December 2023 Member Spotlight: Colin Postlewaite
We are very happy to feature Colin Postlewaite for our December Member Spotlight. Colin has been a member of our Forward Fam for about 2 years now. He is very consistent with his afternoon workouts, and we wanted everyone to get the chance to know him a little bit better.
Our favorite question to ask people is to just tell us a little bit about themselves to give us an idea of what their lives were like before they came to Forward Fitness. This is what Colin shared with us. “I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with my parents and younger sister. I generally focused on school and music, and I left home at 16 to attend a magnet school for math & science. It was a very formative experience and I’ve spent a lot of time in my head ever since – analyzing problems and reflecting on my thoughts. I moved to St Louis with my girlfriend in 2006 and we bought a house, got married and established a pretty comfortable life soon afterward. I also built a successful career where I get to build my job around my eclectic skill set. My wife, Al, and I live in Clifton Heights with our three dogs (Fonzie, Wanda, Frances) and a cat (Stink).
This is how Colin found Forward Fitness. “I was looking for a new gym coming out of the pandemic. I tried going back to a local chain, but I was bored with the lifting routines I knew and the competition to use equipment. Group training and classes were new to me, as were many of the movements at Forward Fitness, and I decided to see where it would lead. Fairly quickly, I found a renewed sense of mind-body fascination by targeting muscles I’d never thought about before. I also found more ways to challenge myself, such as balance and mobility, and therefore new types of progress to celebrate.
Colin shared this when asked why fitness was important to him and how he has made fitness a priority in his life. “Being healthy just feels good and makes life better. I have more energy, feel more capable, and I’m more grounded mentally and emotionally. I can’t think of any part of my life that doesn’t benefit. I joined a gym for the first time and got serious about my diet about 6 years ago because I was pushing a new weight milestone and generally unhappy with how I looked and felt. I found a strong interdependence that persists to this day between being active, eating well and resisting temptation. Focusing intensely on a physical challenge helps me shed any baggage from my day, and pushing my limits provides an instant sense of accomplishment that’s hard to find elsewhere.”
When asked about challenges he has had to overcome, Colin shared this. “The biggest challenges I’ve faced related to things that felt outside of my control. Back when health and fitness were absent from my life, I picked up a pack-a-day smoking habit that lasted 19 years. It was deeply ingrained in every part of my life and instant gratification routinely won over long-term gains. I struggled to reason myself out of it. Over countless attempts to quit and the subsequent failures, I eventually built a list of ‘why’s that was strong enough to fight my instincts. Every day was a series of battles, not all of which I won, but I knew I wanted to fight and I slowly got to know the taste of success (which includes getting your sense of taste and smell back). Quitting smoking made my wellness journey possible, and everything I gained since then makes it easier to stay smoke-free. It also empowered me to tackle future problems that seemed impossible to control or understand.”
I have had the opportunity to hear Colin talk about his garden before and it was great to learn more about it and why he is so proud of it. “I’m proudest of my garden because it’s the most long running and significant product of my effort. I converted roughly 80% of our grass and moved unknown tons of soil and rock to create mounds and terraces, all with the intent of making spaces that feel secluded from the city around us. It’s an ongoing experiment that recently shifted toward native plants, and the diversity of wildlife attracted to my tiny city lot is exciting. I’m seeing full life cycles of butterflies and inviting migratory birds that never thought to stop before. We eat outside whenever we can.”
For one of our final questions, we like to ask what advice people would give to someone thinking about adding a fitness routine to their lives. Colin’s answer is one of the most thoughtful ones that we have ever gotten. “Take time to find your true ‘why’- the change you want deep inside, maybe even secretly. Your initial motivation needs to sustain you for a while because meaningful gains come from habits and persistence that take time. Set little goals to start – Eating well for a week or getting to the gym consistently is a big deal. Repeat your successes and find the next progressions – How can you challenge yourself this week? Could you push harder when you do this work out next week? A month or two in, when it feels like more of a routine, you’ll get a random compliment about your energy or your appearance that adds to the feeling you’re starting to find.” Thank you, Colin, for that great advice.
We will end our Spotlight with this great fun fact that Colin shared. “I failed gym the first semester of my senior year due to a ‘three strikes’ attendance policy. I had to make it up the next semester by meeting a PE teacher daily for personal training. It’s funny to think something I value immensely now was a punishment at 17.”