CHSalumni.net

I hope, with this site, to bring news of various alumni from 89 to 93. Hopefully we can learn what has happened to our cheerleaders, class and student body officers, and others that we all remember, but I also want to find greatness among our ranks that were not as well known. One such person is Nathan Helgren, who may be our very own Biggest Loser. Let his accomplishment be a motivator to many of us who would like to accomplish the same. Now without further ado, our news from Nathan:

I’m sure we’ve all had our share of twists and turns since High School ended. I can’t say things have turned out as I planned, but not being much of a planner I can say that I have had some great experiences and wonderful turns of luck.

I currently live in Sammamish, WA with my wife Emily and my 2 endearing but obnoxious dogs (Shar-Pei mutt mixes we got from a local rescue). Emily and I met on a Bulletin Board System (that’s right folks; I met my wife online before the Internet and online dating sites. I always was ahead of the curve of dorkiness). She’s a native of Sandy, and we hit it off fairly quickly. We married in ’96 and have had a wonderful set of adventures since then.

After high school I spent a little time at SLCC but unfortunately life circumstances prevented me from finishing my degree. Once Packard Bell opened up in Magna, I decided to give working for them a shot. I had always enjoyed computers and figured I may as well try to do something I liked. I worked there for about 6 years working my way from support technician to trainer. Then in the fall of 1998 I got a job offer from Microsoft.

Since joining Microsoft I spent 7 years training people, first in the support department and then later in our world wide licensing centers supporting our subscription and licensing programs. While it may not be as sexy as working on a product everyone knows about like Windows or the Xbox, working in licensing has taught me more about doing the impossible with no budget and a short timeline than any college course could. While training for the world wide licensing team I had the opportunity for some great travel including India, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Japan and a few other places (Buffalo NY anyone?).

More recently I spent 2 years as a test lead for the volume licensing systems before now moving into a Project Management role, driving multi year pricing, licensing, and subscription initiatives.

My wife Emily has her degree in Early Childhood education and has been a pre-school teacher, assistant director of a non-profit childcare center and for the past few years has been working as a nanny.

The one thing I had been asked to discuss is my recent weight loss. 2 years ago I was over 340 lbs. I was wearing size 3XL shirts and size 48 pants. I had finally decided enough was enough. I changed up my eating habits (no fast food, no simple carbs, no sugar, low fat, lean meats). I started getting more exercise. After 1 year I had dropped over 100 lbs, at my best I had dropped a full 135. People at work and a few friends had asked what the secret to losing the weight was. The bottom line – exercise and eat better. Learn to love vegetables; seriously I hated them when I was younger, now the bulk of every meal is either vegetables or complex carbs like lentils or quinoa. Eating healthy doesn’t mean eating bad or tasteless food. If you learn to cook you can have fantastic meals that are good for you.

Now the big question, did I keep it off? The last few months I have backslid a bit, I have put on a few pounds due to stress. However, I know what I need to do to get back on track. It’s all about discipline. When my will breaks and I eat badly, I am only cheating myself. I have to say “Is that doughnut REALLY worth an hour on the treadmill?”, and some days the answer is “Yes”. But I just have to make eating a conscious decision. Eternal vigilance is the only way. Next year I plan on doing my first half-marathon in the late summer here in Seattle and running a few 5k’s before then.

I never planned to work in computers, or to move out of Utah, or to gain a lot of weight. Sometimes life isn’t about the planning, it’s about adaptation and realigning your goals. Most importantly it’s about doing what makes you happy.

You can find Nathan on facebook, where he posted some before and after pictures.