What inspired you to begin your lifestyle transformation?
After injuring my ankle in the fall, I basically had stopped exercising for months. Even prior to the injury, my exercise routine was far from consistent. I used every excuse in the book: I’m too busy. My back hurts. My knee hurts. I’m too tired. Quite honestly, I was tired of hearing myself complain.
How did Inspirational Life help you achieve your goal and how have the results affected your life?
At one point or another, I have been a member of every gym in town. Something just clicked when I walked into Inspire. I have to admit, I was nervous at first about joining. I feared it was a place where people worked out ALL day, EVERY day. I assumed the owners must be eating weird foods, drinking odd potions and taking supplements. The rumors couldn’t be farther from the truth. What I found is a place where totally normal people come to get healthy.
Before Inspirational, I really didn’t think I was overweight and I thought I ate healthy. I remember Brian saying “Just show up. Even if you don’t feel good, are tired etc. just walk through the doors and get here” and I did – three days a week. I work full time and am very involved with different activities at night, so I need to work out in the morning. I loved that Inspire had early AM classes 6 days a week. It was the first gym that I belonged to that people actually attended the early AM classes.
Nutrition. Nutrition. Nutrition. Portion size was my biggest eye opener. I did not realize how large the portions were that I was eating – especially when snacking. Do you know how small 1 ounce of nuts is? How many servings of wine fit in an average sized wine glass? What a serving of pasta looks like? I love that Inspire encourages you to eat real foods, from ALL food groups. I stopped eating processed foods completely. Cooking real food is not as hard as you think. Planning is the key. I use the weekend to prep foods, bake healthy muffins and breads and to prepare meals in advance. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is one lesson that I have learned at Inspire that has made a huge impact.
It hasn’t just been about the change on the scale. I’ve gone down several pants sizes and no longer dread shopping for them. I feel much stronger. At the first boot camp, I picked up the lightest weights and struggled to do push-ups. Today, I grab heavier weights and I can bang out the pushups. I know I am making great decisions for myself and my family when shopping for food and when preparing meals.
Describe Inspirational Life in one word.
EFFECTIVE!
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