I always have a hard time talking about myself. I don’t feel as if there's anything special about my story, who I am or what I'm doing. However, that's also a big key into what I've been able to do, realizing and understanding that MY STORY is like so many others, it just so happens that I've been willing to tell it.
But where do I begin? Talk about my childhood? Growing up the son of a single mother, living alongside my grandparents? Talk about being able to travel the country, being in all 48 continental states by 10 years old, seeing the country from the sleeper or passenger seat of my grandfather's truck as he traveled the country as a long haul truck driver and moving man? I mean sure that would be pretty interesting and not your everyday story…but truth is that's the entire story! Sure I saw plenty, but there was also not a lot to talk about. The real story there is lack of a true father figure as my grandfather was a blue collar worker, my grandmother stay a home, no one was introducing me to sports or fitness BUT while it took me a long time to fully develop it the exposure to the “old school” mentality is one that I still possess. No nonsense, work for what you need, work harder for what you want mentality.
Now I feel the need to have to tell that because everything starts somewhere and while I didn't become a parent until I was 34 years old, it was thinking back to what I was and not being exposed to growing up that has led me to where I am today. So you can say, just like this lead in being far too long my story is 5 years strong with a 33 year prequel.
So, now that we got that out of the way..
After finding hockey and playing religiously for my entire teens into my 20’s, I was “in shape” strictly because of hockey. Not able to crack 175lbs while eating a diet of mid day fast food and late night diner stops. That quickly changed as I was soon 260lbs in my mid to late 20’s. It was around that time that I decided to pursue a career in law enforcement and while my initial motivation to get in better shape was to feel better on the ice, it carried into the side goal of preparing for the NYPD academy. Over the course of about 2 years I dropped around 90lbs finishing the NYPD academy back at my college hockey weight of 175lbs.
That ended up being short lived as “the job” combined with no real personal motivation or goals had me put 60lbs back on over my first 3 years as a police officer.
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One day I got on the scale and I was 226lbs. I was disgusted with myself. Upset I let myself slide so far. Felt like crap and was allowing the job to impact my physical and mental health. Over the next year I started putting in the work..far from perfect, far from as disciplined as I am today but just doing my best to stay consistent, to deal with the ever changing work days, 40hours of overtime a month, not being financially stable..ya know dealing with life.
But in May of 2017 when my wife, Kathy broke the news to me that she was pregnant, I knew I had to make it a lifestyle and not just try to lose some weight. I immediately went back to my experiences growing up. The lessons I was, and was not exposed to and I didnt want my child to NOT have those good examples. Again, I am not saying this because I was deprived or purposefully held back from these things. This is just what the 80’s and 90’s was for many. If anything I was blessed to have what I did, be able to eat seconds, always have tasty snacks available, home cooked dinners nightly.
BUT I did not have someone to lead the example of being physically active, playing sports, the gym, or proper (or at least better) nutrition. I grew up in the time of Pepsi and powdered iced tea mix was the most common drink with gatorade being the healthy option!
So once the idea of becoming a parent became a reality, so did the plan that I had 8 months to make it a lifestyle. Build new habits, change my mindset and my discipline, learn how to manage and prioritize myself and the things needed to be healthier, and to lead my future child and family by example.
Once I went all in on myself, the change was not all that hard. I had to change my mindset from I have to, to I get to, find the opportunities in the obstacles and simply do the things that needed to get done. What I did that was different than the dozens of times I failed in the past was tie my want into my need and adopted a zero option mentality around myself. I flipped a switch if you will, not easily done but something I felt was necessary. It didn't take long to see the physical change, losing most of the weight I wanted to lose within a few months. The real change however was in my ability to perceive stress and how I looked at myself. My time became far more valuable, how I left outside things impacted my willingness, mood or ability quickly diminished and what I found that I was able to do and pretty good at I might add was help others.
My why had taken on a new shape.
Using the tools available to me, a willingness to learn and the ability to understand how to create a sustainable lifestyle I was able to actually help others do the same.
I've been lucky enough to help many make life changing changes that started with a health or fitness related goal. Going from hating themselves, depressed, on medications, feeling lost, stuck and basically at the end of their rope. And while that may seem dramatic to some, if you are put into their shoes you will quickly see how serious these things are to some. So to be free of those shackles and able to LIVE a lifestyle they were proud of, one that was inspiring to those closest to them, one that allows them to not just look how they want but truly impact their mental health and learning how they can have thing things they enjoy, do the things they want and still be healthy is something that I am proud to be apart of.
So while I continue on, working daily to improve myself both physically, mentally, emotionally, I am excited to be able to do the same for others and help you solve the problems that took me nearly 10 years of personal struggle combined with 5+ years of working on myself to be able to help you do it NOW.