Mike Verdi
6:15 AM Class
This is what life was supposed to be!
- Runner!
- Yogi!
- Positive Ray of Sunshine!
I was overweight/obese my entire life. I’d lost and gained for years. The tipping point was when I was going through a merger at work 2006, then a divorce in 2008. I was in the worst shape of my life — 5’5″ and 235. A high school friend could hear the despair in my voice and challenged me to sign up for a 10K run, because it would give me a goal to work for and keep me motivated. I was concerned, because I couldn’t run from the couch to the fridge, but I took the challenge. I started by walking. The walking turned into running and I was able to complete the race and ran the entire course! I was very slow, but that race was the catalyst to my transformation.
I continued to run, quit smoking, and attended Weight Watchers meetings at work. I lost the majority of the weight with that recipe, but hit a plateau and needed a change. I joined the RedShed and followed the Paleo dietary lifestyle and trained to run the 2013 New York Marathon. I’ve since run two more marathons and many trail races and half marathons.
Maintaining my weight has been a struggle. I find that taking each day as it comes and staying active with consistent CrossFit, running and yoga helps keep me on track. The amazing coaches and athletes at RedShed Crossfit keep me motivated to be better every day!
Scott Herold
6:15 AM Class
Trains at the Shed because it is addictive, it is challenging, and the ability to progress through various levels of scaling allows you to progress and see growth and accomplishment.
- Down 100 pounds!
- Reduction of medications!
- Able to ride the roller coaster with his daughter!
I was never an athlete growing up and struggled with weight for most of my life. In my early 20’s I got into weight training for a couple years, but the long commutes into the city, and life in general got in the way.
The reality check for me was in the fall of 2015 when a few families got together to go to Dorney park. I hadn’t really gone on roller coasters since the kids were born, but went to ride one of the big looping coasters and the restraint wouldn’t close. The ride operator told me I could wait for the ‘big’ seat to come around, I politely thanked him and took what little pride I had left and walked the walk of shame down off the ride.
Sydney was 7 at the time and not big enough to ride that ride. I made myself a promise that when she was big enough to ride it I would be able to ride it with her. I started by changing my diet and lost somewhere around 50lbs through diet alone over a 7 month period. At that same time I had been working on finishing my MBA and was going into the office early every morning do coursework. I finished my MBA in the summer of 2016 and decided to use that 90 minutes in the morning to join a gym in the city and started back with basic weight training.
Late 2016 I was looking for a way to add more cardio to what I was doing with weight training and found RedShed. I thought I would do CrossFit a few times a week to add that a cardio aspect to my training. I was blown away by a totally different way of working out than I had ever been a part of before. It is addictive, it is challenging, and the ability to progress through various levels of scaling allows you to progress and see growth and accomplishment. I am challenged in every workout to push in a way that I have never been able to do when working out alone. I have continued to lose weight through CrossFit and diet, over 100lbs in total now. The impact to my overall well-being is more profound. My doctor has been thrilled with my progress and has been able to reduce medications due to my improved health. I’ve also fulfilled that promise and rode that coaster with Sydney last summer.
When I first started, Steve told me that in CrossFit there are ‘Coaches’ and ‘Athletes’. I told him I had been called many things in my life, ‘Athlete’ has never been one of them. I’m still not comfortable with that label, but I am proud of the progress I have made.
