A Bloomington man is feeling energized after a yearlong journey that, for him, ended 100 pounds lighter—and $10,000 richer.
Jeff Gerald is a member at Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping gym in Bloomington, and recently won its national body transformation challenge with a grand prize of $10,000.
Gerald lost over 100 pounds, with a starting weight of 266 and finishing around 162.
“Most days I was there six days a week,” Gerald said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. “Monday, Wednesday and Friday was kickboxing and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday was strength training. Just showing up, putting in the work and tracking my calories—that was a huge thing.”
Studies show weight loss can lead to a higher quality of life with improvements in mental health, blood pressure and cholesterol, to name a few. For Gerald, the biggest change, and the biggest force behind starting the challenge was acquiring more energy.
“I was just tired of being just out of shape and winded doing normal everyday tasks. And I didn't want to see my son see me like that all the time,” Gerald said. “I wanted to be able to go to the park, run around and play and get down on the ground, and do what I wanted to do and not have to tell him, 'no, I can't do that' because I'm physically not able to.”
Gerald had a solid support system at the gym from the staff and others taking on the challenge themselves, but he said he couldn’t have done it without his wife.
“She's the biggest support for me,” Gerald said. “They talk about how nutrition is the majority of your change and transformation. She was that for me. She would help me prep my meals. She would cook for me, because goodness knows I can't make my own food. It would not be very good quality if I was doing it.”
Winning a national title is nothing to scoff at, and Gerald holds that title with pride. However, his advice to future contestants is not an exercise strategy or something to add to their diet, but about winning the mental competition.
“Remember why you started [and] continue to show up even when it sucks,” Gerald said. “Embrace the suck because there's going to be days where you don't want to show up. On those days, it's the most important to stay consistent. When you break that cycle, it becomes easier to continue off that cycle. You just keep showing up, keep giving your all, keep doing what you need to do.”
Gerald intends to use the challenge money to take his family on a trip to Disney World.
