I have always taken pride in being an active and involved dad. From when they were very young, I always participated in activities such as tennis, basketball, and especially coaching baseball and softball with my daughter Sarah, 15, and son Will, 13. Though I was often carrying too much weight, I was young enough to still have the energy to be the type of dad they needed. As they entered their teen years, and had more activities involving their school teams and peers, it was becoming less necessary for me to be physically active with them on a daily basis.

Then, a couple of years ago, 11 years after Will was born, we were blessed to have our third child, Tommy. I immediately realized that my responsibility to be a fit, energetic dad every day was now being extended by many years. In the past, I had success losing weight on Atkins and on a medically assisted weight loss program,

but had never been able to maintain the weight loss over time. I knew I needed to get fit at this point in my life for the long run, so that I could be as enthusiastic a dad and coach for Tommy as I had been for my older kids. I realize that when he gets involved in sports, I will be one of the older coaches out there, and I want to match the energy I had when I started with Sarah and Will years ago. I also knew that I needed to be in better long term health for the benefit of all of my children, my wife, Toni, and for myself.

So, I began the program with Rob at RobZFitness at age 41, 279 pounds, 33.5% body fat. I was embarassed to be where I was. Rob and Sam were my main trainers, and they immediately set me to the hard work of building muscle and burning fat. On my program, I worked out with Rob or Sam twice a week, did cardio on my own 3-5 times a week, and followed the supportive eating plan. Each workout was challenging, but each workout also provided variety to keep things interesting, and the trainers pushed me to understand I could do more than I thought I was capable of. They were very encouraging while also not taking anything less than my best effort. I felt they were the perfect combination of tough but friendly.

Approximately 6 months later, I am now 42. I have lost 50 pounds and almost half of the body fat. I have dropped three pant sizes. I have gone from being statistically healthier than only 2 out of 100 men my age to being healthier than 70 out of 100. My day to day energy is much more consistent, and I am a better dad to all of my kids. Nothing could be more important to me today and into the future.

The  best part of the results for me is that I was only actually training with Rob for 3 months. Over the ensuing 3 months I have been able to continue to lose weight on my own, which I have not been able to do in the past. The exercise and nutritional principless that I learned with Rob have carried over into my everyday life and I am confident that I will be able to drop the final 15 pounds I would like to, and then keep it off.

I am grateful for the opportunity as a part time worker to have the opportunity to be a major force in my children’s lives daily. Getting on a program with RobZFitness has helped me to take full advantage of that opportunity, and helped assure that I will be there ready to teach, coach, and love my kids for a long time.

Pete Rowley