I have been overweight for years. In the past, I was a high school wrestler, ran cross country, and played many other high school sports. I dabbled in mixed martial arts in college. Life changed after college and I had a knee injury and became even less active. I found myself consistently weighing 250-260 lb. I knew I was overweight and needed to change my diet and get more active but lacked the discipline to make it happen.

Earlier this year, I had my first wakeup call when my youngest two kids (4 and 7) at the time, jokingly called me “fat daddy”. I laughed it off but inside knew it was a growing problem. My second wake-up call came when my son, who is active in Scouts, wanted to do a high adventure trek at a place called Philmont Scout Ranch. Philmont is a pinnacle of backpacking and high adventure for many Scouts. I jumped at the opportunity to go as an adult leader for our troop, trekking through Philmont with my son and a crew of his friends.

Going to Philmont is really expensive and I realize there will be just this one chance to experience the adventure of Philmont before he achieves Eagle Scout. I was reviewing the paperwork for the 2020 trek when I noticed a huge road-block. A body weight per height requirement that must be met by adults before being allowed to trek. I am 70 inches tall and the maximum allowable weight is 226 lb. At 260 lb, I thought I had better ask those who have been to Philmont. The feedback was that they are strict on this requirement. Wow! How will I ever be as light as 226 lb and be fit for long treks across the mountains? Reality sank in.

Later that week at Life Time, I was telling Todd Duncan (Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Fitness Trainer) about the weight limit for going on the adventure. Todd asked if I had signed up for the 60day. I had not yet, but I did after this conversation. Todd explained his plan to me on how we were going to drop the weight through diet, exercise, and accountability. I never believed I could drop more than 10 or 15 lb in 60 days. Todd believed it was possible.

I started attending Todd’s group fitness classes such as CRT and Barbell. I attended other trainers’ group fitness classes as well such Lindsay Stair and Megan Eberth who bring a fun energy to the spin classes.  However, the energy and positivity Todd showed in class was infectious and influenced me to increase my effort beyond what I thought I could do. I actually started to enjoy working out again.

Weekly, Todd would check on me to see if I had weighed in and we discussed food and achieving the weight loss goal. Todd let me try an Alpha Class too. When at Life Time, working out on my own, if I had a question about how to do something, I could count on Todd to show me.

At any rate, I worked, and worked, and worked, and the pounds started melting away. I hit a plateau but broke through by trying some different exercises Todd suggested and cracking down on the calorie count as he suggested without sacrificing nutrition.

So, here we are at the end of the 60day, and I am so thankful for this program by Life Time and for Todd’s help and dedication. Yesterday, I had my final weigh in at 228 lb. I am now only two pounds away from the Philmont maximum weight limit and I have time to make it.

I have transformed, not just shed pounds. I feel better, sleep better, and have more energy. I recently went to a Colorado summer camp with my son for Scouts and was able to keep up with the youth climbing to the top of Mount blue, 1000 ft elevation change. Yesterday, my wife gave me a hug, told me she was proud of me, and said she could wrap her arms fully around me. She hadn’t been able to do that since college. Today, my youngest daughter, the honest one said, you’re skinny. I laughed again, I am nowhere near skinny, but I am on the right track now, transformed for the better. I love and crave working out now. I am excited that what I thought was a road block to adventure with my oldest son is no longer such a huge obstacle. Todd was correct, dropping the weight was possible. A big thank you to Life Time for the 60day program and instructors like Todd Duncan.