As most who will read this know, the life of a CPA is very busy. Long hours, tight project timelines and competing priorities make it easy to let certain things fall to the wayside. Add having a family and LA traffic, and we all tend to stop doing certain things we enjoyed in our youth. For me the thing that I sacrificed for most of the past 10 years has been exercise. Do not get me wrong, I have never been what one would call a “workout warrior,” but in my younger days I exercised pretty regularly. As life moved on, my family grew and my work responsibilities increased, the thing I pushed off was taking care of myself physically.

Getting Back on Track

Earlier this summer, returning from the park with my kids out of breath and feeling awful, I decided it was time. I needed to start getting back into exercising and it needed to happen now. I realized that if I did not make a change and find a way to fit exercise into my daily life, I might not always be around for my family or my employer. That moment was a bit of an epiphany, and I made a commitment to doing something immediately.

I had joined the standard gyms in the past and had never been able to motivate myself to consistently go on my own. I needed something new or something different, so I searched for gyms near my home to see what other options were available.

Epic Fitness

I found a gym called Epic Fitness where I live in Simi Valley. Epic is in an industrial section of Simi Valley, and walking in it was definitely different than anyplace I have visited. Following a tour and introduction to the owner, I was asked “Drew, what is your goal in joining a gym?” It really made me think, since I had not had a personal fitness goal since I played football as a younger man. I told him that I wanted to be more functionally fit, to be able to go out and play a game with my kids and not feel like I might die afterwards.

I started by trying a class that was a group workout with about 30 other folks, some younger than me and some older, and while I struggled mightily to do most of the exercises, the positive attitude by the instructors really helped push me along. At the end of the hour, I was drenched in sweat and literally could not move, but I felt a sense of accomplishment that I did not stop and that I got through the entire hour. I told the owners right after the class that I wanted to join that evening.

The Challenge

They signed me up to do a fitness challenge – a six-week course that includes a very specific diet – custom for my body type – to go along with exercising at the gym regularly. I committed to them, and to myself, that I was going to go through with this, and I made it a point to add the gym to my daily schedule. Either early morning or evening, but I adjusted my schedule to make sure I fit in this time for my health. The #BeMore philosophy at GHJ allows for me to rearrange my daily schedule so I am able to put myself and my health first. At the end of the six weeks I had lost over 25 lbs and felt physically stronger and better than I had in probably 20 years.

Setting New Goals

At the end of the program, I had another meeting with my trainer. He recommended for me to sign up for the Spartan Challenge, which is essentially a 5k obstacle course.

The race is about two months away, on Dec. 7, 2019. I am less worried about participating, as the training at Epic has helped me, but there are certain obstacles I may struggle with. It has been about three months since I started this journey, and I have been able to consistently go to the gym 4-5 days a week.

Maintaining a consistent workout schedule is challenging with my work schedule, but because GHJ’ #BeMore philosophy supports my pursuit of outside interests and take care of myself through its “work anytime/anywhere” policy, I am able to reach my fitness goals.

I will update this with the results of the race in December, assuming I survive.