Robert M.
Des Moines, IA
I want to begin by saying thank you to Life Time, my trainer Tara, nutrition coach Jen and all those that have helped me start this awesome journey. We have a long way to go but this has been an amazing beginning!!
Who was Rob? He is the Big guy, the guy who was great at a party but not someone you would invite if anything physical was required. The guy who would stop eating last and then go home and order another Pizza or two. I would avoid anything that was physical, and no one told me what to do period. Health has always been an issue for me. I was 225 in 7th grade and got bigger in high school. In college it got a little better living with my cousin eating better and working a physical job but then I graduated and went into sales. They talk about the freshman 15 well I gained the salesman 200. I had literally doubled in size from a low of 200 lbs. at 20 to 404 lbs. March 19th, 2018 at 38 years old.
In September 2017 my father passed away and within six weeks three other important people in my life had also passed. I went into a deep depression. I wasn’t working or for that matter even getting out of bed except to get the pizza from the delivery guy. As a man it is generally not acceptable to talk about your feelings and so I buried the depression and became very good at faking happiness. Pretending that everything was ok all the while secluding myself as much as possible from the outside world. I would hide at home eating the standard American diet, times two, and watching TV to forget about my feelings.
In January of 2018 I started looking for people that could help. I started a weight loss program which turned out to be a sales pitch for weight loss surgery which was never an option. The one thing it did help with was a recommendation to see a psychologist. I eventually found an amazing person that began to help me understand what I was going through and how to deal with it. She explained that I had been most likely experiencing Covert Depression for many years. The trigger that caused me to go from Covert to Overt depression was the death of my father.
After getting a handle on my emotional health I chose to focus next on my physical health. Everyone I talked to had some form of a restrictive/fad diet plan that was very unattractive and difficult to follow. I was referred to Life Time Fitness and had a meeting with Tara Sayer. I was excited but the location was out of the way and ultimately chose a different gym. The trainers at my new gym were sub-par and really didn’t know to deal with the injuries that I have including my shoulder separation and Umbilical Hernia. After about 6 weeks I got hurt and stopped going. I joined two other gyms, hired trainers, nutritionists the works but none of it was having much impact on my weight. By the end of 2018 I had barely lost 15 lbs. I was close to giving up as I had done many times before then around new year’s I had a conversation with my cousin who had always been one of my closest friends. He told me that he was concerned and that he wanted to see me be healthy and still be golfing with me at 90. I knew that at the rate I was going there was no way that would ever happen as I would be long dead by then. That was the moment everything changed, and I decided to invest in my health.
I drug my feet a little, but I started with Life Time on the first day of the 60-day challenge. Immediately hired Tara, my nutrition coach Jen and have gone all in. I did the active metabolic assessment, I read the books they recommended, utilized the Life Cafe for post workout nutrition the Life Spa to loosen my muscles, and we went to work. The experience has been so much more than I ever expected. I have been working diligently to focus my diet and my workouts for optimal weight loss and muscle gain. Tara communicates with me every day to encourage me and tell me to shut up when I complain about only losing 4 lbs. in a week. My entire team and I have been working on my goals initially we thought I could really push and lose 40 lbs. during the challenge. I didn’t believe it could happen but Tara and Jen had faith in me to pull it off. Today is the final weigh-in and I crushed it I lost 50.4 lbs. in the 55 days since my first weigh-in. I will turn 40 in 6 weeks and I will be under 300 lbs. for the first time since I was 28 years old.
The one thing I have to say about Life Time is that they only hire the absolute best. The skill level of the trainers is unmatched in my experience. Tara is highly trained nurse and trainer and her understanding of how the body works and dedication to my success is incredible. I wake up every day with a new personalized workout routine that specifically targets areas that need the most improvement. I have truly experienced a paradigm shift in my thinking about food, exercise and my personal well-being. I am now and forever moving forward a healthy person.