A journey to better health

Longtime Owego resident, Chris Potter, has reached a significant milestone in a journey to better health. He has maintained an incredible 100-pound weight loss over the last six months, and is continuing a quest to sustain it.

Potter’s official journey started on Jan. 13, 2020. While at a medical examination, the scales weighed him in at 290 pounds.

Potter remarked, “I was in shock, I didn’t think I was that heavy.”

The game changer, he said, was the alarming realization that he was pushing 300 pounds.  

Almost immediately, Potter said he took a long look in the mirror. Depressed about how heavy he had become, self-motivation kicked in. Soon he abandoned hours of couch sitting and binge eating.  

The new goal to establish healthier habits started slowly, but Potter said he was determined to make it happen. And not just for himself, but for his wife and three children, and with thoughts about his daughter’s future wedding.     

Potter, a veteran, explained that extra weight was an issue when he joined the U.S. Marines in 1991. It was there, he said, that a disciplined routine and regimen helped him shed 60 pounds.

Potter served four years with a goal to serve longer, but had to leave due to heart issues. It was then, he said, he also began putting weight back on.

“I have had six heart surgeries, ten back surgeries and knee surgery,” Potter said, adding, “I was depressed and in constant pain, and this all led up to Jan. 13, 2020.” 

The journey featured a whole new mind set about eating. Potter cut back on portion sizes, focused on healthier choices and gave up fried foods, pasta and breads.

For exercise, Potter shared that he decided to do an activity he knew he could do, which was to start walking.

Potter’s walking routine took him around Owego’s Village streets for many months. More recently he has ventured out for a change of pace, such as climbing the hilly terrain around Evergreen Cemetery to checking out Oakley Corners State Forest, where walking paths denote challenge levels based on individual abilities. 

Potter, now 48, is pleased with his progress, and especially, too, since he doesn’t need to rely on a walking cane as he did in the beginning. On days when weather plays a factor, Potter works out on his treadmill at home.

What began with, “As far as I could go, and then up to 3,000 steps,” Potter has strived for upwards of 10,000 steps a day, and has increased to three-plus miles in one session.

“I commit about an hour a day to some form of exercise,” he said.

And not only has Potter boosted his physical health – he has also seen improvement in his mental health, sense of well being and self-confidence, too.     

Along the journey, Potter decided to reach out to his brother Brent for recommendations. Brent, also an Owego native, lives in the Chicago area and is the owner and operator of multiple locations of the health and fitness gym, Anytime Fitness. Potter was linked up with a trainer at one of Brent’s centers, and where he utilizes remote sessions to check in weekly about his lesson plan and progress.

Potter commented, “My brother gave me pointers, and then a fitness belt that keeps track of my movements and calories burned.” 

Using an App on his watch, Potter is able to keep track of his heart rate, calories burned and exertion level. And since working with a trainer, Potter has added other exercises such as leg stretches, squats, and other activities using exercise bands.

Potter’s hard work has resulted in reducing his waist size by about ten inches, and in return has resulted in buying a new wardrobe.   

As a disabled veteran, Potter visits the V.A. in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. for appointments and treatment, and has since made a new goal to reduce the need for some of his pain medications. 

Potter said part of his motivation comes from the community, too, and he enjoys chatting with people who ask him for advice or talk to him about their own journey. Another motivation came when his daughter joined him on his walks for several weeks. 

Potter remarked, “I probably won’t see boot camp weight again,” and is satisfied and happy with his success to date.

Potter welcomes individuals with questions to contact him via Facebook. The pandemic, he said, has actually resulted in many people gaining weight, and added, “Don’t think that you cannot change, it can be done.”