Erik shares his story!

I went from fat, sick and mostly dead to fit and happy!

by Erik Vail on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 6:36pm
I guess my story starts about three years ago.  I re-dedicated myself to my business which unfortunately meant more time in front of a computer and less time doing some of the things I love like rock climbing, mountaineering, trail running, etc.  I was a fairly active person in moderately good shape but all that extra time in front of my computer began to catch up to me.

One year and 8 months ago I decided my downward spiral into the abyss of fat, lazy, and out of shape had gone far enough so I joined the local Crossfit.  I’m not going to pretend like it was easy, or pretty.  The first day I couldn’t even finish the warm up exercise.  But I’m no stranger to hard work so I kept going.  Often times I would go on a Monday and then get so sore that I wouldn’t be able to return until the following Monday, still I kept going.  I’ll admit…it began to get a little easier.  There was a problem though.  My big fat belly was not changing…not even a little.  One year after I first joined Crossfit I paid a visit to my wonderful Naturopath…Dr. Hillary Lampers.  Blood work and a blood pressure check confirmed it.  I was Fat, Sick, and mostly dead.  My cholesterol was through the roof, my blood pressure was dangerously high, and I was grossly over weight.  This information, along with the history of heart disease in my family was enough to really freak me out.  Something had to be done.  I knew it all along but I didn’t want to admit it…I was going to have to change the way I was eating.  The problem was, I didn’t know what was the right way to eat.  I thought I was eating right.  At this point, I was ready to try anything.  Luckily I didn’t just try anything.  Dr. Hillary is a long time friend of mine so she began telling Ali and I about this program that she was using that had changed her life.  The 24 day challenge!

WOW...I can't believe that was me just 8 months ago.

A couple of weeks later…February 1, 2011 I began the challenge.  In that 24 days I lost 15 pounds, I dropped an entire pant size, and I began to see HUGE gains at Crossfit.  I went from the super slow guy to middle of the pack in just a couple of weeks.  After completing the challenge I have been able to build on what I learned during those weeks to continue down the road to health.  My blood pressure is now normal, my cholesterol is normal, and I weigh the same as I did in high school.  I went from 220 pounds down to 188 pounds and I dropped three pant sizes and two shirt sizes.  I have lost 15% of my body fat while building 10 pounds of lean muscle.  Now when I go to the gym my times are in the top of the pack.  I feel AMAZING!

Well on my way to my fitness goals and feeling GREAT!!

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