Hello, My name is Mark Salinas. I would like to share my fitness journey with you. I was always an active person from my childhood through my early to mid twenty’s. Like many people I could eat whatever I wanted and never seem to gain any weight. This is good..right? Well, let me tell you that this illusion of an eat-whatever I want life changed for me as I got older. Along with age came the responsibilities that come with being a parent and husband, the energy that was keeping me fit started to “roll” into other directions. With less energy comes less activity, do the math (Less active = slower metabolism = MORE CHUNKY)!

Little by little weight creeps up and of course I tell my self “I’ll do something about it tomorrow”.

Yea right! A day (I started at 170 lbs) turned into a month, a year… 10 years! (Ok, I finally hit 220 lbs. YIKES!). Of course I would give the Carbohydrate diet fads a try and maybe starve myself for a day or even run consecutively a couple of days. I even tried a couple of different “fitness clubs”. Nothing worked!

“I LOVE FOOD!”

What could I do and continue to eat? You see I was always under the impression that not eating resulted in lower body fat…..WRONG! I did not understand the importance of food as a fuel source. I did not understand what my body was telling me and so on. I would learn soon enough bu reading the Leptoconnect reviews.

One day my family and I were driving home from a social gathering and saw a big sign:

“Lifetime Fitness” coming soon.

A little trailer was set up on the construction site for pre-opening membership sales.
We worked with a very knowledgeable sales person and decided…”what the heck?”

and signed up for a family membership. A few weeks later we went to the Grand Opening to tour the facility…WOW! Something for everybody from the little ones all the way up. During our tour an individual at a booth was promoting a fitness program called General Fitness aka Boot Camp.

So, again I looked at my wife and she said, “give it a try “. So I signed up.

One week later..the night before the first day of the 6am class! Yes 6am! I was trying to figure out how I got myself into this craziness.

RRRRRRRRRRRnng alarm clock! 5am?! No more thinking–time for action. Grabbed my workout clothes and headed to Lifetime Fitness. We met down in a Gym (about 9 of us), young and old. This highly, energized bald gentleman came out blurting from the get go….his name is Phil. “Front lean and rest!” As he went through the roster. “Mark Salinas!” “Here sir!’ I called out.

As roll call was completed…”jumping Jacks!” 123 1 123 2 123 3 and so on…..testing was a big part of the first day, where are we physically mentally? Within a month I started to see a big change in how the clothes fit. I was continuing to eat as usual. The big difference has been my activity level and the professional guidance initiated through Phil and Lifetime Fitness. Within 6 months I had lost 20 lbs! At 1 Year 40+lbs! Yes, I have improved upon my eating habits also but I have taken it a step at a time. I did get back to 190 lbs, feeling healthier and fit as ever and I will always remember my first day of what changed my life forever. A special thank you to Phil and LTF for providing hope and opportunity. My journey continues….I will share as I continue to learn, and I hope my story will provide inspiration as you continue your journey! Not only physically, but..mentally, emotionally and within your self.

Stay Healthy!

Mark Salinas