I love being a part of helping someone reach a goal. Working with Cathy has been a double gift, she is part of my family, a dear buddy, and an inspiration. Cathy's will still be contributing via titles called the Good Life.
A couple months ago, I reached out to the internet world for volunteers for guided transformation this year. I had a bunch of folks respond to be the next candidate, Chuck being the first! I am really excited to be on his team. We start this week. Our initial format is a weekly Skype check in, workout, and then Chuck works through the week.
Chuck has amazing self awareness, honesty, and motivation starting out, it is really inspiring. As with Cathy, I am sure to learn from him as much as he does from me.
Chuck will post monthly and we will post his plan, and diet goals! Here is his story!
A Leaner Cut of Chuck
My name is Chuck, and I’m Beth’s project for the year. I actually know Beth through Cathy- Cathy any my wife are good friends, and I met Beth through Cathy. So, why am I here? Well, let me start by giving you a little bit of background about myself.
I’m 34 years old, and I live in Denver, Colorado. My family moved to Colorado when I was 13 years old, and for many years, being outside and physical fitness were a very natural part of my life. I played football during the school years, and spent my summers at at a camp where we had daily activities that included hiking, kayaking, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking. In the winter, I was an avid skier, and I loved it. Physical fitness wasn’t really something I thought about- I was just so active that I was physically fit, and that was that.
When I was 19, my world was turned upside-down. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and passed away within a matter of months. I was in my first year of college at the time, studying to become a pilot, with my eyes on flying for a major airline. After his death, I moved back to Colorado, and continued my flight training, but life was very different. I would liken it to getting the wind knocked out of me, but the recovery was not swift. I spent many subsequent years wandering in many ways- I was sidelined from flying with a medical issue in my mid twenties, which was another huge blow. Flying has always been my passion, and having that taken away left me without a direction. I had various jobs, and certainly had a lot of good times, but I didn’t have a lot of direction in those years, and I certainly wasn’t taking care of myself physically.
In late 2009 I was not in a great place, but I realized that I had to acknowledge that I was at rock bottom, and doing so was a pretty freeing experience. In December of 2009 I met the woman who would become my wife, and am still shocked that I didn’t scare her away on our first date. I was brutally honest with her about where I was in life, but she saw something in me, and stuck around for more. We were married in 2012, and with her support and the support of my family, I have begun to pursue flying again with the goal of teaching flight students full time. I also became a father last year- we had a son last October, and becoming Joe’s dad has been a really wonderful and amazing thing.
So, where does that leave me? You might have read that last paragraph and thought that I sound thoroughly redeemed…. well, I would say that in many ways my life is more on track that it’s ever been, and my family makes me extremely happy. The problem that I have is that physically, I am in the worst shape of my life. We’ve all heard of the “freshman 15,” but is there something called the “first time father 50?” During my wife’s pregnancy, I seemed to gain the weight right along with her, but unlike her, did not lose 30 pounds of it the day that my son was born. I love being Joe’s dad, but with this extra weight and my physical condition, he wears me out. We are expecting another son in December, and although I am extremely excited, I am really concerned about how I will be able to handle another child physically. I also know that I’m not the best pilot I can be right now because I just can’t handle the physical demands of flying as much as I would like. Additionally, my wife and I have put our house on the market and are hoping to move before our next child is born (a local move, but a move nonetheless). With all of this, I stress myself out and literally have no idea where to start with getting myself out of this fitness rut. I would love to get back to the point where I don’t think about my physical limitations. I want my sons to grow up experiencing Colorado the way that I did, with skiing and hiking and kayaking, and I want to be able to do these things with them.
So, with all that said, I am excited to be working with Beth this year, and to share my progress with all of you. In a years time, here’s hoping that I’ll be feeling better physically, ready to get back into some of the physical activities that I have missed, and I’ll be a leaner cut of Chuck.
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