Adrienne Hood 2

I once heard that some people need a major life event to occur for them to reevaluate their lives and make a change for the better.

My husband getting deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 was just that. I've never cried so hard in my life, let alone in the middle of an airport terminal, as my husband walked down that ramp to the airplane that would take him overseas to a war zone for almost six months. It was heartbreaking.

While I consider myself a strong and independent person, my husband, David, and I had been together since I was 17. We stayed together through him leaving for basic training and tech school before he was lucky enough to get stationed at Scott Air Force Base just an hour away. We even got married at 19 and 20 years old and made it through almost the full 4 years of active duty when he had only had 8 months left before separating from the Air Force. I naively thought we’d somehow managed to avoid a deployment in those 4 years. I was wrong. It was February in 2006 and we lived on Scott Air Force Base.

David came home from work and found me upstairs. When I looked up, he had a strange look on his face so I thought he was about to surprise me with something nice since it was close to Valentine’s Day. Then his expression changed and I knew it was bad. I can’t imagine how hard that was for David to tell me and to handle the crying that ensued. I did not feel strong and independent at that moment. It felt like I was about to lose a limb because that’s the only way I could imagine how being without him would feel.

We had a couple months to square things away before he left and, in that time, we moved to my parent’s house where I’d stay during the deployment so I wouldn't be alone and away from family. When he left, I didn't know what to do with myself but within a week of him getting on that airplane, it dawned on me. I needed to be strong. This was my opportunity. I called a local gym and immediately setup a membership and an appointment with a personal trainer. 

I somehow got lucky enough to have been randomly matched with Debbie Portell as my trainer. 

Debbie would help me transform my life in ways I couldn't have imagined in the months that followed.

In hindsight, I wish it hadn't taken me so long to have that light bulb moment. I missed out on a lot because of my own self-imposed limitations that I could've done something about. I could've done track instead of dropping out or tried playing sports. Who knows what I could've accomplished! Don’t let that be you. I know some people may need to have that major life event to really look at where their lives are at but don’t let that be you. Take a hold of it now! Stop dreaming about when you’ll make that change or that next summer will finally be the summer you’ll be proud to wear your swimsuit at the pool. 

The holiday season is coming up? So what! Start now!

Rich Wood 11

Food is Fuel

A Journey Through Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Diabetes and Lifestyle Change

I’m going to let you in on a huge secret: when you eat healthy, you can eat up to five times a day.  It’s about what you eat and when you eat it.  Starving yourself, and then gorging yourself is not the answer.  Take the word “diet” out of your life.  It has negativity and failure attached to it.  How many times have you said “Monday, I’m starting a diet.”  The way it is said already has you setup for failure.  Have you ever said “this is my last weekend like this, I’m going to eat whatever I want this weekend and Monday I am going to change everything?”  Monday comes, and you fall back into the same patterns.  Big announcements about diets breed failure.  It’s about what you eat, not about trends or fads.  I hear people say “I can’t live without my ________.”  They are announcing that there is some kind of food or drink that has power over them.  Can you live without diabetes or a heart attack?  

Change your way of thinking.  

Tell yourself that you are worth caring for.  I am worth the effort to make sure that I am going to proceed through life making my health a priority. If you need help, it’s ok to ask for it.  A magazine article or a diet that worked for someone else may not work for you.  You may need an expert to customize a nutrition and fitness plan for you.  Try something new.  Put into action feeling better about you.  Train your mind and body…the connection between the two is the key. Has food helped you solve any problems in the past?  Has food given you any answers to what is causing you to overeat?  You are in control of your health, happiness, and destination. The corporations and people making these processed and unhealthy foods are not concerned about your health.  They want to sell you a product, not food.  You have to take charge of your own health.  Is a dollar menu item really the answer?  Stop doing things to yourself that you can’t feel good about.  Do what is right.  Do not make another New Year’s resolution – start making changes today.  Get fired up and be the person you want to be.  What is keeping you from taking this challenge? 

I want you to know that there are people that legitimately care about helping you.  I know I can help you lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.  Through this blog, I try to express how much better my life has become by taking control of my own health – but the joy that comes from helping someone else begin this path is immeasurable.  Being able to look into someone’s eyes and see how desperate they are to change…then help that person begin to realize what they are capable of through diet and exercise….how strong mentally and physically they are…then begin to see the changes happen…I can’t express the satisfaction that comes from this.  

I just had an experience with a client where I shared with him how bad it had gotten for me.  I would wake up at 3am and eat a full meal, then go back to bed.  This person looked at me with sadness and anger and admitted that this is the pattern he is living right now.  My reply to him is that he has already taken the toughest step.  He is here in the gym making changes.  If you relate to any of this – what are you waiting for? 

Do you owe yourself health and happiness?

Rich Wood 10

Food is Fuel

A Journey Through Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Diabetes and Lifestyle Change

I am familiar with all the little voices you fight inside your head when you are struggling with your weight.  How you will say to your friends, “I know this food is unhealthy…but I don’t care, it’s just so good.”  That was not how I ever really felt on the inside.  I did care, and so do you.  I made jokes about myself, and the other overweight people in my life would laugh along with me.  That was easier to do than to face the problem.  

There is no easy way.  No pill.  You can do it without getting dangerous surgery.  You can do it by putting the human brain and body to work!  I am working with a gentleman right now and I have watched everything about him change.  He is so determined to get better and stronger.  Find that in yourself.  All the confidence and care you put into your kids or grand kids  or your spouse, or job…whatever it is…put that faith into your own well being.  Can you do something for yourself that is necessary to continue living??  I know that if I was able to break the hold that an unhealthy lifestyle had on me, you can too.  Your diet and workouts don’t have to be a torture test.  You have to educate yourself in what will work for you.  

What do you need to happen to make you realize that it is time? 

There will come a time, hopefully because something will click inside of you and not because of doctors orders, and you will be ready to make a change.  Stay on the path.   Losing and gaining weight – it is a real struggle for people, now is the time to try something new, why would you not take a chance on yourself?.  Ice cream and soda are not more important than your overall health.  I found that once I had to get healthy, I never wanted to be anything but that.  I now love healthy food, and I’m dedicating my life to helping people get better.

Stay strong and realize sacrifices will have to be made to get the results you want.  

-Rich Wood 

Rich Wood 9

Food is Fuel

A Journey Through Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Diabetes and Lifestyle Change

ARE YOU READY?

I am very grateful and humbled at the opportunity to have a forum in this blog.  Because the blogs have been about my journey through weight loss, I don't want you to lose sight of the fact that these blogs are not about “look at me.”  My goal with these blogs is to have you start making the changes in your life to get healthier.  If your goal is to lose weight, get into better shape than you're in right now, or if your goal is to pursue a new activity – do not have any fear.  The only way these blogs make a difference is if they help your life.  

That’s all great Rich, but how do I get started? 

The answer is not in frozen diet meals.  Those processed foods are not the answer.  A healthy diet of lean meat and vegetables is the simple answer.  This has to be fine tuned based on what your goals are.   A person who would like to lose 10 lbs vs. a person who has to lose 100lbs would have a very different meal plan.  There is no person who doesn't need physical activity.  Your body craves it – it wants it – give it what it needs.  There are professionals who will help you with the correct diet plan…because up to this point maybe you haven't been able to handle it on your own.  I had that problem.  It’s okay to seek help. 

I don't want you to wait and put off what you know is the right thing to do.  I know the feeling of being overweight and telling yourself “tomorrow is the day I'm going to start.”  Then when you wake up, and fall back into the same habits because it’s easier that way.  For people who have never been overweight, it’s hard to understand the chemical reaction your body has to wanting food – be it either sweets or unhealthy foods.  I understand that feeling, and you can change that feeling.  You're mind and body are begging you for it.  Stop making excuses and start to think about what you need to do to change.   

With the Christmas season coming up – will you ask for the latest greatest phone, or purse, or shoes knowing that you won't know where they are three months later – but will not spend the time or money on your own health?  

You have to start thinking if you don't have your health, nothing else matters.  There is no enjoying your children or your grandchildren if you're not able to be there for them.  Start setting a healthy example for the young people in your life that are watching you.  Once you start to change, your healthy patterns will start to trickle down.  Please stop and look around at what you will waste your money on, and redirect that money into getting yourself healthy.  I know how you feel after you've eaten something that you know is not good for you – the guilt, the feeling of regret, how you feel the next day – the sluggishness you feel.  Do you really want to feel bad?  Of course not.  You have to start believing that it is okay to take time and do something for yourself.  By doing this it will make you a better person for your entire family and everyone around you.  These unhealthy habits you have towards food – stop and think if you’d want these same things for your children.  

I have spent a lot of my life trying to break the circle of bad patterns that were examples for me - for some people that was drugs and alcohol, for me it was food.  I have learned how to break that pattern, and I can help you break it too.  Just by reading this, you are making the first step toward change.  

I can and want to help you start a new chapter in your life where health and fitness become a priority.  

Do not hesitate to contact me if you feel you need help.  It is never too late to start.  Your mind and body will respond.  Defy your age.  Don't let others bring you down and tell you that you can’t…because you can.  Spend whatever time you have here on earth making the most of it.  Whatever journey you are on, let your body run at the most optimum health level possible.  Become the person that you want to be.  It does make a difference.  I hope my words generate any kind of feeling in you – be it guilt, motivation, a sense of urgency, whatever it’s going to take to get you to start doing what you know is right for your health.  Stop worrying about time and money and do what you know is right for yourself and your family.

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

Push-Persevere-Progress

-Rich Wood