Congratulations to 7-Fit Program member, Bill Baker, on losing 20 pounds since he began with us in October 2018! Through hard work and consistency, he has not only improved his endurance and strength dramatically, he has also reversed disease. His blood sugar levels used to be pre-diabetic and his cholesterol was high, but now both are in the normal range. In less than three months, Bill has changed his life and he plans on continuing to attack his future goals with the same tenacity in our 7-Fit Program. Want to be like Bill? Sign up for our 6-Week Fitness Challenge! Read his interview below!
Q: How did you find out about the 7-Fit program and what about it drew you do join?
“My wife, Rhea, has tried various fitness and physical rehab programs because of residual issues from auto accidents. She loved the variety of CrossFit and was asking me to join her (for a long time). I said yes just so she’d stop asking. So, yeah, I wasn’t so much drawn as dragged.”
Q:When did your journey with 7-Fit begin and what were your goals going into it?
“I had my own accident issues (centering in my lower back) that had been getting progressively worse over the course of a year or so. I went to see a chiro/rehab specialist for a couple of months to get in shape so I could start to get in shape at CrossFit Route 7. When I felt it was time to move up to a more intensive workout I started with 7-Fit; that was in the last week of September.”
Q: What has helped you achieve success in the program?
“Without sounding too much like a Nike commercial – just do it. Be consistent. There’s a saying that if someone tells you, “You have to eat a frog today” you should eat the frog first. Carve out the time – I do it first thing in the morning (7-Fit!) and go through the rest of the day knowing I’ve accomplished something that was completely out of reach a just few months ago. I am 62, and 5’10” and was 220 lbs. when I started. Just a couple of months later I’m down to 201 lbs. I’m trading fat for muscle. I’m moving more. (Sweating way more.) And my most recent physical showed my blood sugar normal vs edging into diabetic – that’s a change that is primarily due to the weight loss and exercise. My cholesterol & BP are so far into the normal range that my doctor is considering lowering my meds dosage.”
Q: What advice can you give to others coming into the program with similar goals?
“The gym is deceptively simple – weights, bands, balls – no complex machines. These are exercises you can lean at the gym, follow up at home, and reinforce by coming back to class to learn more. The classes are different every time. You can scale the exercises to fit what you can do – but push to do the best you can, and keep going. More than once I’ve been on the floor trying to catch my breath and have made myself get up and crank out 2 or 3 more reps. And don’t worry about whether you can do this because you think you’re too old, or because you’re too big now, or not strong enough now. The people in 7-Fit are all ages, demographics and body types… and if you see someone in great shape you need to remember that a lot of them got there by starting where you are now.”
Q: Besides working out, what other lifestyle changes did you make outside of the gym to achieve your goals?
“I’m working on getting the diet under control, eating more veggies and cutting out unnecessary sugars and starches. No soda. But I’m eating normal food – not a diet of paleo-Atkins-South Beach-shake-protein bars, fads or fasting. The main thing that has made a difference is the exercise – M-W-F at 7-Fit.”
Q: What has been your favorite thing about 7-Fit?
“7-Fit is not a lonely grind or a solitary quest. You have a coach, you have classmates or a partner or a team and you have a daily plan that varies what you do, how much you get done, and the way you do it – in nearly 3 months I don’t think we’ve done the same routine twice.”
