While it would be an understatement to say 2020 was a bit tumultuous, thereās been a surprising silver lining to months and months of quarantine: People around the world are finding the time to reconnect with fitness and healthy eating.
For 40-year-old Mike Fettes of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the correlation between COVID risk and obesity was all it took to realize it was time to make a serious change in his life. After years of poor diet choices and inconsistent fitness routines, Fettes tipped the scales at 440 pounds in March 2020, just as the pandemic was escalating. After a Zoom āhappy hourā with friends full of drinks and pizza, Fettes woke up with sudden clarity that something needed to change for the better ā and it couldnāt wait.
āI look at the pandemic as a bittersweet blessing ā I donāt know if I could have or would have had the free time if it wasnāt for this,ā he says. āEvery time Iād hear the word āobesityā and āCOVIDā linked on the news, that fear took over, and I was like āI gotta do something.āā
And he did. After setting an initial goal of breaking 400 pounds, Fettes took the first step by completely revamping his diet. Sodas, snacks with artificial sugars, hamburgers and steaks were replaced with water, lean proteins, like white fish and organic chicken breast, and vegetables.
āI started eating lots of organic vegetables and fruits in lots of salads, and Iād make my own salad dressings to go with them to control my calories,ā he says. āFor me, that was the biggest change diet-wise because Iāve never been a vegetable eater. Now I love them, and Iāve found different ways to make them tasty and healthy.ā
At the same time, he started working out. Using the lap pool in his backyard, Fettesā first swim wasnāt spectacular. Even though he was completely exhausted after five laps and felt frustrated that he was so out of shape, he got out of the pool motivated and in good spirits.
āI made it my goal to come back every day and go one step further,ā he says. āIf I swam 10 minutes today, Iād do 15 tomorrow, and before I knew it, I was swimming for 45 minutes to an hour continuously. Iād swim through rainstorms, after midnight, anything. I felt very motivated and believed I would make this work.ā
Beyond swimming, Fettes started to include walking, jogging and aerobic workouts with a stair stepper. He formulated his own cardio workouts that would last an hour to an hour and a half each day. But the biggest breakthrough came when his long-awaited Peloton bike arrived earlier than expected. He started on the low-impact setting to get used to the feel of riding a stationary bike and gradually worked his way into the āclimbā rides for more effective and powerful workouts.
āIāve ridden every day since I got it, and I donāt even think about not riding it, Iām so into it,ā Fettes says. āI remember feeling the sweat and the burn and thinking āthereās something here.ā I feel mentally and spiritually well when on the bike, and itās such a transformative experience for me. You get on the bike and have these intense workouts, and after Iām done, I have this ābikers highā where I just feel incredible.ā
By this point, the number on the scale was dropping as fast as his mileage was increasing. Heād already blown past his goal of reaching 320 pounds before his October birthday, and he didnāt stop there.
āI realize Iām at this dangerous point where Iāve done all this work and lost all this weight, and the last thing I want to do is get complacent and start being lazy again or having bad habits,ā he says. āI work out harder today than I did at the beginning, and Iām working out with an intention. I have full control over my efforts, and I give it my all and not just go through the motions.ā
To hold himself accountable, and by his wifeās recommendation, Fettes started using MyFitnessPal to not just log what he ate during the day, but also track his workouts and even plan his meals in advance. Seeing the complete nutritional picture of carbs, vitamins, sugars and more became an educational tool for him ā it helped him make diet choices that benefited his overall health.
āThe best thing about the tool is that at the end of the day, it gives you the āin five weeks, youāll weigh thisā number,ā he says. āI used it as a motivational tool to beat what the weight projection was, and at the end of the day, I couldnāt wait to put my exercises combined with my meals and hit that ācomplete diaryā button to see what I was going to try to beat weight-wise in five weeks.ā
Because of his dedication to eating right, exercising daily, and making smart choices, Fettes didnāt face any serious setbacks along the way. Luckily, his wife, Liz, was joining him on this health and fitness journey, they were able to tackle challenges together.
āNavigating special events like family birthdays and holidays was probably the toughest for me,ā he says. āAnd even though weāre taking quarantine very seriously, weād want to have a nice meal, so we just made a point to research and do a healthy take on a Thanksgiving or birthday meal, so it didnāt derail our nutritional plan.ā
In Fettesā mind, the most important thing is taking the first step, having an intention, and using that to drive you. Even though he was mentally frustrated when he wasnāt losing the weight as fast as he wanted to, once he lost the first 40 pounds, he found his weight-loss journey became an āunstoppable freight train.ā
āI remember being afraid, and instead of getting off the couch and taking action, Iād kind of cower and comfort eat,ā he says. āYou just have to move ā start with the first step, be active, and the rest will follow.ā