Member Spotlight with Randall Frizado

More Than a Fad

The year was 2006. Billboard’s number one song was “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter. The number one car sold was the Ford truck F-series. Wicked grossed $74 million on Broadway, making it the number one show that year. And Randall Frizado lost 130 pounds. 

Somewhere at the end of 2005, Randal was carrying around 300 pounds. Until one day he decided to make a change. He was acting in a show, and while on-set someone made a comment about his weight. The next day he joined a gym. After a year of working out and a change in his eating behaviors, Randall had been unwrapping every meal he ate; he discovered his pursuit was not about numbers on a scale. It was about searching for health. Then his searching turned into a conscious effort to redefine what health meant to him. 

So, he began running. There are few better ways to search for something than by lacing up your shoes and putting one foot in front of the other. Running and eating less unwrapped foods is what his plan was. It is what he did for years, until he ran headfirst into two moments that only time could direct. 

His back began to hurt from all the miles of just running and his friend/colleague, Samm Hewes, started coaching at OPEX Lancaster.

How does a painful back plus a colleague getting a new job equal a major change for Randall? It is like listening to Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” on full blast while driving to see Wicked on Broadway in a Ford F-150. It just works in a nonsensical kind of way. And that is the stuff that makes life shiny. 

“Samm and I have worked together for the past 15 years. She and I were working on a project, and I was looking for something to change in my search for health,” recalls Randall. This connection happened years after he lost 130lbs, and years after just running as his workout. It was perfect timing for him. “I didn’t know I was looking for a Coach until I met with Samm at OPEX Lancaster,” he said. 

Randall is an actor, a freelance director, a producer, and a full-time creative director. It also happens that Samm Hewes is a Coach at OPEX Lancaster, an actor, and a professional theatrical dancer. They share a passion for the arts and share a belief that health is more than looking the part. It takes knowing one’s purpose, setting manageable goals, shifting words like “diet” into “nourishment” and having accountability to build a healthy lifestyle. That is what OPEX Lancaster is best at. A space to build strengths, growth towards a healthier you, and to partner with a coach to bring it all into focus. 

Practically, Coach Samm sat down with Randall and talked about his past lifestyle choices, his current lifestyle goals, and then together they designed a unique holistic workout plan for Randall. Since Randall’s back was preventing him from moving at his full potential, Coach Samm created workouts to build his core strength including his back muscles. Randall had awful posture, from years of carrying around extra weight. His workouts, done consistently over time and with the guidance of his Coach, strengthened his back enabling his posture to dramatically change. Randall said his only side effect is improved self-confidence. 

Before Randall’s journey to discover a healthier lifestyle, he said he was always type cast into roles. His weight booked him roles as the “friend next door” in shows. Once Randall lost weight, he gained a new sense of confidence. Randall realized he was being cast for his talent and not just his physical attributes, “The nature of our industry is appearance based, and your appearance has a lot to do with the jobs you get. When I lost the weight, I was ushered into the area of jobs I was qualified for.” 

Randall found a new focus during his search for health. “Once I wasn’t viewed as the fat guy, I began asking myself ‘well, who am I?’,” said Randall. He discovered health involves more than a number on a scale, a blood pressure reading, or a diet. Health became who he is as a human. 

“I’m a dad. I sing. I act. I do all this stuff and now it is more of an opportunity to focus…,” said Randall. He is a dad to three triplets who are nearing their teenage years. He shows up at the gym and focuses on his workouts with intention, because he intends to continue the never-ending journey of growth made by living on-purpose. Randall is not shy about claiming his season as a middle-aged guy, but he follows it up with, “The midlife crisis starts to shrink a little bit because I’m getting self confidence and I don’t need to go buy a sports car.” 

The year now is 2022, 16 years after Randall began his search for health. Today when you ask Randall what health means to him, he will tell you it has shifted a bit from 2005. “I view health now as a daily routine just like brushing my teeth or getting sleep. It’s something I previously ignored, but now I take great care, and great pride, in trying to lead a healthier lifestyle.” 

Unlike the passing fads of years gone by (what happened to Daniel Powter, anyway?) living a larger life through the pursuit of health and fitness is more akin to a vintage 2005 Merlot shared with friends, or a painting by Robert Delaunay hanging in your living room; health gets richer with age and when shared with others. When your goals are in focus and movement, along with nourishment, help balance out your reason for driving forward.  

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