I’m from Huntsville, Alabama. I’ve been married to the love of my life Karen for 17 years, and we have 3 kids and 5 grandkids (should have had the grandkids first… I like them better).
I work for a company that buys, sells, and fixes fire trucks, and my job there is to be a chaplain to our employees. I’m also an Advanced EMT and lead our team from work in responding to EMS and fire calls during the week days to the rural community we work in. I was introduced to Copper State Fit through my boss – which was probably the best gift he could have given me.
I was morbidly obese, and when my grandkids wanted to play, I wasn’t able to play for more than a few minutes before getting winded. Walking up a flight of steps winded me. From running EMS calls, I knew what the future would eventually hold for me if I didn’t do something. I certainly didn’t want that.
Before Copper State FIT, I tried it all! Weight Watchers, Noom, and HCG. Those were all temporary fixes, and none of them really taught me a long term solution. It was depressing to lose the weight, feel great, then gain it all back and then some.
With CSF, I learned a whole new lifestyle. I didn’t have to purchase “special diet products” to lose the weight. My coach taught me what foods to eat and which ones to limit based on my goals. It was liberating to know I could do this simply by purchasing normal healthy foods from any grocery store and eating healthy portions.
It felt great when I saw the scale start to drop! I lost more weight than I ever had, and I was thrilled!
I can play with my grandkids now and not get winded. On fire/EMS runs, my stamina is WAY more than it used to be. Honestly, it feels like I’m 10 years younger.
On this journey, I learned to pay attention to my body and my hunger cues – meaning, don’t eat when I’m not hungry. I eat slower now, and stop when I’m full. My coach taught me how to eat balanced meals, including proteins, veggies, carbs, and fats, and I don’t really have to think about it anymore.
I was thrilled to see my strength improve with each training session, and the best part is, I never even did strength training before joining CSF! It was amazing to see myself getting stronger week after week. The real boost comes from watching those weights go up—it’s incredibly motivating!
Not only that, dropping clothing sizes and having to get new pants/shirts was pretty fun. Probably the best thing – when people at church would notice the weight falling off and say something. In all, I lost over 70lbs, 28 inches and 17% body fat while working with CSF!
If I hadn’t started, I’d probably be tipping the scale somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. Most likely, I’d be developing congestive heart failure. Probably the most embarrassing for me – if my wife had to call 911 for me, they’d describe me as a “patient of size” and have additional personnel dispatched to help load me into an ambulance.
It’s well worth the money. The life I got back from the coaching was far more valuable than the cost of the coaching. Just do it! You won’t be sorry.
