Sky Fitness member, Steven Decker, reflects on his journey through our 10 Week Transformation Challenge…
30 years of excuses have been dissipated by eight weeks of hard work. Now that I have almost concluded the 10 week transformation challenge I can pleasantly reflect my journey these past two months. Like many 64 year old men, I would routinely go to visit my doctor for my annual physical. Every year he would tell me: “Steve you should lose at least 10% of your weight” and I would return the following year only to gain an additional one or two pounds. It wasn’t until I joined Sky Fitness in Buffalo Grove and saw that they offered the transformation challenge that I finally determined to do something helpful for myself. With the encouragement of my friend Gary, who at the time of the writing of this entry is leading the pack with a 10% weight loss, I made the commitment to turn my idle time into worthwhile time.
The first transformation that I made was much easier than I thought. Modifying my diet with the instruction from the nutritionist provided by the club, Kim Seiden, I realized that although I had routinely consumed three or four packets of Sweet n’ Low each day for the last 40 years I was able to totally abstain from all artificial sweeteners and Diet Coke. A simple transformation to sparkling water was easier than I had anticipated. The training sessions were exhausting but still fun. It is especially easier to get up a little bit earlier in the morning when you have the assistance of an awesome personal trainer like Kyle Plotsky. He modified his own personal schedule to match our work schedule. I also enjoyed meeting a new workout partner Julie, currently in fifth place, and we all encouraged each other to persevere in our weight loss goals.
After two months I have gone from a moderately overweight 224 pounds to a slightly overweight 208 pounds…a drop of nearly 8% with the hope of getting down to 205 pounds in the remaining two weeks. Additionally, my endurance is increased and I have improved my overall body strength – now I have the ability to do four chin-ups when a mere eight weeks ago I could only do one! Of course my momentary success these last two months is not indicative of a guarantee in the future, but I learned that with the assistance of a friendly environment and an encouraging physical trainer I finally am able to wear a pair of pants that I’ve kept in the back of my closet for the last 10 years. Change is possible!