Winners / Peter Y
Peter Y.
24.72% weight loss*
*Results not typical
The only place to begin in a story like this is at Thank You. Thank you, Life Time, for providing me the opportunity to find my healthy lifestyle again. In my opinion, the 60-Day Challenge is one of the coolest and most effective customer engagement programs ever designed. It was exactly what I needed to get off the couch, engage with my gym, and get my competitive juices flowing again. But the brilliance of the program is that Life Time was there with me every step of the way. I became immersed in the Life Time culture, got to know and pick the brains of the many knowledgeable trainers, corresponded with the national Transformation Team, used the state-of-the-art facilities and fed off the amazing vibe my Life Time club exudes. From here forward, my Life Time club will be part of my lifestyle. What’s more, it’s part of my family’s lifestyle too. Saturdays now start at the club. While I work out, one daughter practices with the Life Time swim team and the other takes swim lessons. My wife has been inspired as well and she is soon to follow with a gym membership herself. Thank you, again, Life Time!
For years I let the stresses of life wear me down and serve as an excuse for not working out. I would join gyms, go occasionally, but eventually lose interest. My weight went on a slow march upward. 220 pounds became 230, 235 pounds became 250. My energy was low and I was uninspired. Eventually 250 pounds ballooned to 265. I had pain in my lower back and hip. I snored loud at night. I kept telling myself that I had to turn it around but nothing could get me started.
Though I was a member of Life Time for many months, I had not taken advantage of its services. I was usually too tired to work out after work and not into working out in the morning. I was a member of the club on paper only. One day I saw an email about an upcoming 60-Day Challenge so I decided to visit the club. After speaking with Challenge Coord, Brooke Coston, I was intrigued. Here was an opportunity to compete with other Life Time members from across the country in a weight loss contest. It was an opportunity to set goals, be accountable and be challenged. It was also a chance to learn more about nutrition and healthy eating habits, something I often overlooked. The best thing was, after 8 weeks, I might just lose 20-30 pounds. About this time, a member of our own club became a Finalist in the summer version of the 60-Day Challenge. I was in awe when I learned he shed 25.2% of his body weight. I grabbed my calculator and figured out I’d have to lose 66 pounds to match that. That was humanly impossible, I remember thinking. I wanted to meet this man. He must be superhuman or have secrets to share. No one can lose that much weight in 60 days. He became bigger than life in my eyes, figuratively and literally as his before and after pictures were posterized and placed front and center in our gym. When I read his story it inspired me.
With ten days to go before the new Fall 60-Day Challenge, I was hooked. My goal was to complete the Challenge to the best of my ability and see just how much weight I could lose. I was looking for something, anything, to motivate me. I was looking for a personal challenge where I could set weekly goals and be accountable to myself for the results. The 60-Day Challenge was it! This is when I truly began my journey. This is when I became immersed in the Life Time culture. I picked the brains of every trainer I could speak to. Since I had not taken advantage of my onboarding training session, I finally did so with Bennett Rack and we specifically talked about exercises for weight loss. He sent me links to articles so I could learn more. I spoke with others about nutrition and still others about optimal heart rate zones for fat burning. Everyone was knowledgeable and very generous with their time. Any lingering questions I had were answered in the Get Started Guide including recipes, workout tips, nutrition charts and more.
I weighed in with Brooke and vowed to not cheat on my diet plan and never let that inner voice talk me out of a day of training. I told her that I could win but the real victory was that I was off the couch and fully committed to a healthy lifestyle. My toughest hurdle had been overcome. I was FINALLY GETTING STARTED! It became a family affair after that. My daughters cheered me on and rode bike trails with me while my wife bought the ingredients and prepared each meal. Eight short weeks later, here I am, proud to say it is humanly possible to lose 25% of your body weight in that time. This Challenge has taught me so much about nutrition and training. I now have the knowledge and experience I need to keep this healthy lifestyle going. I’m excited to go mountain biking with my kids and compete in Masters swim meets. I’m excited to live life again. Most importantly, I’m thrilled to have found a true partner in Life Time, an organization that understands its members and helps them become the best they can be.