The beginning of my success story dates back to 2017 when I broke my ankle when I rolled over it while walking down a hill.  At the time, I weighed in at over 228 lbs.  Shortly after, I started tracking my food, walking more, and using the elliptical at the club.  This allowed me to burn off 39 lbs. by the following summer.  But old habits die hard, and after that point, I backslid, little by little, so by early 2020, I was approaching 210 lbs. once more.

My partner and I signed up for the Spring Spark 60day and were making good progress when COVID-19 hit, the program was suspended, and the club closed for a while.  Though we initially maintained our improved eating habits, we once again fell back into old habits of picking up fast food and the home isolation had us consuming alcohol a bit more frequently.

As summer turned to fall, we realized the damage we had done in such a short time so started discussing plans to get back on track.  So, when Life Time announced the year-end 60day as a virtual event, we jumped at the opportunity.  We missed attending the group Saturday Sweat Sessions at the club, but the detailed virtual sessions and coaching through the Life Time Training app started us back down a path of exercising regularly and provided tips and ideas to improve the diet side.

While this was a joint effort to improve our collective health, my partner and I took different approaches.  For me, I wanted to develop new, habit-forming tools, not just lose weight by burning fat but building muscle safely and effectively.  I signed up with a trainer at my Life Time, who has developed a regimen that instructs me on different workouts that I can also use on my own, helped me to change up routines and make me more accountable, and provided nutrition guidance to help me eat smarter and align it with my physical needs and goals.  My previous, self-guided efforts relied on cutting calories but paid little attention to what made up those calories, despite over three-years of tracking.  My trainer guided me to a Keto-based diet that virtually eliminating carbs and upped my caloric intake by 25%!

In addition, she has helped me develop a plan when I am working out on my own.  I can go to the club, or utilize the new fitness center in the office building where I work, and follow a routine she has developed, or create my own through the Life Time Training app.  The video guides included have been extremely helpful in showing the way to properly utilize the equipment.

The results I have seen over these 60 days, has been a loss of 13.8 lbs.  But more importantly, I have seen my body fat percentage drop from 34.0% (70.5 lbs.) to 26.6% (51.4 lbs.) for a 19.1 lb. decrease!  In addition, my skeletal muscle mass has increased, and even surpassed where I was when the Spring Spark ended.

While the numbers speak volumes, the real difference is seeing it in my face, neck, and body when I look in the mirror each day and when I put on a t-shirt that used to fit just a little too tight.  In addition, being less fatigued by simple things like going up stairs, completing a set of pushups, and what I just chalked up as end-of-day exhaustion, has me energized and more confident.

I am thankful for what Life Time has provided me from the 60day programs to help me feel a part of a community, to my trainer who has provided me accountability, to the Training app which has given me much needed guidance.  I look forward to continuing my fitness journey.

Where I see the next chapter in my story is my recreation.  Since high school, I have played in various slow-pitch softball leagues.  In the last couple of seasons, it was much more evident that I was out of my depth physically when roaming the outfield compared to playing there in my 20s and 30s, and this was not just from being among the oldest on the team.  I eagerly look forward to playing again this summer, showing up lean and energized, and carrying my weight on the team…just not physically!