I was tired of the up and down weight gain and loss and the more I’d lose on one stretch the more I’d gain on the other side. I’ve been an athlete my whole life — college sports, marathons and triathlons.  As an athlete, I never really saw myself as “overweight” . . .  I’d gain a few pounds but I always knew how to get back in shape.   Gain a few pounds — work out extra hard, cut way back on food and in a few weeks I’d be caught up. As I got older, I’d use that same approach anytime I wanted to lose weight but it didn’t seem to be working any longer.   And as the pounds kept creeping on — I still did not want to face that I was “overweight” but I noticed that “simple” things were not simple such as sitting down and standing up, or when I’d try to go with my wife to walk our 10-pound dog I’d get winded. I’d see people’s eyes fix on me as I was boarding a plane — hoping that I would not be sitting next to them. My clothes didn’t fit but I was too embarrassed, frustrated and mad to buy new clothes, so I wore a few items that fit which included me wearing the same pair of pants every day for months to work as a teacher. The students commented on it but I just ignored it. My mom, wife and daughter approached me gently about their concerns — the latter with a heartfelt, frustrated plea to me as she really wanted for me to be around when she gets married. I would not talk about it and nothing motivated me to action. Then, I found myself needing three surgeries: major hand surgery, hernia surgery and a surgery to remove a pre-cancerous spot on my shin. I decided to schedule all of these over a 2-week period of time in order to get everything out of the way. Due to lack of mobility, I got into a fast food rut and put on another 35 pounds. I figured that my body and my frustration about my situation would tell me when I was ready to be done with this weight.

I knew the 60day was coming up as I have been a member at lifetime for 12 years and you can’t miss the adverting for this! Being an athlete, I have always been able to get motivated by a competition. The fact that I was spending $60 bucks I knew would get me going as well, so I signed up. So looking forward to the 60day I woke up the first day and . . . did nothing . . . I can’t explain what happened and it scared me a bit but I assumed my body just was not ready. But I knew it was important for me to do this in a more “natural” way so I did not force myself to start before I was ready. Ten days into the 60day I woke up that morning and my body said, “Let’s go kick some weight off this body” and I’ve been committed ever since. I knew I needed to do this differently than before or it wouldn’t “stick.” In the past, I would work out in 2-a-day for 5 days during the week and long workouts on the weekend. As a result, I would get burnt out. I’d cut back substantially on the food during the week and then have “cheat” days on the weekend . . . which of course makes you feel like what you are doing during the week is depriving you. This time I wanted to put together a program that was truly a lifestyle change and not just something to lose the weight. I’ve used personal trainers in the past through Life Time so I incorporated the workouts they put together for me with my general athletic knowledge, rounding that out with a healthy eating program which included for the first time ever really watching my daily caloric intake, too.

Once the program was set, using the Life Time facilities was key to executing my program. My Life Time in Allen, Texas has a certain buzz to the atmosphere where people are there to workout hard but at the same time have some fun. I have all of the necessary equipment, with no waiting, to be successful for my plan. I feel like I am supported by staff as they are more than happy to answer any questions I have as I am on this journey. It also helps that no matter what time I want to work out, 6 am, 4 pm, 9 pm Life Time is open for my schedule.  For my weekly program, I am more moderated in my workouts: I do 3 days of high intensity weight/cardio workouts for 45 minutes, 3 days of intervals for 35 minutes and take one off day. In addition, I am approaching eating differently — I eat healthy foods but I include foods that are my favorites — I just make sure I work them into the daily caloric count. I don’t feel like I am depriving myself nor do I feel a need for “cheat” days. I am truly making lifestyle changes that I know will work for me to help maintain after I lose the weight that I want.   Through this I have gained more energy, have a bounce in my step, sleep better from the weight I have lost and just being whooped by my workouts and am much stronger overall. I am excited to report that I can wear more clothes from my closet! I have reached my goal of losing 42 pounds in 50 days during and have a natural workout and eating program with all the support I need from Life Time.