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Jason Enriquez clearly remembers something his 3-year-old son, Wyatt, said one day: “We were sitting on the dining room floor playing and he said, ‘Daddy, when I grow up like you, I want to have a big belly like you,'” Enriquez told TODAY.com.
At the time, Enriquez was 37 and overweight, and her weight and diet were affecting her health. She suffered from severe asthma and was hospitalized about once a year for treatment. She also suffered from allergies, herniated disks, torn knee ligaments, and gastrointestinal problems including colitis, gastritis, and gallbladder disease. Wyatt’s comments made Enriquez realize she needed to be a better example for her children.
He started his fitness journey with walking and rowing
“The next day, I got up, put Wyatt in his stroller, and started walking. From that day on, for months, we walked three to 12 miles every day. My mindset was, ‘I have to do this. I have to be a better parent. I have to be a better example.’ I completely changed my mindset and gave it my all,” he says.
When Enriquez started walking, he was self-employed as a photographer. “I had my own schedule and I made the time. Walking was my first priority in the morning. I put everything else aside for a while,” he says.
Walking worked for a few months, but as winter began to close in on his home in Monroe, Connecticut, he wanted to find a new way to improve his fitness, so he joined a gym and took advantage of the free personal training sessions it offered.
The trainer asked him to row 1,000 meters on a rowing machine. He was hesitant at first. “It was new, it was challenging, and I was used to walking, jogging and cycling. Rowing shook it up, and change is sometimes hard. But I loved it because it wasn’t hard on my joints like running and cycling are. I felt great,” he says. He continued to train with the trainer and also joined a CrossFit gym. Rowing became a frequent part of his training.
Looking for a challenge, he ran the 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving that year, which sparked his interest in running and exercise even more. “I fell in love with the fitness world and how I felt after running,” he says.
He likes how rowing and running balance each other: “Rowing is the perfect companion to running because you can build endurance without the impact of the rowing machine, and then when you’re out on the town, you can use rowing as recovery for your running.”
He encouraged everyone in his family to find their competitive spirit.
Engaging in fitness as a family is fun and helps strengthen bonds.
As his fitness improved, he and his wife, Maggie, began competing in obstacle-filled Spartan races with their children — Wyatt, now 11, Presley, 8, and Hudson, 3. Last year, his two oldest children completed a triathlon. “That was really cool to see,” he says. “It’s exciting and bonding to be a family engaged in fitness.”
Enriquez ran and biked around his home and swam in a nearby lake before completing his first triathlon alone. “I didn’t care if anyone knew. I just wanted to do it for myself. I never thought I’d do something like that in my life,” he says.
He recently completed a 48 mile row – four miles every four hours for 48 hours – and is working towards running a half marathon on his own, and eventually a full marathon.
He improved his diet by keeping a food diary and growing his own food.
When Enriquez started exercising, he and his wife got rid of all the junk food in their house because he realized he needed to understand what his body needed and what was causing his asthma and allergies.
Tracking his macronutrient intake and keeping a food diary helped. He discovered that his body didn’t like dairy, refined sugars, and processed carbohydrates, and that eating onions made his gastrointestinal problems worse. He didn’t think of himself as an emotional eater, but he realized he turned to food when he was bored. These insights helped him eat in tune with his body.
He’s also started paying more attention to where his food comes from. He and his wife recently purchased a historic home and are renovating it. “We cleared a quarter-acre of land to use as a garden, built a big chicken coop and have 19 chickens so far. We’re basically starting a farm,” he says.
They plan to grow much of their own food, and also buy meat and produce from local farmers. He acknowledges that buying fresh, local food can be more expensive than the processed and packaged foods he used to eat, but he feels it’s worth it. “Instead of spending money on medical bills later, you’re investing in your health now. You’re investing in your quality of life.”
He and his family now make eating together a priority: “We sit at the table together and often cook together, and it’s really strengthened the bond between our family,” he says.
His health has improved greatly
Within the first year of changing his mindset, Henriquez lost 160 pounds and has kept the weight off ever since. As a result of losing weight and changing his diet, he no longer has gastrointestinal issues, his asthma is nearly gone, his allergies have improved significantly and his joint pain has almost completely disappeared. Although he still has a herniated disk, he has been able to protect his spine by strengthening his core.
At one point, a friend who was a gastroenterologist recommended that Enriquez undergo weight loss surgery. But after four months of paying attention to her health, she had lost 60 pounds and was no longer eligible for the procedure. She was told she needed to gain weight if she wanted the procedure. “I walked out of that clinic and never went back. That was the motivation I needed to keep going.”
And now? “I feel better at 44 than I did at 24,” he says.
A change in health led to a new career
Enriquez, who was concentrating on rowing, Row House She joined a coaching agency in Monroe, Connecticut. She was invited to audition for a coaching position, passed, and started working as a coach in the mornings before work. “I got a chance to become a stronger rower and help other people who might be going through the same thing as me. What could be better than that?” she says.
He feels his health struggles have made him a better coach: “I can empathize with people who have health struggles and be more strict with their form because I know that even the slightest bit of lag can make an injury worse,” he says.
When he coaches, he shares stories from his life and struggles. “Someone else in the room might be going through something similar, and they can relate. I really love making those connections,” he says.
When the general manager position became available at Row House, he decided to take the job. “It was a little scary, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Looking back, he’s grateful that his son’s innocent comment set him on a new path. “That moment changed not only my health and fitness, but the entire trajectory of my life,” he says. “And it made my three kids look at me in a whole different way. Now I’m doing it right.”
