I'm Coach Rich. I'm 64 years old, born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, and I spent years as a competitive athlete and Air Force veteran. I used to be a 190-pound athlete — a trainer who knew the science, built the programs, and coached others to results. But years of military service and competitive sports left their mark on my body in ways I didn't fully understand until later. Then life piled on everything else. A failed marriage that ran its course. Stress that never let up. Nights where eating was the only thing that felt like peace or rufuge. By the time I reached my mid-fifties, I was standing on a scale past 360 pounds — and my body had already been through more than most people could see from the outside.

The worst part wasn't the number. It was knowing better. I'd taught this stuff for years. But knowing and doing are two entirely different things when you're physically broken, mentally exhausted, and spiritually empty all at the same time. I wasn't lazy. I wasn't weak. I was lost. And for the first time in my life, I understood what that actually felt like from the inside.

Over the past year or so, I've lost 70 pounds. That didn't happen overnight, and it didn't happen in a straight line. Four years of trying, adjusting, struggling, and learning what actually works when your body is older and doesn't respond the way it used to. What I've learned is that the rules change as you age — and most programs don't account for that. Recently I launched a personal challenge — 210 Days to 210 lbs — documenting the journey publicly on the FITT Facebook page. I'm on day 17, down to 290 pounds, and still going. I don't claim to have all the answers. What I do claim is this: everything I learn, every approach I try, every setback and breakthrough gets documented and shared. My journey is part of my coaching.