SISU Transformation: Billy Rodgers
About Billy
I am blissfully married to the wonderful Emily Rose Rodgers. We live in St. Louis Park with our Bernese Mountain Dog Huckleberry (the Huckle-Beast). I love being outside in the sun or the snow. I love to ski, boat and spend time with friends. I grew up playing football, baseball and lacrosse, but my main sport was swimming. Until I graduated college, I was always a very active person.
First Steps Towards Transformation
When Emily and I got married, I was at my heaviest at 285lbs. I gained the weight slowly through school and the beginning of “adulthood”. The moment I decided I need to make a change was one day after taking a shower, looking in the mirror and having the thought “what have you done to yourself”.
That day, I was determined to run on the treadmill after work. At that point, I physically couldn’t run. I made it about .1 miles. I got on a bike and rode every day until I could run and then ran a little more each day until Emily and I were able to run a half marathon. It wasn’t until we found SISU that I realized there was still a long way I could push myself.
Finding SISU
I found SISU about halfway through my fitness journey. Emily and I were dragged to SISU by our neighbor Jess. While Emily was hooked immediately, I was a bit hesitant to start. Once I got to know the people and community though, I was fully drinking the Kool-Aid, and I started working out 5-6 days a week instead of three. The last real major fitness turbo-jet was the nutrition planning. After learning about nutrition and training myself to think of food as fuel and not a reward, I started to look the way I had only ever dreamed about.
A New Perspective
At my heaviest, I really hated my body. Until recently, I never really knew what it was like not to live constantly thinking about my body. I am a thousand times more confident in my own skin, and I feel proud of the progress and commitment I have made. I am sick less often and even my skin and hair feels healthier. Beyond that, I feel as though if I can lose 100 pounds there is not much I can’t do if I just take the steps to start.
Advice to Get Started
The thing I wish I could go back and tell myself is that it WILL BE HARD, and it will take a lot longer than you might like but as soon as you are committed fully to making a change things will start to move. Making a major change is hard and you will only be able to do one piece at a time, but if you stick with it and continue to improve the things you are doing, you will reach your goal.
Looking Forward
Now that I have been doing the things that it takes to be healthy, they are just a part of my life. I know how to eat, and I am fully addicted to working out. We do know now how to enjoy ourselves once and a while. I am blessed to have an amazing partner who is equally committed to living the life we want. Living as a fit team makes the whole thing a hell of a lot easier.