I’ve been in leadership positions for over 20 years. I met Mark when I was assigned to supervise him on the police department. Mark was over the fitness unit at the time.
So here I am, 365 pounds, supervising Mark Sherwood. And it really just started being embarrassing, you know. I’m a muscular guy with a big frame, so I actually wore 360 pounds pretty good.
You would look at me and think, “Well, he’s a big guy, but he’s not morbidly obese.” But I was absolutely morbidly obese. I was 40 years old and had no idea the condition I was in.
I was pre-diabetic and had sleep apnea. I was also on a ton of medication and had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, you name it. I was in complete denial about my health.
When I would go to the gym, I oddly liked rowing machines. I would row and that thing would hit my gut before it came up to me. Which really bothered me.
I would think about what I used to be, and what I used to look like when I was younger, and then I would see what I’d become. But that had happened over the course of 20 years.
Eventually, I went and saw Dr. Michele, and then Dr. Mark after that. They took me on this sort of multi-year journey. The education they provided was everything.
I think we all want a quick fix. We all just want something to happen quickly, but the truth is I didn’t get in my condition overnight. It took multiple, multiple years of high stress, working nights, and eating badly.
If it wasn’t for Dr. Mark and Michele, there’s no telling where I would be. I don’t want to think about it… I certainly wouldn’t be as healthy as I am now. I may not even be alive now.
It was just powerful, and life-changing what they did for me. And the interesting thing is, that when my health improved, everything else in my life improved.
My marriage improved, being a father to my kids improved, my work improved, my career improved, everything kind of followed up with that.
Health for me was the foundation for a lot of other improvements in my life, as I think it probably is for everybody. When I felt better about myself, I did other things very, very well.
I think the problem with men is our ego. We don’t want to admit when we’re wrong. We don’t want to admit when we’re not doing what we should be doing.
men, drop your ego, because you’re worth it, your family’s worth it, your life is worth it, and we only have one life to live. You should want to maximize that as much as you can.
It’s never too late to start. I’m a walking testament to that! My life, for the rest of my life, will be better because I made the decision to drop my ego, ask for help, and go to the right people for help.
