Article published June 08, 2009
Fitness becomes routine; David Urbanski finds time to exercise, including a daily bike ride
Dave Urbanski goes on a bike ride with his children nearly every day to a nearby park. Morgan, 4, is in the cart.
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THE BLADE/LORI KING
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By JC REINDL
BLADE STAFF WRITER
On the second Monday of each month The Blade will feature one of the participants in Lucas County's Million Pound Challenge.
After years of oscillating around 300 pounds, David Urbanski decided this past February that he was ready to get serious about losing weight.
His timing could hardly have been better.
A new gym was opening that month near his home in southwest Toledo, and he also had the opportunity to sign up for two different group weight-loss initiatives that were just beginning.
And by getting into a diet and fitness routine while it was still winter, Mr. Urbanski, a native Toledoan who today turns 37, knew he had a chance of being in shape when warm weather hit to go bike riding with his three young children, and to play with them on the backyard trampoline.
"Everything tied in together," he recalled. "I got to the point where I was just no longer content to sit anymore. I wanted to be more active. I wanted to be able to keep up with these guys as they get older."Four months later, Mr. Urbanski continues to make sizeable progress toward his goals and has been named June's spotlighted participant in the Lucas County Million Pound Challenge.
So far he has shed 51 pounds from his 6-foot, 2-inch frame, dropping from a size 48 waist to a 36-38. Through his lifestyle adjustments and the ongoing motivation and support of his family, he is on pace to reach his goal weight of 200 pounds.
"How I feel is so much different now," Mr. Urbanski, now 241 pounds, said from the living room of his family's brick house near Sleepy Hollow Park. "I used to come home tired a lot, and now I come home and I have so much more energy for the kids and for my wife."
The weight loss challenge is a county-wide collective effort to shed one million pounds before the end of the year. It was the brainchild of Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop, who recruited area corporate sponsors to back it. The Blade is a sponsor, and those who enroll can track their weight through a private journal on the Blade's Web site, toledoblade.com.
Monthly challenge winners are provided one-year YMCA family memberships, gift certificates to area restaurants - this month to Zias at The Docks - and Mud Hens tickets.
The challenge formally kicked off in early February at the same time that an employee "biggest loser" contest began at Mr. Urbanski's workplace, Impact Products LLC of Sylvania Township, a maker of sanitary and janitorial supplies.
Mr. Urbanski, the firm's art director, won the contest late last month. In May he also won the Lifestyle Change Award from the American Heart Association of Northwest Ohio for "making outstanding lifestyle improvements to live a longer, stronger, life."
Exercise has been the cornerstone of his weight-loss effort.
Five mornings a week he is at the Super Fitness on Reynolds Road - the gym which opened in February - and puts in 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity swimming, running on a treadmill, or working out on the elliptical machine. Three mornings each week he incorporates one hour of strength training.
Since her husband started his exercise kick, Karrie Urbanski has adjusted the entire's family's menus, switching heavier potato dishes and greasier entrees to salads and sides of rice.
Already up at 3:30 a.m. each day as a Blade carrier, Mr. Urbanski goes from delivering papers to exercising at Super Fitness, all before the start of his day job. One might assume that such an intense morning regimen would be energy-draining, but Mr. Urbanski insists that he has more energy than ever.
Even after returning home from his two jobs and sweat time at the gym, he will enjoy a daily bike ride with his children after dinner.
The secret, he said, is to keep at it long enough so that fitness becomes addicting. Mr. Urbanski believes his past weight-loss attempt ultimately failed because he never got over that hump.
"I don't think I had gotten far enough to feel a difference before, but now I do," he said. "I even like going to the gym, and before it was labor."
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade.com
or 419-724-6065.
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