A FITNESS INSTRUCTORThe next time you take a fitness class, don’t assume that the instructor has never struggled with her weight… or even that exercise has always been such a big part of her life. Take the instructors at 241 Fitness for example:
MY STORY......Ally
I’ve never really told my story before. I think very few people know it. I’ve often heard people say you must have been healthy and fit growing up. Especially when I’d introduce my parents at the gym or my Mom in a group fitness class. Well the truth is…YES and NO.
I’ve never really told my story before. I think very few people know it. I’ve often heard people say you must have been healthy and fit growing up. Especially when I’d introduce my parents at the gym or my Mom in a group fitness class. Well the truth is…YES and NO.
I was blessed with genetics that made me very strong and fast and I was pretty athletic taking dance, gymnastics, horseback riding lessons, swimming, running and cheerleading. I would even beat the fastest boys before they hit puberty. Growing up I lived on 4 ½ acres of what I’d call a Cape Cod farm. My Dad had a huge garden with everything you could think of in it. We had pigs, chickens, ducks, rabbits, a goat, a cat and my sister and I each had a dog and a horse. Yes, we ALL lived at home. My Grandmother lived next door and she had a beautiful in-ground pool. There was no shortage of fruits, veggies, eggs, meat and exercise. We all ate what (and as much as) we wanted. My Mom is a great cook and my parents prided in making and storing a lot of what they had.
I can remember, I’d eat four donuts at a time or seven pancakes at my friends house. Now that I think of it, it was not an issue until the summer before my junior year of high school when I wanted to slim down to wear a bikini. I just cut back on some snacks and presto “rocked” the bikini that summer. That worked a few more times. Then I graduated high school and went on to a business school where I majored in Travel & Tourism. The end of the summer I met my husband Bob. We hit it off right away and it was a whirlwind of dating, dining, drinking and more late night dining. I no longer had any exercise in my life but a lot of calories so you can guess I gained weight. Bob and I dated and it wasn’t long before we got engaged. We set the date for the wedding a year and a half out. It was then I started to think “perfect bride” I got on the scale and saw that I weighed much more than I had ever weighed. I remember thinking if I keep gaining weight at this rate at my young age of 20 at 5’4” I will have gained about 120 pounds by the time I was 30. Yes, this could be done and my lifestyle was heading in that direction. Well, if cutting out snacks worked before I’ll try that again and I’ll stop drinking too. Well, I did lose a little weight and people started to say they noticed. That was SO good to hear! But I soon hit a plateau and added exercise classes with my Mom. It worked - I started to lose more and more and more, as the complements rolled in. Then I hit yet another plateau. That is when I started to get obsessive with the diet and the exercise. I started to count calories and vowed to get rid of every single one I took in. I did everything I could to take out all the fat I could find and limited my calorie intake to some extremely unhealthy low levels. (Oh no! I know now that is BAD! ) Well, I did lose even more weigh and felt like I was in great control. However, instead of compliments now people started to say how skinny I looked. I thought GREAT that was my goal! I remember squeezing lemon or vinegar alone on my salad...yuck! The next thing I recall is waking up one morning starving. (hmmm imagine that!) There was some cheese Danish in the kitchen, my weakness. I though I would cut a small bite and only eat a little, just a taste. Then I thought wow that was great! I need a little more. Soon I had eaten all of the Danish in the box. I felt weak after being so strong. I realize now that I just had a binge, a food frenzy if you will. I set myself up for that. I felt so horrible I snuck into the bathroom and did the unthinkable. I was ashamed and out of control. I cried I knew this was insanity. They say everyone has a bottom. This was mine.
I can remember, I’d eat four donuts at a time or seven pancakes at my friends house. Now that I think of it, it was not an issue until the summer before my junior year of high school when I wanted to slim down to wear a bikini. I just cut back on some snacks and presto “rocked” the bikini that summer. That worked a few more times. Then I graduated high school and went on to a business school where I majored in Travel & Tourism. The end of the summer I met my husband Bob. We hit it off right away and it was a whirlwind of dating, dining, drinking and more late night dining. I no longer had any exercise in my life but a lot of calories so you can guess I gained weight. Bob and I dated and it wasn’t long before we got engaged. We set the date for the wedding a year and a half out. It was then I started to think “perfect bride” I got on the scale and saw that I weighed much more than I had ever weighed. I remember thinking if I keep gaining weight at this rate at my young age of 20 at 5’4” I will have gained about 120 pounds by the time I was 30. Yes, this could be done and my lifestyle was heading in that direction. Well, if cutting out snacks worked before I’ll try that again and I’ll stop drinking too. Well, I did lose a little weight and people started to say they noticed. That was SO good to hear! But I soon hit a plateau and added exercise classes with my Mom. It worked - I started to lose more and more and more, as the complements rolled in. Then I hit yet another plateau. That is when I started to get obsessive with the diet and the exercise. I started to count calories and vowed to get rid of every single one I took in. I did everything I could to take out all the fat I could find and limited my calorie intake to some extremely unhealthy low levels. (Oh no! I know now that is BAD! ) Well, I did lose even more weigh and felt like I was in great control. However, instead of compliments now people started to say how skinny I looked. I thought GREAT that was my goal! I remember squeezing lemon or vinegar alone on my salad...yuck! The next thing I recall is waking up one morning starving. (hmmm imagine that!) There was some cheese Danish in the kitchen, my weakness. I though I would cut a small bite and only eat a little, just a taste. Then I thought wow that was great! I need a little more. Soon I had eaten all of the Danish in the box. I felt weak after being so strong. I realize now that I just had a binge, a food frenzy if you will. I set myself up for that. I felt so horrible I snuck into the bathroom and did the unthinkable. I was ashamed and out of control. I cried I knew this was insanity. They say everyone has a bottom. This was mine.
I recall looking at a picture of myself and thinking wow, I may look too skinny, a bit frail and gaunt. Bob referred holding me to the feeling of holding a 10 year old boy when explaining to me I need help. I could only imagine that might feel pretty creepy for him. It was a blessing that I realized I needed help.
Realizing I had a problem was key for me. The next step was allowing myself to pick and maintain a healthy weight for me. I started educating myself on the Basil Metabolic Rate (BMR) the actual amount of calories I needed to gain then eventually maintain weight. I also used the food pyramid guide to create a healthy meal plan each day. This says you need a certain amount of non-saturated fats, which I wasn’t allowing myself. I made a lifestyle change. I used my own strategies to help me. I never skip breakfast and eat about every 3 hours 4x per day. Dividing my breakfast and lunch. I don’t have seconds. Instead I might have a little treat after dinner. When I find myself board or stressed and wandering around searching for food I ask myself; do I feel hungry or am I just bored, stressed out or maybe even thirsty? If I’m not hungry I can distract myself by reading, exercising, or enjoying a cup of herbal tea. I keep my unhealthy binge foods out of the house. If it’s something that will haunt me until it’s gone I don’t even bother buying it to torture myself.
By the time my wedding day came I had gained some healthy weigh back. I looked and felt healthy. It was a beautiful day. I look back at pictures and Bob and I looked amazing. Two kids and 20 some odd years later I have maintained my current weight and I feel great. I have my 5 pound range. If I go below I increase healthy calories and if I gain I decrease calories and increase exercise. A balancing act that I will continue for the rest of my life. Along my journey I have been blessed to have met some wonderful and influential people. I have fallen in love with fitness. It has become my passion to continue to share my love for health and fitness with others.MY STORY......Wendy
Even as a young child, Wendy constantly struggled with food and ultimately her weight. With roots stemming from a meat and potatoes father and his 12 siblings who were fondly referred to as "big boned" and an Italian mother with culinary talents fit for the Gods, the odds were already stacked against her. From the beginning food was the center of the universe, the symbol of love, friendship and family. During grade school clothes shopping began in the "chunky" department and by middle school, gravitated to the polyester stretch pants and smock tops of the "woman's" section that had to be severely hemmed. By high school, even though she was unhappy with her weight and how she felt about herself, Wendy continued to turn to food for reward, relief, and comfort. Rock bottom hit when she had been labeled as obese during a physical exam. 
Obesity by definition is the state of being well above one's normal weight. A person has traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 percent over their ideal weight. That ideal weight must take into account the person's height, age, sex, and build. Obesity has been more precisely defined by the National Institutes of Health (the NIH) as a BMI of 30 and above. (A BMI of 30 is about 30 pounds overweight.)
That is when the decision was made to do something about her weight. But back in the day what we knew about diet and exercise pales to what research has uncovered today. Where to begin? The grapefruit diet, the soup diet, the no carbohydrate diet, the Atkins diet, the ice cream diet....or maybe the magic was in the diet chocolates, diet pills, anti-cellulite creams, plastic exercise suits, or latest infomercial. Not knowing where to begin and not seeing any results with any of the diets that her diabetic mother tried, the decision was made to just cut out all desserts from her diet, except for on Sunday (however, if the Sunday came and went and a dessert was missed, then she would wait until the next Sunday to indulge). Now that is a big nut to crack at any age! But the goal had been set, the vow had been taken and what did she have to loose if it didn't work out? But low and behold, the calorie deficit created by the lack of these simple carbohydrates equals about a pound a month! Knowing that she was onto something, a second goal was set to eat smaller portions. Back went the dinner plate and out came the luncheon plate at meal times. This was interlaced with the purchase of her very own 12 speed bike to get from Point A to Point B. Now an element of exercise was injected into the equation and we are talking more like a 3,500 calorie deficit or a pound every two weeks!
Brace yourself, here comes a pitfall: If a little is good, a lot has to be better. Right? WRONG. It had gotten to the point where if a couple of pounds needed to be shed, or a dress size dropped, skipping meals or even starvation worked wonders. After the initial pangs of hunger came and went you learned to ignore the feelings of deprivation, dizzy spells, headaches and heart palpitations. That is until the day came that she passed out and broke her nose while visiting a friend in the hospital from not eating. Intervention was imposed and adjustments in diet, exercise, self perception and the thought process were made. That is when Wendy found her first love in Group Fitness. It started at Gloria Stevens, when the leader came and grabbed you off of those damn torture machines designed to shake, rattle and roll the fat off of you and do exercises together in the middle of the room. Even though I entered the fitness industry right after that hospital experience I was still riding the weight roller coaster throughout the years. It wasn't actually until I joined Weight Watchers with a friend that I found the final key to successful weight loss and weight management. I would punish myself in the exercise arena in hopes of shedding a pound or two only to immediately consume them again by making bad food choices. But with the exercise knowledge I obtained working in the fitness industry and the WW program I managed to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Is this to say that I have totally attained? Heck NO, not at all. I still suffer from food amnesia and have weight loss goals, like shedding those few pesky pounds that snuck up on my belly and thighs when I wasn't journaling my food and sticking to my exercise program. It might not seem like much, but past history reminds me that 5 pounds can turn into 25 or 50 much too quickly.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't have to think about what I am eating and why. Then there is the knowledge that exercise will always be an intricate part of my life, so I'd better find something I like doing or I'm not going to stick with it. Group fitness is my first love because there we are all on a level playing field, dealing with the exact same issues. A place where we are able to have fun while sweating and reaching our "health and fitness" goals together. There are no quick fixes or short term answers. This physical pursuit is a lifelong commitment of healthy eating habits and fitness practices.
Come take the journey with us.
Ally & Wendy
241Fitness
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