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The Road to Better Health
After photos by Dante Fontana, Before photos courtesy of the respective persons.
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Whether you’re trying to maintain a healthy body weight or struggling with obesity, the uncomfortable truth is that weight loss takes work…hard work.
It also takes commitment, focus and willpower.
When we’re presented with so many weight loss shortcuts every day, it’s hard to accept that there’s work involved, some of it quite slow. We get so focused on the end result that we want to skip past the work itself and jump right into those skinny jeans. But when it comes to lifelong transformations, my grandmother’s old saying proves true: “Hard work is its own reward.” It’s time to celebrate the hard work of weight loss!
With that in mind, we’re presenting Style’s local “little engines that could” – mild-mannered individuals who, with the help of their neighborhood fitness centers, have succeeded in losing weight and are, on a daily basis, becoming healthier versions of themselves…inside and out. Tempting as it is to hold them up as heroes – that would make their success seem somehow out of reach. So we celebrate them as hard workers; we celebrate them so that maybe their stories can become your stories. We’ll show you the ways that our hard workers are people who faced doubts and obstacles too, but who decided that enough was enough. Maybe you’ll see some of yourself in one of these success stories, enough to inspire the desire for your own transformation. Let’s hear it for hard work!
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AFTER
ROBERT AND ROSE CHILCOAT
Training Camp: Snap Fitness, Placerville
(Bob) Starting Weight: 252; Current Weight: 213
(Rose) Starting Weight: 173; Current Weight: 155
Robert and Rose Chilcoat are thriving on their new journey, which started when their daughter joined the Air Force, leaving them “empty nesters.”
Rose’s weight loss ride began with a subscription to Runners World, and a discovery that she really enjoyed running; she began hitting the pavement four days a week and lifting weights three days a week. But when faced with the challenge of being laid off from her job in 2010, the absence of structure and routine in her life made it difficult to stay motivated. “I found myself going to the gym for a week or two and then not going for a week or two…off and on. I finally decided that I needed a goal and so I registered to run the Folsom Four Bridges Half Marathon on October 30, 2011.” After grueling 5 a.m. training sessions, spurred on by her friend and running partner Colleen, says Rose: “I am happy to say that we crossed the finish line together!” Rose has now run two full marathons.
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about whether or not I could actually complete a marathon is this: ‘80 percent of it is mental and 20 percent is physical training.’ If we tell ourselves we CAN do something, guess what? WE CAN!”
Bob on the other hand, has become what Rose playfully calls a “workout-a-holic”. As much as Rose likes a workout at the gym, Bob says, “She just isn’t excited about working out for two or three hours like me.” Bob joined Snap Fitness in 2006, starting out with basic cardio 90 minutes every day, and by the end of the month was seeing weight loss. Three months later he introduced strength training, which yielded both additional weight loss and the start of real muscle building.
The transformation has made a difference in how Bob sees himself, saying: “I now like what I see when I look in the mirror. It has helped my self-esteem.” Bob currently does weight lifting four days a week and HIT (high-intensity interval training) twice a week.
The motivation to start originally came from trying to work out with his daughter after she joined the Air Force. “What a joke! I wasn’t even able to keep up with her!” But eventually, he simply grew tired of not feeling good physically and realized he wanted to be healthy for his grandkids, his family and himself. He maintains his motivation through the many friends he has made at Snap Fitness, Rose by his side every step of the way, and their son in southern California, who shares his workout programs with Bob, too. And as pleased as Bob is with his own transformation, no one seems to be more pleased than his very own Rose. “We now have a lot of energy when we are with our grandchildren. We want to be physically active when we are in our 50s, 60s, 70s...and on! And by the way, did I say my husband is HOT?”
BOB AND ROSE BEFORE
