Q: Fred, I saw you speak last week in Saratoga Springs, New York, and I thought you were magnificent.
What struck me the most about your presentation, though, was the passion you have for fitness, and life in general. I have a few questions for you: First, have you always been this passionate about fitness? Second, if not, what happened to you to help you become so passionate? And third, are you able to maintain that passion year after year? Tom – Albany, New York.
Tom, thanks for your kind comments and questions. I was not passionate about health or exercise until junior high school. That began to change at about 14 years old when I found I was what I would call, “physiquelly” challenged. At the time I was the skinniest, weakest, sickliest, most poorly built, least-coordinated and least-athletic kid in my eighth grade class.
This was a problem for several reasons. First, I wanted to play high school football like all of my friends. Second, I was an easy target of bullies. And third, high school and girls were on the horizon. Perhaps most serious of all, however, was that my lack of physical stature was affecting my self-confidence and self-esteem.
Fortunately for me, an upperclassman from our high school football team noticed my condition, and offered some advice to improve things. As it turned out, he too had been a skinny weak guy, but through better nutrition and weight training, had literally transformed himself. He shared with me some tips on nutrition and strength training, and I took it to heart.
All through high school I studied nutrition and fervently began weight training and found that I actually enjoyed the training more than I did football, any other sport and almost anything else, for that matter. By the end of high school I too had transformed myself, and had added approximately 50 pounds of muscle to my body. Still, I had a dream to play college football, and was working toward that goal when several months before my sophomore season began I broke my leg in an accident. This caused me to become very depressed because now my dream – my quest to play football- seemed out of reach. I handled my depression by reaching for food every chance I could, and within a few months had eaten myself up to 240 pounds, which was about 50 pounds above my playing weight.
Eventually, from what I knew about nutrition and fitness, I was able to shed that excess body fat in about six months. After graduating from college, I entered the real world of corporate America, working long hours under stressful conditions. Due to the long hours and stress, I dropped my fitness lifestyle and replaced it with a party lifestyle of drinking, eating too much and sleeping too little.
The results of that lifestyle were that I once again put on a significant amount of fat and was irritable much of the time. What caught my attention was that I developed a severe pain in my left shoulder and right hip and was diagnosed with scoliosis. Scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine, and this situation was what was causing my pain, in addition to lower back discomfort.
I was told that this situation would get worse with age, but that surgery was an option. This was in the early 1980s, and according to my doctor, the surgery wasn’t all that great an alternative. After pondering my dilemma, I recalled that in my earlier times of training, I did not have any of these symptoms. Thus, I developed my own, “fitness therapy” formula and went back to training more aggressively than ever.
That was approximately 25 years ago. My scoliosis is not a problem and I am in perhaps the best shape of my life at 49 years of age, with the best yet to come.
I never thought much of my fitness routine, episodes with fat gain or overcoming health struggles until about 16 years ago while working at Redding Specialty as the director of nutrition. One day my boss asked to me to speak at a community event about nutrition and stress. I had been given just one day’s notice to prepare for my speech, so I simply told “my story.” I was shocked at the response. Numerous people approached me after the speech and asked if I could train them, and many requests to speak at other events came forth.
Quite by accident, it seemed, I had discovered my “calling” of a combination of fitness training and motivational speaking. I have gone on to become certified as a trainer, written a book, produced DVDs, speak frequently on wellness and am nearing completion of a master’s degree in Wellness Promotion.
Tom, you had asked if I am able to maintain my passion year after year. The answer is yes, and the truth is that my passion for what I do grows a little more, almost daily. In the field of wellness promotion, we study not just physical health, but also emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual health.
I have heard it said that the “crap” in your life may well be the fertilizer for your future, and I have found it to be true and the secret to unlocking your passion. Meaning that the things that challenge us the most in life are likely struggles others face as well. If we are able to gain some victory in that challenge, and then turn and serve others to help them overcome that struggle, the passion, interest and energy that springs forth is almost unstoppable, and perhaps we have found our “destiny.”
Obviously it helps if a person has a natural interest and some talent in their field. I have had a natural interest in fitness and seem to have some natural talent for public speaking, but the truth is that I have worked my tail off to develop my skills and knowledge in both areas. Interestingly though, my fitness training from my younger years gives me great confidence that I (and everyone else) can improve any area of our lives.
Just like working a muscle — you break it down so that it can progressively be “re-created” stronger, healthier and better — you and I can continuously live a life of “re-creation” emotionally, socially, intellectually, financially and spiritually.
So, Tom, when I stand before an audience or a potential fitness client, I know that I am bringing truth and hope that has changed my life, not just physically, but in every key area, and can possibly change others, too. And it brings me great joy, enthusiasm and passion to be a part of that in the lives of others!
Fred “The Fit Food Dude” Schafer http://www.fitfooddude.com is a Professional Fitness Coach, author and producer of two popular fitness DVDs. He speaks frequently at conferences, sharing his philosophy of passionate, “fully alive” living. He resides in Anderson, Calif., with his wife and three children.
