Commander Joshua Lego has worked for Police for 21 years. During those years, he has worked a variety of assignments. He is currently assigned to the Special Operations Unit responsible for planning for protests and assemblies while coordinating with other agencies. He has a Masters Degree in Leadership and teaches throughout the U.S. and Canada as an expert in policing issues. He is 45 years old, married and has three children.
Josh’s current position can involve working nights, week-ends and very long days. This irregular schedule affected his diet and exercise plans. He was grabbing whatever was handy to eat when he had the time. Days as long as 14 hours left little energy for exercising. It was in his personal life though that stressful circumstances led to living a very unhealthy lifestyle. His younger brother died unexpectedly leaving a young child behind whom Josh and his wife came to adopt.
To cope with the stress in his life, Josh turned to alcohol and food. Admittedly, he was drinking too frequently and eating at the wrong times. One bad habit seemed to fuel the other. He ignored what was happening to him even when put on medication for high blood pressure. His weight climbed to 290 lbs.
Three years ago, he actually just woke up one morning and said “This is enough.” He quit drinking cold turkey. He knew he needed to plan though to be successful. His wife had followed the Slimgenics plan with success so he began to essentially follow that though substituting comparable foods he could find at Target for a less expensive option. He was determined to be intentional with when and what he ate. By quitting alcohol, he was much better able to manage his urge to eat that whole pizza at 11:00 pm as he may have before. When he knew that long 14 hour days were ahead, he brought a cooler with him to avoid having to grab whatever was there.
In addition to having the physical plan, he adjusted his thinking as well. He was not going to become discouraged. If he overate on the week-end, he would get back on track. He purposely did not set a weight loss goal but instead relied on the healthy choices he was making to create a healthier body. He paid attention as to how he felt to determine what was working for him. He didn’t compare himself to anyone else which he knows is important as everyone’s experience is different. Josh didn’t want a diet but a real lifestyle change which meant being content with a slow weight loss. At the end of one year, he had lost 60 lbs. His relationship with food has changed: instead of eating slice-after-slice of pizza, he is satisfied with a salad and a slice; he even has control over the M&M urges he gets. He has gotten back into exercising, doing cardio and strength training that he enjoys.
Josh is now off his blood pressure medication. He feels he does a much better job in his roles as parent, husband, and coach. He acknowledges there will always still be stress in his life but knows he is much more capable of managing it.