My name is Steve, I grew up in Illinois and I was always a big guy. In high school I was a 3 sport athlete, and I wrestled in college. I also played rugby and was generally pretty active. But always at a heavier weight. I’ve lived many places and done many jobs but one thing that was constant was that I was usually one of if not the largest guy around, and inside I usually wished that I wasn’t so large. In 2011 I decided to change all that and lose some weight. To me my “healthy” weight was somewhere just shy of 300 pounds, and I figured that if I could get down to around 300 again I could be happy with myself. With that goal in mind I walked into Capital City Crossfit in July of 2011 weighing over 340 pounds, 29 years old, and with a desire to “lose some weight” I had also been exposed to the Paleo diet by a friend.
My journey started that July night with the start of the On-ramp class and would continue all the way through today, the journey has a been a long one, and one that was filled with some great people and some great stories. In nine months I would lose over 140 pounds and get down to 200. Just afterwards I moved to Pennsylvania, worked with some amazing people, followed Outlaw, met Rudy and eventually came back to Illinois to continue my journey.
In the years since coming back to Illinois I have joined the National Guard, putting my fitness to use, worked for Chicago Public Schools, and this year a small school district in central Illinois. The last move has allowed me to return to where my journey began, and to spend time with people that have seen this transformation happen. Today I’m a happy, healthy, and slightly older guy that the person that walked through those doors in July 2011 would never have imagined as the same person. I have many people to thank for their help and patience over the last few years and I’ll save you from the lengthy post that this would become if I tried. I am a work in progress, miles from where I began, and miles from where I will finish. I have gone from unfit, to CrossFit, and now I guess ArmyFit. Words of the soldier creed apply not only to my life in uniform but to my time in the gym, and the brothers and sisters that I see when I walk through the doors of Capital City have helped to make me who I am today in countless ways. I only hope that my words here can help you in some way as well.
Bacon & Fitness 