BE WELL
Change
Roger Mack, contributing editor
www.rogermack.com
I’ve got a client who reluctantly came to me about six months ago. I say reluctantly, because he was essentially coaxed by a few of his good friends who were very worried about him. He’s a high school buddy of theirs who back in day was considered to be a cliché of a success story: two-letter athlete, had the pretty girl and was a mediocre student.
Fast forward a few years and into another cliché. He got married, fell into a very mundane job, gained a load of weight and became the definition of sedentary and flat out boring. So much so, his wife left him for a ‘far more attractive option’ and took the kids as well. The months following became even more brutal for him. He gained even more weight, began ordering take out and eating frozen food and could tell you everything that was going on, on every TV show Monday-Saturday. He alienated his best friends, too embarrassed to even look at himself in the mirror anymore at what was and what could/should have been.
Last Christmas his friends got together and found me. I talked to them and told them I’d give him a six session trial. . I wanted to see for myself what happened to this once-happy and spry man. It took him a few months to make the call to me once his friends had given him this gift.
I’m not going to tell you we worked a miracle overnight, because as great as that would make me look, it just didn’t happen. After evaluating my client, we not only discussed short-term goals but what his long term would be as well. I didn’t want to pressure him out of the gate to re-sign up with me after three short weeks. At that point, he had to want it. We came up with an eating plan that was seemingly very easy to follow and extra optional workout sessions he could do if he wanted during the week.
At the end of the second week, he found the animal within again. He began not only conditioning on his own, but weight training as well. A light bulb went off. He walked in and said, “after all these years, I can’t believe I was too lazy to change clothes and drive five minutes to make myself a better person.”
Fast forward six months. My client has dropped a significant amount of weight, is eating right, but still enjoying some of the finer things, and working out with me twice a week and alone three times a week. His productivity level at his job has increased so much, that he’s been promoted twice already and is being looked at in a whole new light from his superiors and his now subordinates. He’s become a leader and now everyone wants to be him or be around him. He’s happy again.
This story isn’t to point out what I did to give this man a new life, but what a few changes in your everyday lifestyle can do for you! Working out and eating right not only makes you look good, but feel good. It provides you with energy to thrive and provides you with the self-confidence that nothing can’t be done or overcome.
I can take pride in knowing I shaped my client but the motivation has to be from within. In all my years, I’ve never seen someone who has declined because they’ve worked and cared for their bodies.
If you need a boost or someone to help chart your course to being a better person, go see a trainer. We’re here to motivate!
*Over the course of the next few months, I’ll be training our Editor in Chief, Bonnie McDaniel and we will be tracking her progress and transformation. So stay tuned as the new Bonnie is revealed...
