Idaho Falls man loses 100 pounds in under a year

IDAHO FALLS — For one Idaho Falls man, eating was a pastime. He would chow down when he was bored or stressed and didn’t think much of it.

Now that mentality is foreign to Jim Matz. He made a life-changing transformation by losing 100 pounds. He started at 396, and now he’s at 296 and still burning off the fat.

“I have a lot more energy,” Matz says of his transformation. “As bad as the winter has been, I haven’t gotten sick at all this winter.”

Matz, 53, says he’s struggled with his weight his whole life. He says even while serving in the Navy it was a challenge– especially as he had to lose weight to join in the first place.

“I was always having a hard time keeping the weight off enough to stay qualified,” Matz says. “Sitting on a ship not getting much exercise is not very conducive.”

Matz says as time has gone on he’s had various levels of dedication to the gym.

“I’ve been coming to the gym for a while, sometimes more, sometimes less,” Matz says.

During one of those tiring days at the fitness center last March, he met Amber “Flex” Palmer, a personal trainer.

“I just saw him, and I just knew that I needed to ask him if I could do an assessment with him,” Palmer says. “I think it was just the right time, the right place, and he said yes.”

Matz agreed to do a fitness assessment with Palmer, and from there he started going to the gym more often.

“Things picked up. My workouts got better. She helped me change how I eat (and) how I think about eating,” Matz says.

Matz says Palmer helped him understand his metabolism and caloric intake. She introduced him to her GetFit21 program and hooked him up with meal replacement shakes. He says he’ll have a shake a couple of times a week, and one hour out of the week he eats a “reset” meal of his favorite foods.

Matz says he enjoys “wings and beer — what else is there?”

Palmer also helped him with a personalized workout plan.

“At first it was little movements — little bitty baby steps — and every time he would excel, and I’d push him harder,” Palmer says.

Matz also tracked his steps and caloric intake on his Fitbit.

“Having a FitBit helps, getting my 10K steps a day or more,” Matz says. “I can’t hide from that.”

Soon the fat began to melt off. Matz hit a rough patch after losing 80 pounds, where he seemed stuck. But, once he got over the slump, he lost 100 pounds before a year of training with Palmer.

“You don’t worry about yesterday. You worry about today when you’re trying to lose it,” Matz says.

Matz says he’s lost 8 inches off his waist size. It was at 54 inches, and now it’s at 46. He says his wife and mom are happy for his success. Along with the transformation, Matz also has a new nickname– GymBob given to him by his trainer.

“My 83-year-old mother, who teaches line dancing, is very excited about this, so it’s partly for her too,” Matz says.

Getting down to 250 is his next goal, but he says he won’t stop making an effort to stay fit.

“Just start, you just need to start. Do it for one day, and then one day becomes two, and two becomes threes. Don’t worry about the setbacks — keep trying to do it,” Matz says.