Published in The Post-Star (G11)
1/19/06
The sight of his own 320-pound body hit Mike Rowe harder than a hangover as he watched the video of his 21st birthday party.
"I thought, Oh my God, that's what I look like?" he said, shaking his head in horror. "Never again."
Five years later, Rowe is a trim, muscular 185-pound fitness instructor with more bounce in his step than Tigger.
He now teaches three classes a week at Tropical Fitness in Queensbury, and said he hopes to encourage other people who are struggling to reach their desired weight.
"I'm a group fitness instructor, but I'm not teaching exercise -- I'm changing lives," he said. "I know what it's like, I've been there and I remember thinking it was impossible. I want to be an inspiration."
One of the things he tells his students is that lasting weight loss doesn't come quickly or easily.
"It's a slow, steady progression," he said. "It's taken me five years, and that's the way it should be."
Rowe grew up in Warrensburg and took the fast-track to an associate's degree in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. He put on "a lot more than the freshman 10 or 15," he said, but had little time to take care of his own body.
He graduated in 1998, and was soon helping his parents run their own restaurant in Indian Lake. Between that and a second job at another local restaurant, he often worked 18-hour days.
"I've always been high-energy, but I probably could have gotten more done if I wasn't hindered by my weight," Rowe reflected.
He had tried the Atkins diet and other weight-loss plans, but "the key ingredient was missing," he said.
"I was doing it because I thought I had to, not because I really wanted to ... In the end, it worked because I did it for me."
His first steps toward lasting weight loss were simple. He cut back his meal portions by eating out of 8-inch cereal bowls instead of using 12-inch dinner plates, and took the edge off his appetite with a big salad before moving on to the main course. He quit drinking his daily regimen of coffee and Diet Coke, and cut out all sugary products.
He felt too self-conscious to join a gym at first, so he worked out at home with dance aerobics videos. Soon he knew them by heart. After about a year, he had lost at least 30 pounds and was confident enough to join Tropical Fitness, a Warrensburg gym owned by Steve Carroll.
Carroll remembers their first meeting. Rowe dropped in on an intense "cycle cardio class" and asked if he could try joining in. It was a challenging workout, but he kept up with a smile.
"At the end he said, 'That was awesome! When can we do it again?' " Carroll said. "I knew he was something special."
Rowe worked out for at least an hour each weekday for more than a year, gaining more confidence as his weight gradually crept down toward the 200 mark.
By 2004, Carroll had opened another Tropical Fitness gym in Queensbury and needed an instructor to teach a martial arts-based aerobics class called "Body Combat." When he found out that Rowe was a Tae Kwan Do black belt, he convinced him to train as an instructor.
"He excelled. People just loved him," Carroll said. "He was easy to follow, and full of expression."
Now, Rowe said his dream is to train other fitness instructors to teach Body Combat. He is currently getting certified as a trainer through the Les Mills company.
When he's teaching, Rowe said he sees himself as a performer. He keeps his mind on having fun, not burning calories, although plenty of that happens along the way. He's proud to point out that "there's not a dry shirt" on any of his students by the end of class.
"They always say that they want some of whatever I'm on," he said with a perky shrug. "I'm not on anything -- this is just me!"
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