Success Story: Bobbi Robbins
I am a 37-year old mother of a 14 year old daughter and a teacher's assistant at Ross Sheppard High School. I used to be a regular at the gym in my early 30's, doing cardio five times a week and being active outside, biking and walking nightly. When I moved to Edmonton in 2001, I adopted a more sedentary lifestyle…and the pounds started to creep on. Over the course of the 5 years that followed I gained 45 pounds. While I once was able to wear size 8, after a good half decade of inactivity I found myself squishing into a size 18.
If I were to be honest about the state of my self-esteem a few months ago (before I started exercising), I didn’t have much confidence in my appearance. I would only ever look at myself in a mirror from the shoulders up-- trying my best to ignore the rest! Whenever a camera came out at a party or family gathering, I would be the one either running to the washroom or offering to take the pictures...anything to avoid being caught on film! I knew that this was not the body I wanted for the rest of my life.
I entered the “New Year, New You" contest offered by Defining Eve through the Edmonton Journal and was delighted when I won a Total Body Transplant; twelve weeks of personal training, three sessions a week.
The sessions kept me accountable, which has been one of my largest obstacles in the past. Who hasn’t had a membership to a half dozen fitness facilities but never gone? When you have a trainer, things are very different. Not only are you made to be accountable to yourself, but also have someone motivating you, educating you, and applauding even your smallest successes along the way.
Today I am lighter, more toned, fitter, more flexible, and two dress sizes smaller than I was three months ago, and I did it all without dieting. Winning the New Year, New You Contest offered by Defining Eve and the Edmonton Journal was just the kick-start that I needed to end my seven-year hiatus from exercise.
I have no aspirations to be a "cougar”, but I’m not embarrassed to say that I love the way that I look and feel today. Exercise has helped me to be the real Bobbi, with energy, good health and confidence! I love the way my clothes fit I notice I'm getting stronger and stronger with every workout. It is very rewarding to shed extra pounds, my overall fitness has also improved by leaps and bounds, and along with the knowledge I've gained, I am very satisfied with what I've been able to accomplish. Today I continue to work out several times each week and I'm on a good track to getting where I'd like to be.
My advice? Know that getting into a routine takes persistence. If you miss a workout you have to make it up. You can't say I'll do it tomorrow, because tomorrow turns into a week, which turns into a year, which turns into seven years, which is what put you where you are in the first place. Start moving….and just don’t stop!
