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Shane Sturgeon

IT Manager, Xenia, OH

The Trigger:

Every year my employer pays for a health check (fasting blood work). I’d been steadily seeing my numbers rise over the past 4 or 5 years and finally decided that enough was enough. I didn’t want to start managing my health through medication and I wanted to ensure my poor health did not result in fewer years with my family.

The Change:

I knew exercise and strength training would need to be part of my change, but I approached it in stages:

  • First was just calorie management. I downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal to log all of my meals/snacks. I didn’t cut anything out of my diet except for soda. I still ate all the same things, only less of them. I set a calorie goal that would target roughly 2 lbs per week of weight loss (rather aggressive).
  • Next, I started working in cardio. I’m not much of a treadmill runner, but I love soccer. So I started playing soccer once a week.
  • Finally, once I had made significant progress toward my weight loss goal, I started focusing on strength training. My initial focus was just to build muscle mass to help with the calorie burn, but now I’m working more on body building.

Results:

Here are my before/after numbers:

  • Weight: 185 (was 237) – lost 52 lbs!
  • Total Cholesterol: 150 (was 206)
  • LDL: 96 (was 139)
  • HDL: 37 (was 42)Triglycerides: 78 (was 125)
  • Hemoglobin: 5.0 (was 5.7) – 4.0-5.6 is considered good
  • Glucose: 96 (unchanged, which is weird)

I love Fitbod for taking all of the thinking and logging out of weightlifting – it makes it so easy to just focus on lifting heavy things and not worry about when to move up weight, or do more reps, or swap out exercises. Plus, the hundreds of exercises keep each workout interesting. I have reached my weight loss goals, but I don’t plan on ever stopping.

Advice for others:

Fitness is a lifestyle change, not just a “phase.” Make it a series of small changes that you’re able to stick to. Once you’re comfortable with the first change, only then should you make the next change. Find what works for YOU.

Disclaimer: This post has been edited for brevity and clarity.