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CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
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Communicators Outside the Lines Feature Series
This is the next profile Q and A in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
HAVE IDEAS OR MEMBERS TO NOMINATE FOR THIS SERIES?
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, at (618) 560-9280 or
mitchell@wustl.edu.
Dave Reed and family.
Q&A with Dave Reed
Associate Director, Athletics Communications
by Megan Hardin, Athletics Communications Director
, Southwestern University
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee Member
Dave Reed has been a fixture on the Colorado College campus for 18 years. Throughout his tenure, Dave has not only navigated the vast change in duties with grace, he has also embraced an active lifestyle and used the beautiful surroundings of Colorado Springs to better his life and his family's health. With 16 teams on campus including two NCAA Division I programs, Reed knows how challenging it can be to fit in eating right and working out and yet has found a way to include his family and have even more quality time.
Q. What motivated you to make a change?
REED: Having a child is a life-altering moment, and since my wife Gerri Anne and I got a late start with our family, I knew I had to take better care of myself not only to set a positive example for our son, Jackson, but be around as long as possible for both of them.
Reed with wife Gerri Anne
Q. How did you go about setting up a plan for living a healthier lifestyle?
REED: This is one of those ‘don’t knock it until you try it’ situations. Gerri Anne bought a Beach Body program and really liked it, so I did it with her. Then she bought P90X and we achieved great results by following every minute detail of the program, including its very precise diet plan. At that point, we were hooked. When I moderated a health and wellness panel at the 2013 CoSIDA Convention, nutritionist Zonya Foco challenged me to tackle Insanity, which Gerri Anne and I started on July 1. After 60 days, I was down to 165 pounds from the nearly 235 that I weighed when I moved to Colorado in 1999 and the 205 pounds I was at when we married in 2005. My target weight is now 180, which keeps my motivated.
Q. What would you say was the most important step you took to keep you on track?
REED: There are two things that help keep me on track. First, my family and friends know what I’m doing and that allows them to participate by holding me accountable. Second, at Gerri Anne’s urging, we eliminated almost all soft drinks, especially diet drinks and their chemicals. We started drinking a lot of iced tea, first with sugar and then later without, and then we did the same with coffee. Without a doubt, eliminating extra sugar was the lynchpin to everything I accomplished concerning my quantifiable results. Once the sugar was gone, I was able to achieve my goals of weight loss and a reduction in my pants size.
Reed and son Jackson climbing the Manitou Incline
Q. How do you incorporate exercise into your life?
I’m very fortunate because Colorado College has a state-of-the-art fitness center attached to the building in which I work. There also is a track to run on when it’s not too hot or cold. That makes it easy for me to get a cardio workout almost every day during the week and sometimes on the weekend. When I get home at night, there is a park and open space with deer trails that is right up against our property. It’s a great place for our family to walk our dog, play basketball, throw a football, kick a soccer ball, etc. We also have a tradition of doing P90X every January and also have completed T25 and Insanity. Colorado also provides a lot of natural workouts like year-round hiking and skiing during the Winter. The next challenge we’re planning is climbing a 14er, one of the state’s 14,000-foot peaks.
Q. If someone is just starting out, what advice would you give them?
REED: My first suggestion is to come up with realistic goals, create a strategy to attain them and then be committed. I’m lucky to have a wife and son who also like to exercise with me, but understand that doesn’t apply to everyone. One way to overcome that is to find a friend or co-worker who has similar goals and work out together. Turn it into a competition to see who gets the best results. I also would suggest including diet adjustments as you go, like cutting out or reducing soda, substituting fruit for chips and drink black coffee; get the junk food out of your home and office.
Q. During long days, what tricks do you employ to keep you from getting off track?
REED: I bring my lunch almost every day, which eliminated trips to “McWendyKings.” Not only is it cost effective, it’s much healthier and can complement your workouts. I also have a water bottle on my desk so when I think I’m hungry, I drink water. It’s also important to get up and move by walking around the building or going outside two or three times a day.
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