Just 10 months after starting CrossFit, Joshua Hendon has lost 165 pounds. This year, he'll be changing his Thanksgiving traditions.
Ten months ago, Joshua Hendon couldn’t weigh himself on a bathroom scale. At more than 400 pounds, the 29-year-old had pushed the scale’s needle — and his body — as far as it could go.
“I was not active at all … I would come home from work, eat on the couch until bed time, then go to sleep,” Hendon says. “Every once in awhile I would be on my feet for more than an hour and I would pay for it later … I should have never let it get that far.”
Last New Year’s Eve, as luck would have it, he met Marie Phillips, the owner of IMF CrossFit. That night, as the clock ticked down to the end of 2011, Phillips gave him a surprise gift: one year of unlimited classes at IMF.
“As soon as she saw me she said she wanted me to join the gym and get into CrossFit as soon as possible,” he says.
He couldn’t say no to her offer. After some mental rallying, he showed up at the box for his first CrossFit class.
“Oh my God did I struggle in the beginning,” Hendon recalls. “Because I was so big, doing one squat was like a full workout … (and) it was an ugly squat at best.”
Forget pull-ups, Hendon says. And for the first two months he did all his push-ups on his knees.
Despite the difficulty, he kept coming in because of the help and encouragement of his coach, Tony Longaura.
“When I started, my coach called me every night and made sure I was doing OK,” Hendon says. “If I was having a bad day, he told me to suck it up and move on. I would not be here if it were not for his coaching.”
Now, less than a year later, Hendon has dropped 165 pounds. This Thanksgiving, he’s thankful for Phillips’ offer, his coach and his newfound health.
“I am most thankful to have no medical issues,” he says. “My blood pressure is perfect, my cholesterol is perfect, I am right where I need to be.”
His body has changed from 47 percent body fat to 15.1 percent, and push-ups and pull-ups are finally on the list of things he can do.
“I am so thankful for pull-ups,” he says. “I can do 10 in a row!”
Staying on Track
Proud and grateful, Hendon is changing his Thanksgiving tradition. After a 165-pound weight loss after only 10 months of CrossFit, an 8,000-calorie meal is not an option.
“My Thanksgiving dinners before CrossFit were at least 8,000 calories — plus I ate all day. Turkey, gravy, marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, potato salad, Caesar salad, ham, turkey with gravy, rolls, pies, candies — it was bad,” he says.
This year, he’s sticking to his high protein and low carb diet, and running a Turkey Trot before the workout of the day.
“I will be starting turkey day out with a 10k in Bidwell Park called the Turkey Trot,” Hendon says. “That night I will be loving me some Fran.”
