Chelsea Scott, Fitness Coach at Courthouse West Salem, recently sent me this story about Bill Leach who found freedom through fitness.

From Bill: 

My name is Bill and I have been involved with Group Active and the Courthouse Nutrition program for the past three months. In that time I have lost 10 pounds of fat and have added two pounds of lean muscle mass. But those are just facts. The real value of these programs for me is in the endurance, flexibility and confidence the workouts and the meals have brought into my life.

After retiring four years ago, I have been actively discovering Oregon through the lens of my cameras. I have hiked trails to amazing lakes and waterfalls, roamed through remote fields of wild flowers and watched countless birds and animals in their natural environment.

In the beginning, following the trails to get into these places was new and somewhat difficult for me, but became even more complicated as I added a backpack and almost 20 pounds of camera gear to the trips. I hiked in short spurts and took many breaks along the way to rest my legs and catch my breath.

Then came the my tumbles. The first time I fell was into a river where I lost a camera and lens. Later there were two more falls onto rocks with a lot of bruising, pain and another broken lens. I knew I needed some help.

Having been a member of Courthouse for a few years (but rarely using the facility) I spoke to Chelsea about my need to get more body strength but also my desire to lose weight and improve my balance. That was three months ago. The transformation has truly astounded me! I am hiking more difficult trails to amazing locations, carrying a backpack full of photo gear and capturing photographs from much more interesting angles – something I thought I would never be able to do. I love what this program has done for me and will stay with it.

Here is an example of the types of angles I can now get with my photography. This shot is at Wahclella Falls (in the Gorge) and required that I climb a very steep slope in order to show the scale and immensity of the location. (Note the people and the bridge for scale).No problem!!!

Thank you, Courthouse!!!

From Chelsea:

I first met Bill at the end of this last summer. He had been a member for some time, but he hadn’t been using his membership and wanted to change that. Motivated by challenges he was having while hiking for his photography, Bill had some very specific goals in mind. Hearing his story and the things he wanted to achieve, Bill and I decided that Group Active would be a good place for him to start.

Bill jumped in with both feet. He began consistently taking Group Active Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and started to notice the difference it was making in his life. One day before Active I was talking to Bill and he jokingly asked me, “So, when is the weight going to start coming off?” My response was, “Well, how is your nutrition?” We walked straight up front and made him an appointment to meet with Becca, our Nutrition Coach, and Bill has been rocking the nutrition program ever since (that was about 3 months ago).

It has been fun to watch Bill move from a member who wasn’t really utilizing his membership, to one who is consistently coming and now able to do things that he never thought he would be able to do with ease. A couple weeks ago I asked Bill if he had been on any fun photo expeditions lately and he told me “Yeah! Actually, yesterday! It was a trail that I used to struggle hiking with my pack and camera gear, and I was actually able to run part of the trail yesterday!”

To me, that is success.