Joe Beatty has worked for the City since May, 2013. He presently is a heavy vehicle mechanic for the Fire Department.
As a teenager, Joe was very overweight. He recalls a vacation to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with high school friends during which he almost sunk the canoe. At that time, he was 100 lbs. heavier than he is now. After that, he decided to make a change. He began to exercise and control portion sizes.
When Joe first started working for the City, he had just come back from his second military deployment to the Middle East. It was the lightest he had ever been. His job overseas had him moving around a lot. Also, there weren’t distractions to his fitness routine or temptations to overeat.
It was a struggle when he first returned from that deployment to get back into “normal society”. Gradually though, he got back into an active exercise routine. He was living close to work so he decided to bike to work. He soon added biking to the gym every day. He enjoyed biking so much that even when he moved to where he presently lives in St. Louis Park, 12.5 miles away, he continued to bike to work. Joe isn’t just a fair weather biker either. He will bike to work every day throughout the winter unless the temp drops below 0 or there are glare ice conditions. He misses only a few days each winter because of weather. He is happiest when he is biking.
Joe is 45 years old now and much healthier than he was as a teenager. At one time he thought that being overweight was just the life that he had been dealt but he knows now it is all about choices. That doesn’t mean it is always easy for him though. He admits to not getting in the fruits and vegetables he knows he needs. Portion sizes can also be a challenge. He would like to lose 20 lbs. He recommends when snacking to avoid foods that come in a wrapper unless its one that Mother Nature provides.
Joe knows bicycling isn’t for everybody; it is what he enjoys. He believes you owe it to yourself though to find something to keep you active and to live the healthy life that you deserve.
photo: Joe pictured with girlfriend Hope