Sam Baird I learned about Sam from my husband. As an avid fisherman, he, like thousands of others followed high-school cohort, Sam Baird, on social media. Sam’s Slammin Salmon Guide Service and “anti-pro blend” scent brand has given him much respect and credit in his fishing niche. I can’t say I ever took notice, more than to marvel at how many Kokanee his guide service consistently pulls out of Lake Chelan… and then it happened, Sam Baird turned my head.

It wasn’t his fishing, although he is a master at his sport, it was his weight loss journey that eventually piqued my interest. “Look at this guy!” my husband kept saying, “He’s losing so much weight. He looks great! Some Keto thing.” I looked at the pictures. Sam Baird was a shrinking man, shaking off excess weight at an astonishing rate. When he posted that he was nearly a hundred pounds down, I knew I had to meet him. We met at Starbucks, but Sam didn’t order. Keto is his secret to weight loss success and there is no room in the plan for the carbs Starbs pedals.

True to an expert guide, Sam made me feel comfortable from the start. Conversation came fast and easy and in no time, I too felt like I’d known Sam since high school. Sam graduated in 1997 as a strong athlete at 225 pounds and the world was at his finger-tips; but injury after injury and the curse of time got the best of him. Twenty years later he was an angry, sick, depressed and morbidly obese man, weighing in at 352 at his highest. Sam admits he knew he was in poor health and avoided doctors, but was eventually diagnosed with fatty liver disease and was on his way to an early grave. He felt defeated but continued to drink a case of Mountain Dew a day, put on his charming, albeit, fake smile and trudge through one miserable, painful day after another.

In the summer of 2018 Sam’s son came out of the closet and also cut sugar out of his diet. The transformation was swift and obvious and his son’s courageous journey motivated Sam to realize change is possible and there could be more to life than the misery he’d become accustomed to. Sam credits his sixteen year old son as that initial inspiration, but the Keto cult is what eventually got his fire burning.

Almost by accident, Sam stumbled across a movie called, “The Magic Pill.” Rage woke him up and fueled a desire to change his life. The Magic Pill, a pro-Keto documentary on the evils of the modern American, high-carb, low-fat diet turned him on to a new way of thinking about health and food. On January first of this year, Sam Baird, with the support and participation of his partner, joined the movement.

Food... Keto is all about food; high-fat, low carb foods to be precise. Sam eats a diet that is 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs and those are strictly from vegetables; no fruit, no sugar, and most difficult of all for the donut loving sportsman, no breads of any kind. Drinking changed too, water immediately replaced that case of soda and today Sam regularly drinks a gallon of fresh, clean water a day. The only other liquids allowed are his bulletproof coffee in the morning, a mixture of coffee, butter, cream, MCT oil and sugar free syrup, and the occasional, very occasional, drink of clear liquor.

Luckily Sam loves to cook and coming up with delicious Keto recipes is a fun challenge he gladly takes on. He often posts his beautifully plated, tasty meal concoctions on social media. Viewers palates are constantly piqued by his meat and veggie treats like: grilled asparagus with Parmesan, cauliflower rice, Keto-friendly BBQ beef burritos in cheese, folio wraps, marinated chicken breasts, pork rind and Parmesan breaded Kokanee fresh from Lake Chelan, to name just a few.

Elimination of many foods obviously affected Sam’s caloric intake, reducing it from an estimated 3500-4000 calories a day to just around 1000. Some challenge that Sam’s weight loss is more likely attributed to the mass caloric drop than Keto, but he respectfully disagrees. One of the principals behind Keto is that throughout human history we’ve been hunter/gatherers and didn’t consume large amounts of calories each day. A lower daily caloric intake is more like what the body is designed to manage. Sam says 1000 calories are plenty and the high fat diet leaves him satiated. He says he’s not even hungry through the day.

Today, only five months from the beginning of his journey, Sam is down 112 pounds. He feels stronger and more virile than he has since he was in his twenties. His sex drive is back where it used to be, and each inch he loses in his belly seems to grow his manhood the same amount he said with a playful smile and bob of his eyebrows. Then, he spoke in all seriousness and sincerity, he truly feels like he’s living life again; he’s energetic, he’s no longer mad all the time, he’s free from aches and pains he expected to deal with for the rest of his life and is learning to adjust to life in a thin man’s body. Keto is a lifestyle he has embraced and he won’t go back, no matter how great the food temptations get. He much prefers a healthy, thin life to the miserable fat life that used to be his. Sam likes that Keto doesn’t require a strict fitness regime but he still aspires to add in some strength training after getting to his goal weight of 200 pounds. Once achieved, he wants to build back to a muscle-heavy 225.

Sam’s encouragement to all is that if he can do it, anyone can. It’s OK to admit not being ready to make a change yet, it will happen when it’s supposed to. He assured me that even with the substitutions and challenges in finding Keto friendly foods all the time, it’s actually easier than people might expect. He guarantees that the trade-offs are worth the effort and a better life is just on the other side of making the change to live a healthier life.

Jamie and Morgan’s fitness series wrap-up interview was nearly identical to our introduction interview a full year ago. None of us could believe how quickly the time had passed; yet there we were, same restaurant, same two best friends, and me, but not with the same notebook, ready to see where the year had taken them.
The indistinguishable start and finish was fitting for the steady-stride of their year-long journey; young women, fitness minded, nutrition conscious, trying to make and keep a place for healthy bodies in their busy lives where a perfect diet wasn’t going to happen. The ladies did exactly what they set out to do; make health and fitness in their personal lives a regular priority. They went faithfully to see their personal trainer, Andrea Johnson, at The Gym LLC on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. They kept fitness on the list day-in and day-out. They didn’t let their schedules or weather or business keep them from getting to the gym. They met their goals, to strengthen and maintain and Morgan personally, to choose, and wear, a pair of shorts last summer, something she hadn’t done since high school!

Each woman wanted to strengthen and tone and both, upon consideration, were proud of their improved abilities. Activities, movements and lifts that used to be a challenge, weren’t so difficult. Reflecting on how their bodies had changed opened their minds to acknowledge and appreciate their increased abilities. It happened in a year, but slowly, a little at a time, over months; a slow, positive progression in the direction of being stronger than they were when they started. Neither was particularly obsessed by numbers or percentages or body fat/muscle mass comparisons, but in its own way, their year’s health and fitness trek was successful.

Over the year the best friends vacationed together, worked together and sweat together but realized there were some things that, no matter how close they were, just weren’t the same for their individual bodies. One of the routines Jamie and Morgan tried included more weight intensive workouts and though Jamie’s body didn’t respond at all, this is when Morgan reports noticing the most dramatic changes for herself. They were both thankful for a personal trainer who worked with them individually to provide exercises that worked best for their bodies and preferences.

The ladies admitted, as they did in the beginning, that diet and nutrition was their Achilles heel. They have men in their lives who enjoy “regular” food; a restrictive diet wouldn’t be ideal for their relationships. They also have lives full of quick trips here and there, and Morgan has to manage children’s sports events and sometimes fast food happens. Instead of beating themselves up over it, they have accepted it for what it is and made concessions were they can. At work they like to partner together to make healthy, nutritious low-calorie lunches and good snack choices so the evenings are open to a more relaxed menu that accommodates their lifestyles better. In the coming year, and beyond, they want to focus on meal prep in hopes that it can help with their diets.

There was one big difference between that first meeting and the last. Each lady’s personal body image score, on a scale of 1-10 increased. Jamie originally a six, “maybe” seven, rated herself a confident seven and Morgan, whose new perspective and positive outlook on fitness and workouts got not only her brother, but also her dad into Andrea’s gym, rated herself a four when we first met. At our wrap-up interview, with only a slight pause, she decided to go with a five, because, though she’s got a lot of room for improvement, she identifies how much better she did this year than years past.

Together the dynamic duo will continue to live fit and make their health a priority and I’ve no doubt, encourage and influence many more friends and family to stop in and see their personal trainer.

In 2018 I interviewed and followed people for my blog, not just any people; average, ordinary, fitness minded people. They were twelve souls from seven different local gyms and one at-home representative. All in different stages of fitness. All with different motives. All intent on living a life where their health and fitness mattered. I liked the idea of it because not everyone has a super amazing story but everyone has a story, a journey, and they wanted to share theirs with me, and you!

The truth is, I feel like it takes a lot of courage to do what they did, to be available, open, honest and willing to check in and share their journey. In my mind the undertaking was going to be amazing, and because I knew following twelve people was going to be tricky I tried to devise a simple check-in for us all to do. Well, it turns out web-posts for a dozen people from over a half dozen gyms is more time consuming than I anticipated! But, we made it through the year, this fitness crew and me! We did it, and though I’m not finishing with as many as I started with, I can say the experience has been well worth the year. Some of the participants inspired me to do more, some challenged me to look at myself, what I was doing and if it was working, and some, I hope will stick around in my life and become more than just fellow participants in a fitness project.

So the wrap-up of this amazing series was much like the introduction. I aimed to sit down with each of the participants and see what they thought of this journey, how they finished, and where they’ll go from here. Four of the twelve met up with me in January and I have a handful to finish up with in February. What I can say is, life is interesting. They all had surprises, they all had successes and set backs, and so far each of the four I’ve sat with has maintained a place in their life for activity and fitness.

The first finale interview was with Melissa, the at-home representative. From our first interview (which was over the phone because she was also the only non-local on the team) I knew she was going to put out results, but was surprised at how they happened. Melissa wanted to try the Keto diet. I confess I don’t fully understand the ins and outs or theories of the diet plan, but she was in. For the first part of the year she was steadfast in giving it a try. She found online forums to participate with and even used the pee-strips to be sure she was getting into the right “keto” zone. Unfortunately for her, after four months the results didn’t impress. Her body didn’t react favorably to a high protein low carb regime, and she decided to take some time off.

The summer was not a friend to her exercise or nutrition routine. She was drinking and eating too much and not at all active like she planned to be.

Then it happened one night in bed. She saw an ad for WW (Weight Watchers) and got up, got out of bed, and joined that minute. It might have been impulsive for some, but it’s proved to be lifestyle changing for Melissa. Since that night’s decision she’s down thirty-one pounds, goes to weekly meetings to stay accountable and encouraged and recently re-started using weight and exercise videos at home.

Melissa’s stuck with the program long enough now that people are starting to take notice. She admitted through teary-eyes that her husband is a huge support. He told her he wishes she could see herself through his eyes and how beautiful she is and how proud he is of her accomplishments. She admits she can’t quite see the improvements yet, but she can fit in old clothes and the measurements don’t lie. WW works for her; she can eat what she wants, just has to be wise about her choices. She can still participate as she wants in life without feeling restricted, and she admits it was good to stop drinking so much, there were just too many extra calories and negative affects.

The coming year holds much promise for Melissa! She’d like to continue to lose one or two pounds a week until she’s down another thirty and to her goal. To keep her running momentum, she signed up for a half-marathon, Arlington’s “Cupcake Run,” and intends to run the whole thing. Running has proved to be a kind of therapy for her since her father’s passing and she loves how much better it feels to get out there with less weight to carry. It will be a year to be proud of to be sure!

Finally at the beginning of the year I asked the participants where they rated themselves on a scale of 1-10 as they considered their own body image. When we began, Melissa rated herself a 5.5, but after the last half of the year’s successes, she finished with a 6.5 and confidence that in time she’ll get to 10!

Jamie's 2018 Goals:
Weight goals: to get down to around 150 or to a weight that matches the image of she has in her mind (starting weight: 164)
Nutrition goals: “Make more healthy choices than bad ones”
Other goals: 2 minute plank, get more toned overall

November Goals:
1) Stats:
Weight: I’m guessing is still at 164ish but I know I have gained more muscle.
Average number of workouts/week: I workout 3 days a week at Andreas and try to do some cardio on my Lunches AT LEAST 3 days a week.

2) November goals:
I didn’t have any goals haha. Too crazy of a month with vacation then having a surgical procedure done.

3) Do you have a health/nutrition plan for the upcoming holidays and festivities?
Nutrition plan would be to continue with what I’m currently doing and stick with 1450 calories a day.

Lori & Kerin - Dance enthusiasts maintaining their fitness with Jazzercise at The Studio

Lori’s Goals:
Weight goals: lose about 20 pounds of “winter weight”
Nutrition goals: continue to prepare food and meals in advance so she doesn’t have to eat bad foods in a hurry
Other goals: continue to go to The Studio at least 3x/wk

November Check-In:
1) Stats: Weight: As far as my weight goes, I am maintaining & not gaining. I think I will forever want to be at a lower weight. I have to remember that I’m not 20 or 30 something anymore.
Average number of workouts/week: Last month I only averaged a couple of classes per week.

2) November goals:
Workouts: For November I want to bump it up back to three times per week, if my schedule allows it.
Nutrition: I have been taking more time to prepare  dinners instead of fixing quick stuff.

3) Do you have a health/nutrition plan for the upcoming holidays and festivities? The holidays are always a challenge. My plan is to eat in moderation and continue exercising.

Kerin’s Goals:
Weight goals: Get to and remain at ideal weight of 125-130
Nutrition goals: Eat better, with a focus on consuming fewer refined carbs
Other goals: Fit into the pants that she has now,
Remain fit and active to reduce back pain from scoliosis as much as possible
Maintain core strength to counter issues associated with her V-back labor & delivery in 2012

November Check-in:
1) Stats:
Weight:  134.  I DO fit into all my pants.
Average number of workouts/week:  3.  Core strength has been good.  Lately getting in 4 workouts has been tough!!  Last week I only went once due to a cold and kid plans.

2) November goals:
Workouts: 4 per week
Nutrition:  Fast 16 hours 5 days per week.  I have been doing this with a friend and it has been not as hard as I think.  There are heath benefits to intermittent fasting and it helps maintain weight.

3) Do you have a health/nutrition plan for the upcoming holidays and festivities?
Not really.  Continue to fast 16 hours most days and not eat TOO much pie!