Perfect ‘fit’
Depressed, unhealthy and overweight, a 398-pound Daniel Cote dedicated himself to an exercise routine at Planet Fitness. Now 27 and some 200 pounds lighter, it’s only natural that Cote would work for the same company that transformed his body and his life
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ix years ago, Daniel Cote was a pretty unhappy guy. Once an active and athletic teenager, Cote was severely overweight; stuck in an unfulfilling job; and his fiancée, the mother of his two children, left him so she could deal with personal issues of her own.
It didn’t take long before Cote found himself in the grips of a dark and debilitating depression that began to take hold when he suffered a cavity infection in his left knee at age 15. The infection left him in a wheelchair for a year-anda-half of recovery.
Even after he was out of the wheelchair, his depression got worse and the weight kept piling on.
“I weighed 398 pounds and I was so depressed I didn’t want to do anything,” he says.
Cote knew he not only had to change his body. He had to transform his life.
His journey to overcome his personal demons led him to Planet Fitness Woonsocket in December of 2011. At the very least, Cote was hoping the gym would help him focus his energy.
Not only did the gym help him drop a significant amount of weight, but unbeknownst to him, it was also setting up a path toward a new career.
Cote, now 27, says his workout routine was simple and straightforward.
“Five days a week I went to the gym in the morning for one hour of cardio, then I would go back every night to do one hour of strength training,” he said. “The only thing I changed in my diet was giving up soda. Other than that I still ate all the things I used to eat.”
Cote says he became intensely dedicated to his routine. If he couldn’t get a ride to the gym, he would walk five miles to get there so he could get his workout in.
That dedication began to pay off.
In the first nine months of this fitness routine he dropped down to 186 pounds.
Not only was his body changing, his attitude was changing as well.
“I was starting to feel happy again,” he said.
Cote says his daily workouts were complemented by the support he received from the Planet Fitness Woonsocket staff. Every day he walked through the doors of the gym he would get high fives from the managers, trainers and front desk staff who saw how hard he was working.
“The staff really kept me coming back,” says Cote, adding that it was Planet Fitness Regional Manager Jason Emmett, of Woonsocket, who was his biggest supporter and friend at the gym.
And the staff obviously saw something unique in Cote.
In February of 2013, Planet Fitness of Woonsocket co-owners Stephen and Ann Marie Lukin hired Cote – who was working at McDonalds at the time – as a cleaner at the gym.
Since then he has worked his way up the ladder. He was promoted to manager at the Planet Fitness Warwick club earlier this year, and then over the summer moved back to Planet Fitness of Woonsocket, which has recently moved from its former location in the Woonsocket Plaza at 2000 Diamond Hill – where it operated for 10 years in the former Staples building – to the Walnut Hill Plaza at 1500 Diamond Hill Road, next to the Aero Trampoline Park.
The Lukins took on a three-month, top-to-bottom renovation project that transformed their half of the former Shaw’s Superstore into a sparkling brand-new stateof-the art gym. The new Woonsocket Planet Fitness is 21,000 square feet and offers members a larger, brighter and more comfortable space to work out.
The new location boasts an additional 4,000 square feet of space, a brighter and more wide-open floor plan, and tons of additional treadmills and new state-of-the-art exercise equipment.
Steve Lukin calls Cote “one of the best general managers I’ve ever had.”
Cote says that while weight loss was not his original purpose for going to Planet Fitness, the gym and its “Judgment Free Zone” philosophy has changed – if not saved – his life.
Today, Cote weighs a healthy 210 pounds and has reunited with his fiancée, Janessa Rossi – who was hired to the front desk staff at the Woonsocket club – and their three children, Jada, 9; Daniel, 8; and Davian, 1.
Cote credits the Lukins with giving him the schedule flexibility he needs to not only fit in his workout routine, but spend time with his family.
‘This is really more than a job. I love it here,” he says.