I've lost another 1/2 inch on my waist in 30 days and at the same time retained all of my lean muscle. It's working! I knew it would but to see it in black and white is pretty inspiring!! It brings me back to the day I decided to make health a priority in my life, so I thought I'd share that story with you today.
It was August 2012 and I had just finished running around with the older twins (then 20 months). After that I picked up the two younger twins (then 5 months) and brought them over to have their bottles before bedtime. It was just then that I felt a pain in my arm, and thought to myself, "that's weird". For some reason it really started to weigh on my mind, why is my arm hurting? Am I having a heart attack? I started to feel dizzy, I had shortness of breath. I'll never forget this as long as I live, I was standing on the stairs looking at my 4 kids and my wife thinking, what the hell is going on? Why am I feeling like this? I looked at Jen as I fought back tears and told her to call an ambulance. The EMT's came to my house and when they came in and saw a 31 year old man laying on the couch they couldn't hold back their look of confusion. I felt like an idiot to be honest, first for feeling this way at my age, and then for the thought of leaving my family without a father. They ran some tests right then and there and no one seemed too concerned, they took me to the ER and the doctor ran an EKG, blood work, the whole enchilada. He came into the room about an hour later and asked me a few questions.
Do you smoke? Yup, about a pack a day.
Do you exercise? Nope, I have two jobs, 4 kids, (and apparently 1,000,000 excuses)
Do you realize you're almost 50 lbs overweight? C'mon! 50 lbs? No way!
He left that room with only one statement...
"Your heart is fine, now quit smoking today"
I left the hospital that night with an unbelievable feeling of gratitude for life, and at the same time an overwhelming feeling of disappointment in myself. You see, I must've hurt my arm while playing with the kids and because I was so unhealthy that I automatically assumed I was having a heart attack. When those thoughts started bouncing around in my head I gave myself a panic attack. This was no joke, I literally couldn't breathe and to think it was all self inflicted!! I was really angry at myself, and the stress only made things worse.
For the next few weeks I wracked my brain on what I could do to make things better. I am so thankful I finally said yes when my father shared Take Shape For Life with me. I decided I would sign up and lose 20 lbs, that would be enough and I could still focus on work and getting better over the long term for my family. Honestly that's all I believed I could lose and felt it was a "safe" goal. Well...little did I know that this program would change my life forever.
I started my journey to optimal health on 9/25/12 weighing in at 242 lbs, smoking 20+ cigarettes a day, living a 100% sedentary lifestyle. I implemented the program and slowly began to learn how to eat properly instead of just eating when I was hungry. I also learned the importance of sleep, the role of stress, how to manage energy intake vs energy expenditure, and a whole lot more! Before I knew it I was down 45 lbs feeling better than I did in high school!! Less than 4 months after starting I said goodbye to cigarettes FOR THE LAST TIME!! Then I decided I would start running, just for fun and to get some exercise. Then low and behold, 14 months after that visit to the ER I ran 26.2 miles in the 2013 NYC MARATHON!!
As I type this story today I still can't believe it, this has truly been the most unbelievable journey and I am so thankful for all I've experienced! (and to think, I'm just getting warmed up ;-) It's truly a testament that no matter how big the challenge, no matter how far away the finish line may seem, if you implement small changes and do so regularly, you will see HUGE results that are LIFE LONG! I felt obligated to share this with others so I decided to become a health coach. Since that decision was made I have helped hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds, but that's not why I do it. Losing weight, turns out is the easy part. I do it to change lives like I have changed my own. I do it because people want to live a fulfilled life, they just don't have the tools or know how. I mean, less than 18 months ago I didn't have either, and now I'm on the path to another transformation!?!? The possibilities are truly endless my friends and I am making it my life's work to bring out the absolute best in people. Starting with health but unlocking potential in all facets of life is truly a gift that will change someones life, but also the world we live in! Can't we agree that there's enough crap out there today? Why not lift each other up and see what's possible?
It was August 2012 and I had just finished running around with the older twins (then 20 months). After that I picked up the two younger twins (then 5 months) and brought them over to have their bottles before bedtime. It was just then that I felt a pain in my arm, and thought to myself, "that's weird". For some reason it really started to weigh on my mind, why is my arm hurting? Am I having a heart attack? I started to feel dizzy, I had shortness of breath. I'll never forget this as long as I live, I was standing on the stairs looking at my 4 kids and my wife thinking, what the hell is going on? Why am I feeling like this? I looked at Jen as I fought back tears and told her to call an ambulance. The EMT's came to my house and when they came in and saw a 31 year old man laying on the couch they couldn't hold back their look of confusion. I felt like an idiot to be honest, first for feeling this way at my age, and then for the thought of leaving my family without a father. They ran some tests right then and there and no one seemed too concerned, they took me to the ER and the doctor ran an EKG, blood work, the whole enchilada. He came into the room about an hour later and asked me a few questions.
Do you smoke? Yup, about a pack a day.
Do you exercise? Nope, I have two jobs, 4 kids, (and apparently 1,000,000 excuses)
Do you realize you're almost 50 lbs overweight? C'mon! 50 lbs? No way!
He left that room with only one statement...
"Your heart is fine, now quit smoking today"
I left the hospital that night with an unbelievable feeling of gratitude for life, and at the same time an overwhelming feeling of disappointment in myself. You see, I must've hurt my arm while playing with the kids and because I was so unhealthy that I automatically assumed I was having a heart attack. When those thoughts started bouncing around in my head I gave myself a panic attack. This was no joke, I literally couldn't breathe and to think it was all self inflicted!! I was really angry at myself, and the stress only made things worse.
For the next few weeks I wracked my brain on what I could do to make things better. I am so thankful I finally said yes when my father shared Take Shape For Life with me. I decided I would sign up and lose 20 lbs, that would be enough and I could still focus on work and getting better over the long term for my family. Honestly that's all I believed I could lose and felt it was a "safe" goal. Well...little did I know that this program would change my life forever.
I started my journey to optimal health on 9/25/12 weighing in at 242 lbs, smoking 20+ cigarettes a day, living a 100% sedentary lifestyle. I implemented the program and slowly began to learn how to eat properly instead of just eating when I was hungry. I also learned the importance of sleep, the role of stress, how to manage energy intake vs energy expenditure, and a whole lot more! Before I knew it I was down 45 lbs feeling better than I did in high school!! Less than 4 months after starting I said goodbye to cigarettes FOR THE LAST TIME!! Then I decided I would start running, just for fun and to get some exercise. Then low and behold, 14 months after that visit to the ER I ran 26.2 miles in the 2013 NYC MARATHON!!
As I type this story today I still can't believe it, this has truly been the most unbelievable journey and I am so thankful for all I've experienced! (and to think, I'm just getting warmed up ;-) It's truly a testament that no matter how big the challenge, no matter how far away the finish line may seem, if you implement small changes and do so regularly, you will see HUGE results that are LIFE LONG! I felt obligated to share this with others so I decided to become a health coach. Since that decision was made I have helped hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds, but that's not why I do it. Losing weight, turns out is the easy part. I do it to change lives like I have changed my own. I do it because people want to live a fulfilled life, they just don't have the tools or know how. I mean, less than 18 months ago I didn't have either, and now I'm on the path to another transformation!?!? The possibilities are truly endless my friends and I am making it my life's work to bring out the absolute best in people. Starting with health but unlocking potential in all facets of life is truly a gift that will change someones life, but also the world we live in! Can't we agree that there's enough crap out there today? Why not lift each other up and see what's possible?
No comments:
Post a Comment