Eric Boyle recommends a realistic look in the mirror

COURTESY PHOTO Eric Boyle Eric Boyle is excited about the way he looks and he wants you to feel that way about yourself. At 62, he appears to have the energy of a teenager, bouncing around his house drinking distilled water — about two gallons per day — and showing off some of his favorite workout machines and exercise toys.

Mr. Boyle, who has been a personal trainer and fitness expert since 1975, also shared his some of his personal philosophies about health. He exudes the kind of non-stop energy that has inspired clients from California to Fort Myers to seek healthier lifestyles. For him, health is a 24-hour-per-day passion that starts by taking a good hard look in the mirror.

"People aren't looking in the mirror anymore and people need to look in the mirror," he said. "Around my house you'll see a lot of glass. You've got to look at yourself."

Of course, being healthy also involves exercise.

"The thing about working out," said Mr. Boyle, "the misunderstanding most people have, is they think they need to spend a lot of time in the gym. Fifteen minutes a day is really all you need."

Mr. Boyle likes to rise in the morning after getting an all important eight to 10 hours of sleep and use his Ab Lounge — he reminds you that the abs are the body's "core" — as well as a rowing machine.

In fact, he specializes in at-home training

sessions through his business, Better Bodies By Boyle. He also competes in bodybuilding competitions in the 40 and up age group.

Mr. Boyle has been a personal trainer in Fort Myers since the mid-1990s. But it was the rough neighborhood in Lowell, Mass., where he grew up that shaped his path to stellar health.

He was one of 11 siblings. His mother worked in textile mills and his father was a long-distance truck driver who wasn't around much. Mr. Boyle became a boxer before he turned 10.

"First on the street," he admits, "Then in the gym."

He was also a baseball player who eventually played for a semi-pro team in California. As a teenager, he had a newspaper delivery route for the Lowell Sun to stay out of trouble.

"It all goes back to staying out of gangs," he said. "I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood, which made me a better person. A lot of my friends went to jail or got in trouble."

He has also lived in San Diego, where he was a trainer for the San Diego Padres; and in Vermont, where the ice cream gurus behind Ben & Jerry's were his clients. Now he lives in Fort Myers with his girlfriend, Sandy Labonte.

He attributes his youthful countenance to good lifestyle choices, such as not using too many energy bars, pills, powders or drugs to get fit. He isn't against eating a carefully selected power bar or energy drink, but generally recommends "real food."

"It's all about your diet," he said. "If the average person can clean up their diet, they'll live a lot healthier."

Mr. Boyle likes to eat wraps, for instance, which don't include as many carbohydrates. He made two of them for lunch, a buffalo chicken wrap with blue cheese and a Spanish vegetable wrap. He recommends you don't eat out more than once a week.

Meditating also helps him stay positive and upbeat. And he insists that faith and religion are a must. Using his ability to draw on seemingly anything for positive energy, Mr. Boyle finds blessings wherever he goes.

"I feel like I've been blessed, I really do," he said. "I believe in angels by the way."

He sometimes attends a Catholic mass but also likes a non-denominational service some weekends. He also enjoys services at Kingdom Hall, where Jehovah's Witnesses gather. Last week he tried out a new Hindu temple in Fort Myers. Because times are tough and personal trainers are a considered a luxury, his business has taken a sharp hit.

"I've never been in a financial position like I'm in now," Mr. Boyle said.

But he plans to go on "planting the seeds of health" wherever he goes, and offers to work on a sliding scale for new clients. He offers special programs for women and seniors, as well as boxing, aerobic and spinning classes. Reach him at 935-9428 or e-mail eboyle77@yahoo. com.