I started with Eric in Dec 2022. He has the type of personality I need - he doesn’t sugar coat anything. He shoots straight with me on what I am doing well and what I am doing wrong. We have plenty of both good and hard conversations. Either way, I leave encouraged that I have done a great job or that I will come back the next day and be better than I was. When it comes to training, he came to my level of capabilities. It is a good mix of things that I do well and things I need to improve on. There are several days that I improve, even just a little bit and there are some days where he has me focus on areas that are not as strong. I may not feel improvement immediately, but over time I do.
With my overall weight loss and improved health, I have much better movement than I had prior to training. Being over 400 lbs., movement was slow and limited. But after training with Eric my strength and endurance has dramatically improved. Simple walking, going up a single flight of stairs had consistently put me where I started breathing heavily, how with my significant weight loss, I can walk and do stairs without feeling like I just ran a marathon. It was very difficult to go on simple walks around the neighborhood with my wife, but now, we can go on walks on a variety of trails. And for the first time in 15 years I could go on rides at the Puyallup Fair. My oldest is 13 years old, so even when she was much younger I was unable to do rides with her or any of my daughters. This year, that changed - I was able to go on rides with all my girls this year. That is something that I have wanted to do since we had children and I was finally able to do that!
I have learned a lot when it comes to caloric intake, food and supplements too but I still have a lot to learn. This for me is still my biggest challenge. I have learned the importance of supplements complimenting my diet and staying consistent, though there is still room for improvement there. I have learned the importance of clean eating and noticed how I felt much better and how my training sessions improved with cleaner eating versus how I felt with some of the other stuff in my body like cereal and fast food.
In addition to the physical changes my mental state has seen the biggest change. At my highest weight in Oct 2022 of 420 lbs. and being 45 years old, I was wondering if I would be around in 3-5 years to see my daughters graduate, get married or even have grandkids. Now after losing over 150 lbs. in a 12-month period, I have changed from “wondering if 3-5 years” to “knowing I have another 25 years minimum”. That gives a much different life perspective and helps ease stress. Also, it shows not only me, but others that it can be done. You hear about people who lose a large amount of weight and think, “That’s great, but it most likely won’t be me”. Having done it shows me that I can achieve a long-term goal of any kind if I want to.
This year of training with Eric has been something that I will never forget. He helped me achieve something that not a lot of people accomplish.
He has been a great source of encouragement every day I am at the gym. Also, …. Listen to Eric. He will tell you what needs to be done to achieve your goals. I personally know how challenging it can be. I still fight them to this day. Most days I am good, but some days I fall off the wagon, and Eric is there to pull me back on the wagon. The results were better when I listened to what he told me compared to when I didn’t.
At this point, Eric is like an extended family member. He is there to cheer me on when things go well and there to offer encouragement when I am struggling in any aspect of life. We have talked about so many things over the last year beside fitness and nutrition…. family life, church life, the joys of parenting to name a few. I feel I can bring up any subject and he would be willing to give me his take on it. I would absolutely recommend Eric as a trainer - so long as it doesn’t take sessions away from me!
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