Finalist 3: Todd

 

A little about me; I just finished law school (Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, MI) and moved back home in May.  I graduated from Ferndale High School in 1993 and from Western Washington University in 2006.  I am currently looking for work and preparing to take the bar exam in February, and I just completed an internship with the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office.

 

I was a pretty small guy in high school, 6’ tall and 185 pounds; while playing football at Ferndale, I injured my shoulder and my activity level started dropping off.  I used to mountain and rock climb and hike all over the state.  While I was in the Navy, I weighed about 200 pounds, and kept at that weight until my wife got pregnant with our daughter, Mattingly.  As she put on pounds, I put them on, too.  My activity level got less and less, I worked more and more, and I stopped doing the things (like biking and hiking) that used to keep me slim.  By the time I made it to law school, I weighed about 300 pounds, with 305 being my heaviest.

 

After my first year of law school hell, I decided I had to make a change, and I changed my diet and started doing more physical activities, like coaching my kid’s sports (football, baseball, floor hockey).  Two years later, I had lost about 35 pounds and when I moved back home in May I weighed about 265 pounds.  Unfortunately, as the stress has increased as the job search has dragged on, my waist line has been expanding again.  I am at about 280 pounds right now, and I need to get back on track.

 

I would be the perfect partner for Tracy because I, like Tracy, know what it is like to be thin, then get big, then lose the weight, only to have it come back, yo-yo weight gain/loss as he said on his radio spot.  Also, like Tracy, I have a little munchkin who I want to be healthy and involved with for a looong time, and being healthy for my kids is a big motivator.  Yeah, I enjoy a steak at the Copper Hog, or a cigar with the boys while playing poker, but I would give it up (almost) completely to make sure I am in my kid’s lives for a long, long time.

 

Personally and selfishly, being in better shape will help my self-esteem and will help me better prepare for taking the bar exam in February 2010.  Also, I will be able to get back to hiking and snowboarding, and better enjoy golf and softball with my kids.  I also know that being in better shape will help me in feeling better about myself, making it easier to market myself to more employers, plus being more active and physical will help lessen the stress my body will undoubtedly endure as I start my legal career.

 

Pick me Tracy, I will be able to commiserate with you on the days you need, but I will be able to kick you in the butt on the days you need that, too!  Let’s get the know-how from the experts as to the best way to work-out and to tailor our diets, then show people that two guys, not yet quite past their prime, can still kick butt and take names!

 

Thank you,

 

Todd