Success Story: Colleen
After experiencing several catastrophic life events and with age 40 rapidly approaching, I made the decision to make serious changes in my life which included making fitness my new priority. I’d previously worked a physically demanding job and had to give little thought to my activity levels in a day, but in the last year I’d been sedentary in my new position and I felt that I was slowly rotting away. A friend suggested that I contact Defining Eve.
Alex at Defining Eve suggested that I start working with a personal trainer. Initially, I balked at the cost and more importantly, the time commitment, but she reminded me that I was investing in myself. I agreed to start working with a personal trainer three times a week for 36 weeks in January 2007 with the goal of replacing 15 pounds of fat with 15 pounds of muscle. I then planned to take some group classes and try some new physical activities once my body was up to speed.
Once I began my sessions, I started to notice small changes almost immediately. Exercises that I was barely able to complete a week earlier seemed much easier the following week. I started to develop more body awareness, and my balance was improving significantly. I also noticed that my self consciousness had started to melt away and I was pushing myself harder than I ever thought possible. Above all, I found myself looking forward to my next session.
Its funny, but I didn’t start noticing the really big changes in myself right away, but I could see them clearly in others. I often arrived early to do some cardio before I met with my trainer, and I was able to watch the group classes or individual sessions going on and see the progress everybody was making from week to week. Looking back, I can see that I’ve made substantial changes to my body and mind. Though I don’t have a butt like J-lo yet, I have abs for the first time in my life and I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.
Presently, there are a lot of things keeping me motivated. It didn’t take long before I started to see and feel the changes in my body, and of course there’s no better motivator than that. I also started experiencing changes in other areas of my life. I have more energy, don’t get stress headaches as often, and am more self confident and willing to take on more challenges in life.
I have to admit, my trainer was the biggest motivator of all. I couldn’t have achieved the success I did without her help. She was a good fit for my personality and was able to make me push myself farther than I ever thought possible. Not only did she help me understand the principles behind the exercises I was doing, but she also showed me that fitness can be fun.
Working with Defining Eve has helped me with my success in many ways. Everybody who knows me is aware that having fun in life is a big priority. Despite the best exercise regimes and the most knowledgeable trainers, I wouldn’t have had true success unless I was having lots of fun. I’d be lying if I said that Defining Eve made push-ups and situps fun, but it did provide a relaxing and happy atmosphere where I could be myself and try new things. I also had plenty of opportunities to laugh at myself. On a serious note, Defining Eve provided me the knowledge to get optimum results in my workout and motivated me to make fitness a permanent part of my life.
My long term goals with health and fitness include having fun while maintaining my current level of physical activity and trying as many new physical activities as possible.
Other helpful tips I’ve learned while on my “journey”:
- You have to make exercise and fitness a priority in your life;
- Challenge your beliefs that you can’t do something;
- Don’t be afraid to try new things
- Don’t eat bacon and eggs before a workout.
