Bruce
When I leave David's place, I am on a high for the rest of the day...
I have been trying to get back in shape for quite a while. A year or so ago, I hit 199lbs on the scale, which is heavy for a 50yo, 5'9" tall guy. I was actually tempted to cross the 200lbs at that point, just so I could claim it. It did not happen. Still I stayed in the upper 190, I was not feeling good, and I could barely fit in my working pants...contemplating moving up one size.
I have always been active, but at 50yo, I could not find the motivation or discipline to really control the intake. My gutts was there to prove it. So while I was interested and excited about the idea of working out with a trainer, I was also particularly seeking help with nutrition and the mental aspect of eating. What's the point of burning calories, if I am going to kill a pint of ice cream every other night?
I think this is where David made a difference for me. In our first call, the conversation was about the food, not the workout. In our early sessions, we talked a lot about nutrition... a lot: What to eat, portion control, anticipating traps of social gathering, tracking calories, etc...And it wasn't all about restriction, it was about finding something that would work for me, and more importanly, something that would be sustainable. His "knive and tequila" give me and my wife some inspiration, and kept the process fun. So for a personal trainer, I thought David was super knowledgable about The nutrition and awareness aspect of food intake. Checkmark.
Workout wise, this is fun, and again, I think David is great at finding what I needed to do, where to adjust ( I came with my bag of injuries to work around), and how to get me in a groove. We have adjusted many workout to prevent strain on my lower back.
David knows his stuff. For instance, I wanted to do pull ups. In 1 year of crossfit classes, I was still using elastic bands to assist me and was not able to pull myself up on my own. We agree to add pull ups as a goal for our training. In 3 weeks, David got me to do my first unassisted pull up. So workout wise...Checkmark too.
David is also a fun guy. Again, his videos are a good examples of his sense of humor. He always greet me with a smile. He can look intimidating behind his beard, but he is a very personable guys and makes me feel welcome in his gym. That was the 3rd checkmark for me. If I want to sustain spending time, money and energy in such an endeavor, it has to be fun, and I have to enjoy whom I am doing this with.
Every week, I am looking forward to do our 2 sessions. As I wrote at the beginning of this review, when I leave his place, I am on a high. The other day, I even followed the session with a 1 mile jog.
175lbs today. Not starving. Not miserable. Feeling much better in my pants, and in my head.
Now is going to be the hard part: how to stay there and not get the weight back? How to keep it fun? This is where I hope that having David by my side will make a difference.
