Since 2016, I had been a regular at Life Time. I enjoyed the company of fellow gym goers, dedicated service members, childcare employees, and personal trainers. As a father of 3 kids, my wife and I are huge fans of the 2 hours of childcare that Life Time provides so we could focus on our health and wellbeing. However, it all came to a stop in March 2020, when the world was hit with Covid 19. Everyone, including our Cinco Ranch Life Time, had to shut its doors to keep everyone safe. As we all quarantined at home, without any gym equipment for strength training so I reserved to outdoor activities, like running.

On my run one day, I came across a family walking their new 50 +lbs. puppy. Before I could react, the dog lunged and bit me leaving 3 large holes in my right leg. I had to go to the ER to have it treated. This sidelined me for a few weeks. During the time I was recovering, I was also put on furlough for a month. The combination of no work plus inability to exercise, I started binge-watching TV shows. Of course, that included having some late-night snacks. This all lead to me joining the Covid Plus 19 Weight Gain group.

Fast forward to summer of 2021, the kids were out of school and majority of the country was opening back up. During this time I had experienced several devastating deaths in my family and amongst close friends. One after another, we seemed to be attending funeral after funeral, including on-line burials. The hardest to watch was my grandfather’s funeral being streamed live from overseas and on my birthday. After all this, my wife and I decided we need to return to some normalcy and see if it was safe to return to the gym. At first, we were worried that most of the people we had known at the gym would all be gone. But we decided to swing by and checked it out. To our surprise, we saw most of the seasoned childcare employees whom were all excited because they missed our kids so much. Without any hesitation, we signed up for the membership again.

But returning to the gym wasn’t quite enough for me. I am the type of person that needs a goal for motivation. My dream was always to become an Ironman some day. Before the lock down, I had completed a few sprint triathlons and finished my first ever marathon in the Woodlands. I was hoping to compete in a Half Ironman in 2021 and Ironman in 2022. Without a gym and swimming pool for 18 months, I had lost most of my motivation. I knew rejoining the gym was not enough, I need to find motivation somewhere to get me back on track.

During my time as a Life Time member, I had entered 60day Challenges before. I understand what it takes to complete the 60day Challenge. After each of the challenges, I often gained more confidence and energy to tackle any new goals in life. When I found out about “Fall Flex”, I signed up right away. I had my consultation with my trainer Johnny, who went over the program, showed me the Life Time Training App and discussed his plan for me to reach my goal by the end of the 60 days. Johnny helped me set limits for my calorie intake based on my first measurement at 177 lbs and 22% body fat. He also gave me a detailed plan to reach my ultimate goal of becoming an Ironman. I know if I have any questions, I’ll always find answers at Life Time.

My 60day journey started with using the Life Time Training App for keeping track of my progress and using daily training videos as guidance. Daily reminders on the LT Training App helped keep me in check and on track. I really appreciated this new amazing app by Life Time because of it’s abilities to track the smallest details and allows me to seamlessly communicate with my trainer. From that point on, I put away my favorite chocolate-covered almonds and cleaned up my diet. In order to succeed, I needed to have enough sleep and keep a good schedule. As I gradually increased my training activities, I tracked my training stress on Strava and adjusted my nutrition accordingly.

During the week, I would complete my strength training at Life Time and ran 3 to 6 miles on a treadmill or jump on stationary bike for an hour ride. On Saturdays, I would go out for a longer ride for 50 miles or more with some friends I made at Life Time. Sundays were my longest run days of 9 to 12 miles. While training for the marathon and going to the gym, I had to take the kids to soccer practice twice a week and games on Saturdays. Life was busy but I enjoyed every second of it because it all helped turn my misfortunes from earlier this year into hurdles I overcame.

The past 60 days, I have found what I missed the most since the pandemic hit. I have regained my confidence, energy, and purpose. Pushing that extra weight, riding that extra mile, and finishing that long run, improved me physically and mentally. At the end of final weigh in, I now weigh 157 lbs and 12% body fat. I know I have all the tools, the best club and the right people all at Life Time, to help reach any goal I set out to achieve.