Meet Jeremiah
Fitness Is A Lifestyle
“I finally realized that short cuts & quick diets wouldn’t work anymore. It was time for a real lifestyle change!”
One of my favorite memories growing up was playing Racquetball with my Father. Even when he worked two jobs, he made time for a few games a month. I grew up rural, which meant cutting & splitting firewood, digging post holes & stringing barbwire fences, building barns, stacking hay, etc. Physical work & play was a part of life, I never thought to question my own physical abilities. I stayed active and relatively fit thru my early 20’s mostly from construction work and a young mans metabolism. Sure, I had a bit of a belly, but I could always keep up with everyone around me.
Then my 30’s hit, and my metabolism slowed down. Way down. I put on 54lbs before I knew it. I was basically eating the same (which meant waay to much lol). My work environment changed as I had left my job as a Journeymen Lead Tech at the Pipe Fitting Company I worked for to start and manage my own Pipe Fitting Company with my Wife. That meant over half my time was now spent in front of a computer reviewing plans and drawing pipe size maps. It all happened so fast! I remember Halloween that year trying on costumes……none of the costumes I wanted to wear so I matched my Wife would fit me. To be honest, I got depressed and didn’t do anything about it for awhile. I noticed little things here & there, like not being able to jump around with my kiddos with out me knees throbbing the next day, or running out of breath jogging up the driveway. I couldn’t stay on the path I was on, something had to change. Just making a few changes to my diet wasn’t enough anymore. Lifting weights sporadically with no defined goals or plans and no real cardio wasn’t enough anymore.
I wanted to be the man my Wife married. I wanted to be a role model for my two children. I wanted to do fun physical activities as a family, like challenging hikes or Mt Biking. I finally realized that short cuts & quick diets wouldn’t work anymore, it was time for a real lifestyle change!
I am so blessed to have found a partner for life who is not only my best friend, but also a caring & attentive Mother to my children, a hard worker, a fitness goal driven and amazingly athletic person, and a compassionate & supportive Wife.
Michelle helped me get my fitness life back on track. She supported my time commitment for my workouts, helped me with my meal planning, gave me support when life gave me challenges, and best of all she stayed my friend. In fact, bringing our fitness lifestyle together as a family has made us closer than ever!
Following the theme of fitness as a lifestyle, I purchased our first Stand Up Paddleboards. They were cheap foam knockoffs, but it got us on the water together! We almost instantly realized this was something we had both a passion for, and so began the journey to NW SUP & Fitness.
By the time I bought our first SUP’s, I had been eating balanced meals and lifting weights regularly for a few years. After our 1st season of paddle boarding, Michelle noticed something about me I had never seen even after years of regular weight lifting; legitimate Obliques! A stomach surgery as an infant and neck issues as an adult had always discouraged me from getting serious about my core. Regular crunches and leg lifts were out of the question (or at least so I thought). Michelle’s core and obliques were noticeable more defined too. It turned out that not only was SUP our favorite hobby as a couple and family, but it’s also a great workout and has been injury free! Paddle Boarding was life changing for me as an individual and for our entire family.
After years of paddling, I can now do crunches and leg raises with out pain. Paddle Boarding is a full body workout but especially targets your core, and yet it’s so smooth with zero impact unlike many other sports or fitness activities (jogging used to make my knees throb the next day!). My right shoulder that had always bothered me with weight training alone feels so much better after incorporating Paddle Boarding into my fitness routine.
After trying many different SUP’s thru the years, I currently own my 2 favorite boards ever, a 12’ 6” touring board and a 14” Bark Race board. Although my 13’ 2” inflatable is fast becoming another favorite! There are so many different styles of SUP boards to choose from, it can be overwhelming when you’re just trying to get your feet in the water. Believe me, I definitely wasted some hard earned money on boards that just weren’t right for me. My goal is to help other people whenever I can, and if that happens to be helping find the right paddle board for you, that’s great!
Living a fitness lifestyle as a family and Paddle Boarding together has been awesome, so awesome that we want to help other people experience that same awesome. We’re excited to help you achieve your fitness goals or pick out the perfect paddle board for your needs. Please don’t hesitate to shoot either one of us a message if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading my story and I wish you the best of luck on yours,
Jeremiah
