Welcome to Westchase Patch's Fitness Blog

In a past life, I spent countless hours in the gym lifting, running, cycling, you name it.  There were times back then when I experienced some success but never long term and never producing the results I was looking for. 

As a kid, I played basketball seemingly non-stop, but wasn’t as lean or cut as I would have liked.  I remember wearing “husky” jeans, being totally self-conscious about my belly, and having two brothers who seemed to stay lean no matter what. I had pretty much accepted the notion that I just didn’t have their genes – and was meant to be a little fluffy at best.

Four years ago, after a decade of desk-work had left me with aching joints, tiny little bird legs, and an even fluffier belly, everything changed.  Facing my mid-thirties and the thought of being an out of shape, older dad motivated me to turn things around.  I began working with a trainer and learning everything I could about exercise and nutrition.

The biggest lesson I learned was that you don’t know what you don’t know.  I thought I knew a lot about exercise and fitness in the past, but the truth of the matter is that back then, I had no idea what really worked.  Once I learned some of the science behind all of this – I was able to redefine not only my body, but the expectations I had for what I could achieve. 

After going through my own transformation, friends and family noticed the changes and began asking for advice. While it was very fulfilling to change myself, I found that helping someone else do it was even more rewarding. When I helped my girlfriend at the time (who’s now my lovely wife!) make a major breakthrough, that’s when I knew I wanted to help others do the same and have been hooked ever since.

My hope for this blog is to provide a source of reliable, useful, and real-world information that will assist you along your fitness journey and maybe even help you to make your own breakthrough.  I’d also like for it to be more of a dialogue than a presentation, so let’s open the discussion with a question.  What’s one thing in the world of fitness you “know” to be true?