On Location: Reggie Smith and Marques Sullivan Discuss Benefits of Retrofit Weight Loss
The NFL Players Association Chicago Chapter is working with Retrofit Weight Loss to help former players get fit and provide scholarships for deserving local youth. When a personal weight loss plan is purchased with the special NFLPAChicago referrer code, 10% of every purchase goes to the NFL Players Association Chicago Chapter Scholarship Fund. Former NFL Players Reggie Smith and Marques Sullivan share their thoughts on this partnership and on their personal experiences in the Retrofit program.
Video Transcription
Reggie: We're so excited with NFLPA to be partnered with Retrofit. If I can use a pun, it's a fit. It's where former players have an opportunity to kind of get in tuned with their lifestyle, with their weight, with their health, and also we get to give back to the community through our scholarship fund. So, we're excited about Retrofit's involvement and excited to be a part of this initiative.
David: Great. I think it's real exciting for us too, because it's what we live and breathe every single day. We can relate to these players. We can relate to what they're going through post-career at a very granular level. So the extent that we can get involved and really help them with their health and well-being as coaches and as professionals in this field is very exciting for us. We get to give back to the community at the same time.
Reggie: You know what? It really keeps me accountable, because athletes always need some type of prodding. Most of them do. Some people are self-starting but some of them aren't. That's why coaches are employed.
I have a coach. I have someone that you're accountable to. Sometimes, probably all the time in weight loss, for me it's easy to get started and it's very easy for me to lose weight quickly. But like everyone sometimes you may get a little bored or you start waning from your program.
But when you have someone or something that you're accountable to, it kicks in that, I don't want to let that person down. I have to talk on Monday and I have to make sure that I walk 1,000 steps. If I don't get it in, I'll not only be disappointing myself, but someone else is involved. So, that's exciting.
Marques: I would like to get back to my playing weight. I'm about 60 pounds off of my playing weight, maybe about 70 pounds. The thing about me, I've been a big guy all of my life. I was 315 in High School.
Reggie: My hope for the program, number one, is that through education we become more aware. If we can just make a finer distinction between where we are now and where we could be in our health, we're going to be okay. From a scholarship standpoint, we're investing into our future. How much better can that be?
Marques: Retrofit really gives me an opportunity to enhance my understanding of technology. The Fitbit is really cool. The Fitbit allows me to really track my activity. In the past it was more so just kind of guessing what my activity was. So the Fitbit really allows me to compete against myself. I really like how it resets itself every day.
So, what I try to do and what I'm learning to do is really competing with myself every day. If I take 4,000, 5,000 steps a day, I want to increase upon that, so that just takes me back to my athletic days. I really appreciate that and it really allows me to look forward to the next day.
I think having the component of having a personal counselor with you - I think that's very helpful as well. So, you not only have the technology-based component, but you have the personal component as well. Retrofit is awesome.
Reggie: As an organization, we want to make sure that any former player that we provide the resources to them. When you're an athlete you don't have to be a professional athlete, but when you're an athlete from a little guy on, you're full of hope. You're full of hope and you're full of excitement, and you're full of love of your teammates, and that's what it's about. I want my teammates to be healthy. That's what I hope for them.
As long as I can dream, as long as I can think about what I could be, I mean, we're playing again. When we think about crossing the goal line, this is something for us to look forward to. So, I'm excited.