Responding to the Call

Joe Sorbanelli never saw himself joining a gym, despite the fact that his wife, Ruth, was a member of The GYM in Englewood, New Jersey. “He would always say, ‘No I don’t want to join a gym. If I want to go for a walk, I can walk outside.’ Or, ‘I have a gym at work, I can use that,’” recalled Ruth. “He was always finding an excuse not to join.”

Joe is a firefighter who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, in addition to supporting relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. “I just got in a funk,” said Joe. “I was maybe a little down in the dumps and over a period of a decade, I gained a lot of weight.”

Inspiration to lose weight came in 2012, when Joe’s daughter, Rebecca, rode her bike from North Carolina to San Diego with a charity called Bike & Build, which raises money for affordable housing. When his daughter returned from her trip, Joe thought: If she could do something like bike across the country, he didn’t have many excuses not to get fit.

“I was being a horrible example for my family,” said Joe. “Being this size, I felt sick and felt like I could possibly die. So I talked to my wife, Ruth, and my daughter, Rebecca. I said, ‘I’m thinking about trying to lose some weight. Can you help me?’”

The first time Joe tried to run, he ran 50 feet and was tired. But the next time, he ran 100 feet, and continued to slowly progress.

Joe eventually joined the same gym as Ruth: The GYM. “Nobody at the gym judged me for being overweight,” he recalled. “They took me by the hand, they showed me how to use the equipment. They have group fitness classes, they have a nutritionist, they have physical therapy in the gym — all things I could take advantage of. The members are very friendly and helping, offering lots of support and advice. It was a good start for me.”

From there, his entire family decided to adopt a lifestyle change. Together they signed up for Rachel Miller’s Clean 21 Challenge, led by The GYM’s nutritionist. It encourages members to avoid all processed and refined foods, sugars, alcohol, gluten and dairy. “When I first talked to [Rachel], I was like, ‘What’s left to eat? That doesn’t leave a whole lot of anything,’” said Ruth. “This was about two years ago, I think. We’ve done it a bunch of times now. I think it will be our seventh or eighth [time]. We’re getting ready to do another one.”

Since starting his fitness journey in 2012, Joe has lost more than 140 pounds and now considers himself a runner, having completed the New York City Marathon. He has his family, who didn’t hesitate to join him on his journey, partially to thank. “My family, and The GYM in Englewood, they drastically changed my life for the better,” said Joe.