When Fitness is a Lifestyle

Happy New Year to you and your family! It's hard to believe that 2008 is already here. I was talking to a friend of mine about our 20-year high school reunion yesterday. Twenty years has gone by so fast! I guess that explains the gray hair I have on my face.

Did you make a resolution to lose weight? Are you keeping with it? Or, have you already given up? Why is losing weight so difficult? Why can the contestants on the Biggest Loser TV show lose ten or more pounds per week, while my weight stays the same?

This newsletter is going to be different than any newsletter I have done in the past. The reason for the difference is that I need your help. Before I tell you what I need help with, let me give you some background information. Eleven years ago I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, ate like crap, and was very overweight. I quit smoking, joined a gym, and began working with a personal trainer. It truly changed my life! I will always be grateful to Mike Petrick, the trainer who helped me. We are still friends and stay in touch. If I could get into shape I thought anybody could.

I have learned, over the past nine years as a personal trainer, that weight-loss is much harder than “eat less and exercise more”. I have struggled with emotional eating my entire life. As a kid, I remember being allowed to eat only one sweet thing from the grocery store per week. I would get a slice of cherry or apple pie and heat it up in the microwave while we were putting the groceries away. Those were the days!!! As I got older, my parents owned and operated restaurants, and I was able to make more food choices on my own. The choices of which were not always good choices (we had a pizza and sub sandwich shop). I was a bean pole as a kid, because I always rode my bike or walked to any place I wanted to go. So, weight as a child was never an issue for me. However at 16 years-old, I was blessed with the greatest single treasure - my very own driver’s license. No more walking or biking to work; I would be driving!!!

After my parents sold their restaurants, I took a job working outside in a lumberyard. Talk about physical work!! My weight was normal, even though I ate food from the vending machines and plenty of fast food. My weight problem began when I was 19 years-old, and took a job selling consumer electronics. I continued to eat like a pig, but without the hard physical labor from the previous job my weight quickly increased. As I struggled to maintain a healthy weight, I moved to Arizona to work with my uncle hanging drywall. I was never good at it (my uncle would only let me do closets), but working a physical job, plus the heat, I was able to drop weight quickly. When I moved back to Colorado at the age of 21 years-old, I had a nice physique with a tan to match (plus long hair). This is when I met my wife, Christine. When she became pregnant with our first child, I ate right along-side with her every food craving and quickly gained weight, yet again.

My biggest struggle is with addiction. When I drank alcohol, I drank the good hard stuff like Jack Daniels. When I smoked cigarettes, I smoked Camel Wides. Each addiction always leaning on the side of excess. I do not drink or smoke anymore, but I still struggle with food addiction. One would think that as a personal trainer, I have kicked any type of bad food habits. Embarrassingly enough, I have not. I like to eat things that are not great for me. I love chocolate-chip cookies, brownies, and most chocolate things. Salty foods don't do much for me.

What keeps me from weighing a million pounds? I enjoy exercise! I love to ski, ride my motorcycle, bicycle, play softball, basketball, and many other sports. I exercise so those types of activities don't create injuries or kill me to do them. Don’t get me wrong!  I am not eating like I used to; out of vending machines and frequent fast food. However, my food choices could be a lot better. I understand what people are going through when talking about the issues they have with food. I am walking right along side with them. All of you help me more than you know.

So, I have a great idea on how we can help each other. I will email you my daily food diary in exchange for yours. No cheating and/or leaving out things that could be embarrassing. This is a win-win for you and me, even if you are not currently coming in to Functional Conditioning. Let’s do this together!!!!

Client of the Month

In Memory of Kathy Fortune

I have had the privilege to work with Kathy for four of the last six years. The past two of those years, she was fighting inflammatory breast cancer. Her body gave in to the cancer on Friday, January 18th. What I admired most about Kathy was her positive attitude, and her genuinely deep care and concern for others. I visited her in the hospital the day before she died, and the first thing she asked me was how my wife and girls are doing. After giving her a kiss on the forehead, she told me she loves me.

I have worked with and seen Bill and Kathy every week for the past six years, and in that time I have grown to love them. Going to their home on Thursdays will not be quite the same, but I know it’s even more important that Bill continues to take care of himself.

Bill and Kathy have two kids. Molly, who is graduating from Regis in May and Casey, who is a freshman at St. Louis University. I have the greatest job in the world. I really appreciate all the wonderful friendships that have formed over the years. We cannot live for ever here on Earth. Let’s make the best of it! I will miss you Kathy…