Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time around me knows how much I love to consume a glut of calories during my lunch breaks.
The majority of my friends weigh more than 300 pounds and some of my buddies even tip the scales over the 400-pound mark.
My friend Tyree Bell, a Bothell resident whom I’ve been friends with since our high school days in Belfair in 1998, was one of those individuals who weighed more than 400 pounds on Thanksgiving Day 2015. A little under three months later, he certainly doesn’t weigh in the 400s anymore. On the ultimate day of gluttony, Bell decided to make some positive changes in his life. He bought an elliptical machine and committed to working out every day for 100 days straight beginning this past Thanksgiving.
He started a Twitter handle titled @SweatEquityLife and online blog called https://sweatequitylife.wordpress.com. He referred to his journey as ““Redemption 100.0.” He vowed to workout every single day and not weigh himself until the 100-day mark on March 8. The Twitter site and blog were places where Bell shared not only his thoughts but shared his deepest insecurities, secrets and goals for the future.
The blog and Twitter account have paid dividends for Bell.
On Jan. 22, Bell made the short drive from Bothell to Bellevue for a visit. I was covering the Issaquah Eagles/Eastlake Wolves girls and boys basketball games that evening and Bell had made plans to attend the game with me. Once he arrived at the Bellevue Reporter office, I immediately was taken aback by his appearance. He looked like a totally different person. If I had to guess I would say he lost at least 50 pounds in the first two months of his workouts.Yet again, I saw Bell at my annual Super Bowl party this past weekend. Even though I had just seen him two weeks prior, it looked like he had lost another five to 10 pounds since mid-January.
Reading Bell’s blog posts on a weekly basis has been inspiring. It is something I genuinely look forward to. His will and determination is nothing short of remarkable. He holds nothing back in his posts and exudes honesty about his past life choices and aspirations for the future. It takes pure guts for a person to discuss their personal life in a public forum. I can’t wait to see Bell get on the scale on the 100-day mark on March 8. It is going to be an amazing sight seeing him closer to the 200s than the 400s.
