Born in Lancaster. Alcohol-free five and a half years. Not interested in pretending that was tidy.
I coach people who are drinking less or not at all, and who want a person alongside them rather than a program.
A manageable routine, until it was not.
I spent years waking up feeling crappy and telling myself I gotta stop doing this to myself. Every day I made a plan. I booked early gym classes so I would have to be ready in the morning. It did not change what I did the night before.
I worked a safe job in printing, because money and healthcare were what I had been told mattered most. I dragged myself through a routine that was expected of me, and when the day's responsibilities were done, I checked out. The evening drink was how I unwound from doing things all day that were not really what I wanted for myself.
I may not have looked like rock bottom to the outside world, but I was fighting myself daily. What finally changed was admitting I did not have to manage it all on my own, and letting other people be part of it. Alcohol was making my life worse, not better. Once I was honest about that, the decision was simple. Living it took longer.
Sleep came back first. The evenings took longer.
My sleep started getting better within the first few weeks. The strange part was the evenings. I suddenly had hours I was awake for and no idea what to do with them. I started reading — non-fiction, mostly — and paying attention to what healthy living could actually mean for me, not what I had been told it meant.
Those evenings are most of what I coach now. Sleep, food, stress, the open hours between dinner and bed. Movement comes last and smallest. I am a personal trainer, and I am still not going to sell you training.
Lancaster, mostly on foot.
I was born here and I still live here, in the Ross neighborhood, with my wife Rebecca and our dog Anakin. Most evenings the three of us walk. I have three adult kids. I drink a lot of Square One coffee, I am on Queen Street and Gallery Row more than I need to be, and I do not miss a First Friday if I can help it. When I can get away, I travel.
If you are local, some of our sessions can be a walk or a table at a café. If you are not, a screen works fine.
“You are doing great. A change this big is worth it. You get to recreate yourself any way you want, and you do not have to explain your why to anyone.”
Four, and a lot of Tuesdays.
Coaching is not medical care, therapy, or addiction treatment. If a question is medical, I will say so and point you to someone who can help.
One free conversation. No pitch.
Thirty minutes, across a table or a screen. If I am not the right person, I will say so.