“My road to Black Bear Fitness is a long one. In my early 20’s, I joined the Navy Reserve and was very active. 5-6 days a week at the gym, and I LOVED running. I would do as many 3 or 5k’s as I could sign up for. I was also involved in men’s league softball and basketball. I also loved canoeing and fishing. Spending time on the lake was a calming place to be. I kept up with this active lifestyle into my 30’s.
When my contract with the Navy ended, I was giving myself “time off”. Over the next several years I let my health and weight go. I pretty much started eating food as my hobby. My health definitely took a back seat.
In 2019, I married my wife Robin and with her came my first son, Owen. Eating and food continued to be an issue. As I was pushing 246lbs and I decided to put myself on a diet. Over the next few months the weight went down 10-15lbs, but kept coming back. At this time I also started having a lot of weight related medical issues. With the birth of my second son in 2021 came the realization that I didn’t want to watch my kids from a chair and to keep up I needed to make a big change.
In my first 12 weeks at Black Bear Fitness, I lost almost 40lbs and felt better than I had in a long time! Black Bear Fitness has given me the ability to get back to things I loved doing actively but, more importantly, it has given me the ability to be more active with both my sons, Owen and Everett!
My goal in becoming a new coach is to continue to learn and help others do the same thing at the same time. I want to be able to help others who may have experienced or are experiencing the same things I did and to help them get back to a place of confidence and happiness!“
Ben.