Health and Fitness. As you journey down life's path, nothing will affect you more profoundly than your physical condition. We are living longer...but are we living better? Will you be walking the path...or will you have to be carried?
If your current physical condition is concerning you, I know I can help.
Learn more about my journey or get in touch with me if you want to begin to make your own personal changes.
In 2008, after 46 years of yo-yo dieting, I made a final decision to change my life. I had gotten to the point where I was so big that I could not lose weight with exercise...it was too painful. My body was breaking down everywhere. Acid reflux, edema in my legs, degeneration of the spine, allergies due to poor immune response, cholesterol of 270 and a host of other physical symptoms that told me the next thirty years was going to be a real terrible ride.
In July of 2008, I went to a hospital and went on a liquid diet called Optifast. I was mortified to think that I had allowed myself to get so large that I needed medical intervention to correct something I had done to myself. The medical staff asked me what my goal was. I said, "To take this weight off and never put it back on again." It wasn't the answer they wanted. "No, how much weight do you want to lose?" I responded, "I don't care. Give me a number. You tell me what I should lose and I will hit the number. I've done that before. I'm here to learn how to never be like this again." And I did it.
There is no such thing as a 'diet.' You can eat as much food as you want so long as you are eating the right foods. We have become a nation of 65% overweight and 30% obese people by eating manufactured fatty foods, refined sugar products, and chemical sweeteners. We have poisoned our own bodies with toxic products until we can no longer function. We have broken our own bodies. I can show you how I learned to change that and how it has kept me thin for four years.
No health and fitness plan works without exercise. Anyone who tells you that you can go from overweight to fit without it is either lying to you, or is extremely ill informed. There is no shortcut. There is no pill. What is required is about 30 to 40 minutes of exertion (sweat exertion, not 'walking your dog' exertion) every day. I can show you how to integrate exercise into your daily routine and make it a permanent and pleasant change. You will be smiling through the next decade.
"A very honest and insightful true story of Dick's successful journey in becoming a healthy person. I am an old friend of Dick's and remember early last summer, 2008 on the Cape, having breakfast one morning at a local cafe/diner. He said he was serious this time about getting healthy and that losing weight was paramount in obtaining this goal. I know Dick and when he puts his mind to something he can be intensely focused. But I also knew he had a very active social life, between work events and family/friend events not to mention the Holiday season approaching in the fall/winter of 2008. As I sat at breakfast that summer morning with Dick, I wondered to myself, could he really succeed in becoming the healthy person he was so determined to be?" (3/25/2009)
— Rich Drago, Attleboro MA
In 2008, at nearly 285 lbs, I could not physically
exercise enough to take the weight off. I had to seek medical assistance. The program worked well and fast, but I soon found out I would
need to change my life to keep the weight off. Here is my Optifast journey...
In February of 2012, I had watched enough of Tony Horton
on the P90X infomercial. I decided to see if I was up to the challenge. The daily discipline of hard exercise made it one
of the toughest things I have ever done. It was worth it. I blogged it from Day One to Ninety and if you are interested, read it here...
In May of 2012, following P90X, I decided to try
Insanity by Beachbody. I am currently in the middle of the program and am sweating through every day. Follow the journey with
me on my most recent blog posts...
Once you have done an extreme diet or medically
supervised diet, you need a plan to keep the weight off that is sustainable. It has to be very healthy for you and it
has to taste great. Whould it matter if it also could reduce your cholesterol? It did that to mine. NO ONE THING has
helped me reduce fat and keep my weight in check like this product. Here's how...
In addition to starting Insanity in May of 2012, I decided
to try to be a Beachbody Independent Coach. I currently have a Challenge Group running on Facebook from June 1 to July 31, 2012.
If you are interested in my Coaching philosophy or whether you think you have a similar mindset,
you might enjoy reading some of
these entries...
Losing weight isn't that hard. Keeping the weight off and
changing your life to make sure it stays off...that's hard. To succeed in keeping it off, I had to change how I approached the
subject of fitness in my life. This is a 'no holds barred' commentary on how you have to think to truly lose weight and stay fit
for the rest of your life. Read my book by clicking here...
You may have questions about a lot of things. You might want to know how I found Optifast. You might want to know how I continue to keep the weight off. You might want to know how you get involved in the fantastic Beachbody products or you might simply just need to know that change for you is possible...and I assure you, it is. If you have questions on anything at all related to your health and fitness...just reach out. I'm here.
