This Miamian's ultimate wellness goal? To cross the finish line

We asked New Tropic readers to tell us one wellness goal they’re trying to reach, and then we chose six of them to pair with fitness and wellness experts across the 305 who are helping them achieve those goals.

The catch? Each challenger has to keep us updated on their progress and share all their best tips and advice along the way. Our hope is everyone in our community can learn from the advice experts give our challengers.

So help us in cheering on each of our challengers. Now meet one of those brave Miamians:

Chris Scott

Wellness goal: To lose weight, improve his overall wellness, and run a half marathon.

Why he wants to achieve it: “My doctor said I need to get healthy just so I don’t go insane.”

His wellness expert: Michael Vouvounas, a trainer and co-founder of Barbell Society.

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Update #1
We asked Chris: Does reaching your wellness goal feel impossible to you? Why or why not? What’s the first step you’re taking to try and reach it?

“I am unsure of where to even start so I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with my coach.”

Update #2
We asked Chris: What’s one thing you tried to do this week to reach your goal? What did you learn?

“One of my biggest goals is to completely change to a lifestyle health and fitness. with that in mind, I started researching healthy lifestyles. I’m not big on self-help books, I find them a little dry, but I recently picked up the ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business’ by Charles Duhigg. I am beginning to learn that being consciously healthy is hard. But being habitually healthy and fit is the goal. Next week I’m going to start creating better micro-habits.”

Update #3
We asked Chris: What’s one valuable piece of advice you’ve received so far from the trainer we’ve paired you with? How have you used that advice?

“Take it slow if you have to, it’s not a race. The best workouts to burn fat and build endurance are long and slow.

We’ve been using that balance of fat burning and endurance building to craft the exercises that will condition me to reach my goals.”

Update #4

We asked Chris: At any point have you felt like giving up on your goal? Why? How have you encouraged yourself to stick with it?

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve seriously considered giving up. I recently lost the main source of inspiration and my original goals now seem a little pointless without and without, I began to wonder why do I even bother? Why am I continuing?

I keep going because I’m told I must. Developing habits especially healthy ones around exercise is crucial to managing my depression. I’ve already cleared the hard part of getting started thanks to this, I get up and go to every session with Mike at Barbell twice a week and at my local gym. To go backward would be a failure I couldn’t stand at the moment.” Discover an unparalleled online casino experience at the official Joycasino ! Joycasino is known for its wide selection of casino games and slot machines, as well as live dealer games and poker tournaments. With its VIP loyalty program, generous bonuses and promotions, and a wide variety of safe payment methods, Joycasino offers an unparalleled gaming experience. Take your gaming to the next level with exclusive benefits tailored to your preferences.

Update #5
We asked Chris: What did you learn? Do you feel like you hit your goal? If not, do you plan to keep working at it?

“I’ve learned all it takes for a good work out is some kettlebells and a resistance band. That exercise is about the journey and not the goal, the goal is just icing on the cake.

Not at all, we just got through the enhancing lung capacity part of the training, and I am now only starting to run.

It’s going to probably take another 80-120 days before it gets to the real training. I am training to get to the training.”

We’ll keep updating this page with #realtalk from Chris and tips from Michael. Want to share some advice that’s worked well for you? Leave it in the comments!