super helpful. They were also responsive to my questions online. Their passion, knowledge and encouragement were critically important to help me stay the course throughout the Challenge.

Another aspect of belonging to Life Time and participating in a Challenge is the sense of community and accountability that is so critical for most people (myself included) to be successful. In working toward a strong mind, body and spirit, the Life Time community offers many ways to get plugged in and work toward greater well-being.

In reflecting on my journey and transformation, I remember one of the Challenge’s advertising posters featured Misty and how “she got her sparkle back.” After losing over 50 pounds and going from 23% body fat to about 7% body fat, I got my mojo back. I went from being in an exhausted funk to feeling energetic, lighter, more playful, and more positive. I look better, and I feel better. My 3-year-old daughter told me that I was looking more like a kid than a daddy and she is right. I am looking younger and more importantly, she is experiencing me as a more engaged, fun, and energetic dad. As a result of the changes I have made, my family is being more active and eating healthier, and we are experiencing life more fully. This transformation has had a synergistic impact in my life, and its ripple effect remains yet to be seen.

Fortunately, Life Time is helping me implement a maintenance program that feels manageable. I have started personal training sessions with a trainer at Life Time and will continue to utilize metabolic testing and coached workouts. Because I am motivated by training for specific goals, I plan to sign up for competitive swim meets. The most critical piece of my maintenance program will be my diet. A huge benefit of this Challenge was that it changed the way that I think about how much weight I should be carrying for my body size and type. I will be meeting for an assessment with a dietitian at Life Time to help create a healthy meal plan to maintain my lower weight. Ultimately, I will continue to be consistent and disciplined, and to utilize Life Time’s staff, support and community. I am feeling hopeful, optimistic, and excited about the future, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this new beginning. Thanks again, I had the time of my life!