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Crying is one of the most amazing things people do, because we do it for so many different reasons. A baby will cry for a reason as simple as he’s hungry. We never judge him, because if we were incapable of feeding ourselves, every one of us, man or woman, would bawl our faces off if it was the only way we knew to get some food. A young child will cry when the ice cream falls from her cone onto the dirty ground, because in her mind, she’s just lost the best thing the world has to offer and will never find it again. A teenage boy will cry because the 13-year-old girl he was certain was going to be his wife let him know in a not-so-kind way that there was no chance that was ever going to happen. A grown woman will break down in tears when she feels completely distraught. A grown man will say he has something in his eye, because crying to him is a sign of weakness.
But we don’t only cry because we’re hungry, distraught, heartbroken or sad. We cry tears of joy. Tears stream down our faces when we’re sharing a laugh with friends, and even better (if that’s possible), we can become so overwhelmed with elation, that even a grown man can’t dam the flood that pours from his eyes. These are the tears we see at Live in Fitness, and we’ve been known to shed them ourselves.
So many of our clients come to our fitness retreat because they are tired of living the unhealthy life they’ve been living. They come because they can’t stand to look in the mirror one more time. They can’t stand that they can’t stop eating pizza, ice cream, sweets and other less-than-healthy foods in obscene quantities. They come because their situation is so desperate that they have no other option. Or they don’t come because they have tried everything they can think of to change and have failed.
The ones that don’t come will continue to cry the tears that can only come from lost hope. Those that do get to experience the extreme joy that comes from knowing they will be there to see their children graduate and get married. They shed tears because, when they thought all hope was probably lost, they believed, committed and succeeded despite every cell in their body being filled with doubt.
That was Chris. When he first came to Live in Fitness he weighed in at 482 pounds. He had a starting body fat of a whopping 47.5%. When he left, he weighed 277 pounds and had dropped his body fat 16 percentage points to 31.5%. In addition to that, he lost 126 inches! If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. That is 10 and a half feet! If you’ve ever stood on the high dive at your local pool and looked down, it’s farther than that. The numbers are impressive and paint great before and after pictures (which you can actually see on our site), but they don’t tell the whole story.
Chris didn’t show up and the pounds magically melted away. We first had to dig in and discover why and how he let himself get to that unhealthy state. We also had to figure out why his efforts to change had failed in the past. Without changing the mind of our clients, we might be able to temporarily change the body, but the changes will be only temporary.
Then we conducted our thorough battery of tests to analyze the present state of Chris’s body. We helped him set reachable goals and devise a plan to ensure he achieved them. We developed a meal plan, and the rest was up to him.
The road wasn’t an easy one for Chris. He arrived at Live in Fitness with low self-esteem and a hopeless vision what his life would be, but he was determined to see his children grow up. The road was certainly bumpy, but Chris put in the work. With the help of Eric Viskovicz, Live in Fitness’s Founder and President, and the care of Chris’s team of trainers, his impossible dream slowly became a reality. We can’t say for sure how many tears Chris shed in private during his stay, but the day Eric presented him with his plaque for incredible success, Chris couldn’t hold back the tears. Apparently, big boys do cry…especially when they get smaller.
Chris’s story is only one example of clients who have shed tears as well as pounds and inches. Live in Fitness has helped hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds. And although their journey was not always easy, they all were rewarded with a previously unthinkable overwhelming sense of joy…the kind that comes from accomplishing the monumental task of changing their lives and the lives of everyone who loves them. Whether you believe it or not right now, you deserve this joy. Don’t wait any longer to start the journey; we can’t wait to make you cry…and the Kleenex are free.
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Dinner
Dijon-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Quinoa and Sautéed Squash
Prep: 15 min; Cook: 40 min; Ready In: 55 min
Quinoa:
- ½ cup quinoa
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup water
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Dijon-Crusted Chicken Breasts:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup Rice Krispies®
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Old Bay® Seasoning
- 4 (3½-oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup liquid egg whites
Sautéed Squash:
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 medium yellow squash
- 2 medium zucchini squash
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp fresh flaxseed, for garnish
- For the Quinoa: Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer, and rinse thoroughly with cool running water. Rub and swish the quinoa with your hands while rinsing for about 2 minutes; drain well.
- Heat a small saucepan over medium-high, coat with cooking spray. Add the drained quinoa and cook, stirring, until dry, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the water, and season as desired with salt and pepper; bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to a slow simmer; cover and cook until the water is completely absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.
- When done, remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Just before serving, fluff with a fork. (You should see tiny spirals (the germ) separating from and curling around the quinoa seeds.)
- For the Dijon-Crusted Chicken Breasts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. While the quinoa is cooking, mix the Rice Krispies, Dijon, minced garlic, onion powder and Old Bay.
- Dip the chicken in the egg whites, then coat with the Rice Krispies mixture; place on the prepared baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and just cooked through, about 25 to 35 minutes.
- For the Sautéed Squash: Heat a large skillet over medium-high; add the olive oil, and heat through. Add the garlic, yellow squash and zucchini, and sauté until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with flaxseed.
- Serve each chicken breast along with 1/4 of the quinoa and 1/4 of the squash.
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SERVES 4 (Serving Size: 3.5 oz chicken, ¼ of the quinoa and ¼ of the squash)
CALORIES 310; FAT 6.5g (sat .7g); PROTEIN 33.6g; CARB 26.6g (sugar 4g); CHOL 48mg; CALC 6.5%; SODIUM: 998mg
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