01 Mar Ron House’s Transformation
Hello my name is Ron House, I am a 4 time Lifebook graduate. I am engaged to Heather, we started dating shortly after we graduated our first Lifebook session in March 2008, and have been engaged for almost 6 years. Even though we take pride in knowing that we have been together for almost 8 years due to the deep love that we have for one another and not just a marriage certificate holding us together, we are finally getting married this year on August 20! I have 3 children from my previous marriage Angelo(12), Noelle(10) and Mia(9), Heather has 1 daughter from a previous relationship Summer(7), we have one together Roman(17 months) and one more on the way (due June 1). Even before my Lifebook journey began Health has always been very important to me, which has a lot to do my chiropractic background. Fitness has also been important to me, but I would seem to get side tracked in the “hustle and bustle” of work, life and 5 kids to put much focus on my fitness, other than my 30 minutes on the elliptical or treadmill a few days a week. With my knowledge of Health and Fitness, I am ashamed to admit I made excuses because of my lack of time, to act in the same behavior that I was educating my patients to do.
When I found out about the 12 Week Wellness Challenge, I was super excited. I always love a good challenge and this challenge was in a category that I am most passionate about. I’m not going to lie, I was slightly irritated that I was going to have to start this challenge in one of the most tempting months of the year, but that was only my emotional cravings for sugar and over indulging talking. I was also feeling a little discouraged, because by the time I had heard about the challenge I was already 2 weeks behind everyone else. Heather encouraged me to still sign up and assured me she would be my biggest cheerleader along the way. I was positive that I would have enough will power to overcome the cravings and focus on the end in mind.
My biggest purpose to knock this challenge out of the park was not only for myself, but for Heather and my children, and let’s not forget I want to be the best looking 42 year old groom there ever was. Heather is 8 years younger than me, and I want to stay young with her both physically and mentally. And I have many more years of wrestling, wake boarding, hunting, and playing with my family. My WHY was HUGE, so there was no looking back.
I started the challenge a little behind schedule, measuring in at 240 lbs., 43.5 waist, 44.5 chest, 25 Thighs, 14.5 Bi-ceps and 24.0% Body Fat. I committed to only eating lean meats, vegetables, minimal fruit, and a periodic tequila on the rocks with an orange. I have to admit December was very challenging for me with all the Christmas parties and the overabundance of food and drinks that are present. I slipped up only a couple of times. I had added in a few additional workouts at home with weights and yoga while keeping up with my regular cardio. But at the end of the first month I was not satisfied with the progress I was making.
In January, I really buckled down on my eating habits, but I found myself drinking a little more tequila than I had committed to. Drinking alcohol seems to be part of most of my social gatherings. I also had a small indulgence of Sander’s Bumpy Cake to celebrate my birthday with the kids. At the end of January, I knew I had made progress but I also was certain that I wasn’t giving it my all, and I needed to kick it up a notch.
At the beginning of February I joined a gym and also hired a personal trainer. I knew that if I really wanted to transform my body I needed more accountability in my workouts as well as take them up a couple levels.. One obstacle that stood in my way of this was my hours in the office adjusting. I knew I needed to do something to be able to fit all of my workouts in, so I leveraged my associate docs, and was able to start my work day 2 hours later so I could put the focus on my high intensity workout in the mornings. This small hour change has impacted my life much more than just allowing me to work out. I am now able to bring my kids to school in the morning, I am much more rested with the extra hour of sleep I am able to get in the morning, and I have had time to get in a great breakfast and still do an amazing power hour.
A friend of mine, Dr. Fred DiDomenico, mentioned on our accountability call about a naturopath in Colorado that he had seen. He explained how he went there and felt so revived and energized afterwards I thought what more perfect way to finish this Wellness Challenge with a bang. I scheduled my appointment with them for February 16. In the meantime I had become very disciplined to only eat lean meats, vegetables, fruit and have only one or two tequila’s a week.
I flew to Denver on February 16, excited to end this Wellness Challenge with possibly a last minute final cleanse and being certain this visit would leave me feeling re-energized and vibrant. To my surprise, my visit didn’t go exactly how I had imagined. Through the tests that they did on me, they found some concerning issues with my current health. They discovered some abnormal cells and tests results that indicated a probability of cancer. In other words, I left my visit that day, with another HUGE WHY I need to knock this now Eternal Wellness Challenge out of the park. I also left with a very strict diet plan, lifestyle plan, and supplement plan. Since February 17, I am only eating approved vegetables (mostly raw), select nuts, and only 20% venison or wild Alaskan fish. Absolutely no fruit, no alcohol, no caffeine, and no sugar. I am juicing in the mornings for breakfast, and I have a cocktail of vitamins, supplements, and essential oils to take 3 times a day. I am absolutely 100% committed to changing my bodies cellular chemistry, and freeing it from these abnormal cells naturally. I go back for my follow up visit on March 29. I am getting to sleep by 9:30 every day, and still working out at the gym with my personal trainer in the mornings.
As we come to the end of this 12 Week Wellness Challenge, I can honestly say I am not satisfied with my final measurements and where I set my goals to be. But I can say that I have an entire new outlook on my Health and Fitness category. And even though Health and Fitness has always been my key category, this challenge has solidified my premise that Health and Fitness is the foundation for living a balanced long life. Without my Health and Fitness, all other categories will fall short of their absolute potential. Even though I have a little more work to do my final measurements are at 220 lbs., 39.5 waist, 45.25 chest, 24 Thighs, 15.75 Bi-ceps and 20.5% Body Fat.
I just want to say thank you to the entire Lifebook team for motivating me to take on this challenge, Damion for his wise encouraging words each day via his daily blogs, and to all of the other participants who tracked their progress, keeping me motivated along the way.
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