Every day I am reminded of the Power of Choice. I was first introduced to the concept about 12 Years ago when I'd just finished my collegiate soccer career. At that time, I gained 60 lbs in a 6 month period. Every day that passed was centered around food, primarily pizza and ice cream. What happened to me is familiar to many: During my soccer years, I exercised constantly to stay lean and once the exercise was removed, my eating habits were still poor and the weight and body fat began to pour on very quickly. In addition, my weight gain became exacerbated as I used food to fill the void left over by my lack of a soccer career. You see, after college, I thought I was ready to move to the next chapter of my life. The challenge with doing this was that the majority of my life up until that point had been centered around eating, exercising, and living a particular way. When two very large pieces of that lifestyle were removed (hours of daily exercise and soccer training) I became lost. The change was much greater than I anticipated and I did not know then what I know now.

So there I was, 250 lbs, 22% body fat, depressed and feeling uncertain on my path. I had a choice. I could continue my current behavior and keep gaining fat and feeling miserable, or I could choose a different path. I could choose to educate myself on how to adjust my nutrition to work for me with or without the hours of daily exercise I'd been doing. On top of that, I could choose to find a new passion to replace soccer. I chose to focus solidly on my health and during a 3 month period, I dropped down to 185 lbs and arrived at 4% body fat.

Through the years that I've coached thousands of clients, I have witnessed many who've been faced with a choice very similar to mine. Many times people search for deep answers... Look for reasons to get motivated with their health - try hard to find that magic solution... In reality it is just a simple choice, a choice to make your health a priority. Make it a permanent part of your lifestyle.

We each determine our destiny by the choices we make. We choose to be whatever we want to be and live the quality of life that we desire. Once that choice is made, challenging periods of time will still occur. As long as you are committed to your choice, you'll have the strength and courage to push through. Please remember: There's no starting or stopping along this path, just the choice to walk along it. My invitation to you is to look closely at your health and see how simple choices can take your health to the next level. I wish you great success!