FitView By Efren Martinez
Resolution’d For Life
As the New Year is upon us, so are the many resolutions that go along with it. I admit, I too have been one of those people who start off the year with a New Years resolution. But like most, didn’t get the memo that it was supposed to last longer than two days. Regardless of this, there is one fellow out there who woke up one day and made a resolution to live a healthier lifestyle and has stuck with it.
I’ve been friends with Frank Leguria for a few years now and I met him through the Shadowchase running club. Frank is an amazing person, friend and family man. Just recently I asked Frank to share how he lost so much weight with our Modesto View. At one time Frank weighed in at 300lbs and after a healthy amount of time, he was down to 183lbs. For Frank, the phrase “healthy amount of time” sounded exactly what it felt like for him, “a long time.” It actually took him 18 months to lose the weight a healthy natural way in “a healthy amount of time”. He did it the right way.
I asked Frank what had motivated him to lose the weight, was it a New Years resolution? In truth, no. He simply woke up one Sunday with a headache, stepped on the scale and noticed he was at 300 lbs. At that point, Frank knew he needed a lifestyle change and decided to join weight watchers. Frank was so ready and had the full support from his loving wife of 27 years, Sherry Leguria. Shortly after that he found himself walking into a weight watcher’s meeting with his wife by his side for support. He knew he needed help and Frank wasn’t afraid to ask for it. In fact, he gathered his friends and family and joined in on their healthy lifestyle running clubs as well as another one of Frank’s proudest teams he belongs too, Team Challenge. Between the support of his family, the fitness teams and clubs he belong to, he discovered it to be much easier to apply the meal planning point system he was learning from weight watchers. Frank was on his way to losing the weight and kicking those blood pressure meds to the curb. So long potential heart disease. His doctor couldn’t be happier, and soon as he got the Ok from his physician, Frank went from struggling with walking 5 laps with a his fitness buddy 4 days a week to running 5ks.
Today Frank is an inspirational man in fitness. His workouts are consistent and his accomplishments are many that would include 3 full marathons,16 half marathons, and more 5k’s than you can shake an Oreo cookie at. Make no mistake, Frank is no different from you or me. Like most of us he has fallen off the fitness wagon from time to time but it’s his determination and love for himself and his family that reminds him there is no other way to live from here on.
I asked Frank to share some advice to help all of us along our journey and here’s what he had to say. “The advice I would give would be to stay strong and have the mindset of understanding that not every day in your weight loss journey is going to be a good day or the day you have expected. Some weeks or months after working so hard your results might be depressing, but stay strong and NEVER GIVE UP! Edison failed at successfully creating the light bulb one thousand times, and never gave up trying. Instead he learned from his mistakes, and that is what a person struggling with weight loss needs to do. Learn from what has not been working and never give up. Some weeks are not your week, but most will be your week if your try hard and stay true to yourself.”
Healthy Eating Tips Stay away from finger foods. Have a full glass of water prior to your meal and during. Stay away from sugar loaded soft drinks and juices. Eat your biggest meal in the morning and gradually decrease your portion size by dinnertime. Enjoy more fruits and vegetables as a snack.
