Let the transformation begin!
Josh found his #1 motivator, and stopped waiting for tomorrow!

Regarding family, health and good looks…

I’ve spent a lot of time capitalizing on, recalling times and telling stories of my former health, habits, and good looks from my teens… my 20’s etc… A lot of stories and memories about the good ol days but that’s where it has stopped for years. Somehow in my head I had the notion I had “built up” enough health that it didn’t matter if I ate another bad meal or drank another weekend away because it was always just one more meal or day away and then I would get my act together, right? I became comfortable in my habits and habits are not comfortable for anyone to change. And for me, I really enjoy food. Big breakfasts, big lunches and big heavy dinners late at night… For years I stayed in that zone to the detriment of my current health. Over 15 years I went from 150 pounds to 265 pounds. It’s weird because it actually happened quite slowly, after all that’s not even 8 pounds per year when you think about it. But over the years it sure caught up.

I went from a size 30 waist to a size 38 fitting extremely tight and I had to buy a pair of size 40 shorts. Every couple years I crept up a shirt size, large, then XL then XXL. XXL stuff just doesn’t fit well no-matter how good looking you are… and those XXL’s were getting a little snug! In my head I was like crap, I am not going to buy XXXL shirts. I began snoring at night. I was winded doing smaller tasks like a flight of stairs. I started sweating a lot. I had to fold my knee out at a weird angle just to tie my shoes because my belly was in my way. I had previously had shoulder surgery a couple years back and it was starting to hurt each time I would push myself out of bed because of the shear amount of weight it was pushing. Speaking of that, I no longer sat up out of bed, I more-so rolled out of bed. At Disneyland I had to struggle a little to close the safety harness over myself on some of the rides with my daughter. The last few years less and less of the women I was attracted to weren’t attracted to me or returning my looks. I went to my doctor and had some blood work done. The tests came back and my Cholesterol(s) were high, Triglycerides were quite unhealthy at near 400, blood pressure was extremely high 150/100 and my doctor said that I should take blood pressure medicine if I don’t change something soon. Well I didn’t like the idea of taking blood pressure medicine when I could just make some changes so I told him no thanks. But then, I didn’t change anything.

All along my daughter (6 years old at this time) had been telling me since she was 3 that I need to eat healthier. When talking with me she would call me “fat-daddy” from time to time and at meals tell me I need to eat vegetables instead of pizza and burritos. Not in cruelty, but in the merciless honesty of a child who is just speaking the truth they know. Some adults would hear her say the fat-daddy thing and respond along the lines of “Paige, that is not nice…” or they’d feel pretty awkward for me and the situation. But I would explain to them that I was completely ok with her saying it to me (but not to others) because it is the truth and she wasn’t doing it to hurt my feelings. In my mind it is would be similar to Paige saying my hairline is receding. Besides, there is a part of me that uses that stuff for motivation. And like after talking with the doctor, I just didn’t have any plan or real intention of starting at the time. And I let day after day and year by year go by.

When you summarize it like this or certainly when someone else looks at you physically and sees you so out of shape… all of this is like “no duh”, Josh time to make some changes. But it sure is easier to do nothing about it and pretend that you will do something about it on the next meal or on Monday or… always banking that tomorrow is guaranteed. Back to my daughter… Well, I just flat out decided I want to be around for her until a ripe old age, that was my #1 motivating factor. Oh and I’d really like to meet an attractive and healthy lady to share my life with and to that end I need to start work on myself first.

I saw a good friend of mine Will had posted a Facebook check-in at Innovative Results. I checked IR out and it soon became my favorite gym I have ever attended. I began going 3-4 times a week but I was still eating really heavy meals that counter-balanced all my working out –In my head I now had the notion I deserved it now that I was working out… I was also drinking like a fish through the weekend. It was a lot of work and I wasn’t making a lot of progress.

Aaron is always reaching out to us asking how he can help with goals and so he and I sat down and built out a plan that included working out and we began talking about food. About a week after our first conversation I asked him if he wouldn’t mind actually being my direct accountability partner on the diet part of this since by myself I knew eventually I would make an excuse one weekend of why it’s okay to drink or get crazy on the eating. He said yes, but that I might not like it if I wasn’t holding up my end because if I was asking him to hold me accountable, then that is what he was going to do. We put together a meal plan. It included the Daniel fast (strictly only vegetables, fruits and water for 21 days) and then afterwards introduce clean meats etc. I suggested a 30 day stint of not drinking; but Aaron wanted to see 60 days. They are both a long time to me so one is the same as the other as far as I was concerned. So I said yeah let’s do it, we committed to each other and the rest is history and history in the making folks. I made sure I got into the gym at least 3 times a week. If I missed a day I made sure I was there the next.

Each of the coaches at IR as well as all the people who train there are just so nice and encouraging that even when it is a difficult workout the people make it literally enjoyable. I started the 21 day Daniel fast at 265 pounds. I took some pictures. I am fortunate enough to have 2 friends at work who actively encourage my healthy choices –and that is putting it lightly. I logged what I ate every day in the myfitnesspal app which Aaron followed me on. I documented other data like sleep, weight, exercise and how I felt daily in a spreadsheet that I would share periodically. Aaron and I saw each other at least 3 times a week at the gym and texted nearly daily about the progress or just to say it was another good day in the books. 21 days later I weighed 28 pounds less at 237 pounds. I took some more pictures. My Triglycerides dropped from near 400 to 119. My blood pressure went from 150/100 to 120/70. My doctor said whatever you are doing keep doing it. The XXL shirts that I wore are now loose on me and I am almost into an XL shirt. Still just a little too snug to look sexy in -maybe next week. The size 38 jeans that used to fit snug now require a belt to stay on. Soon I will be in size 36.

I’ve really only just begun. I still have a long way to go.

If you can relate to this at all, the team at Innovative Results can help you.

If you want to talk about anything or have questions about my experience, let me know. I would enjoy talking with you.

Stay tuned for updates to Josh’s incredible testimonial!  The IR Team and Family is front and center in his journey to success!!

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