Setting Goals and Not Letting the "Food Baby" get in the way of those goals!

So she made it halfway through!  Yay Barbara!    What are your goals for the New Year?!  

12.9.13 – You know those ropes? The real heavy ones that are in the training room at the gym? You see them on the biggest loser and cross fit. Well today I got really lucky. Have you ever done jumping jacks with the rope? Yes. You feel me. No. You have been spared a special kind of agony these afford your whole body. I love that Lisa is always coming up with new exercises for me to loathe, I mean love.

Totally unprompted, an out of body moment for Lisa I can only assume, Lisa says, “If you reach your goals in February I’ll let you train me for an hour.” What the what? Is she for reals? Oh my goodness my mind is jumping for joy. I will most likely start her session with a 7 minute wall sit. Aahhh it feels good just to think about.

12.11.13 and 12.16.13 – Motivation to eat right is flying out the window. Thanksgiving is over but here comes Christmas. The parties, the brunches, the sweets! Oh yum the sweets. “You can’t out exercise what you eat.” Says Lisa. Not what I want to hear. “You can undo all your hard work during the week in the gym by eating poorly on the weekend.” Again, and I can’t stress this enough, NOT what I wanted to hear. I can focus and rock it out at the gym. Even eating during the week but wow is the weekend hard. I have to be responsible for the choices I’m making. My food baby may continue to grow for a few more weeks.  

12.18.13 – Part 1: I have goals set for my final check. I did 27 push ups my goal is 40 in a row on my toes. I want to be able to do one pull up or chin up unassisted. I am 25.2% body fat, that’s the one we are going with. My goal is to lose 10% body fat, 2.5%. Feeling good about my chances! Ran sprints yesterday and dead lifted 165lbs today. Lisa is such a cheerleader for my success that I would have to try really hard to fail. She wanted me to start trying to see how many push ups I can do. I am excited and nervous to see. I would love to weigh in the lower 160’s but the scale is not the goal and I won’t let a number on the scale control how I feel about my journey.

Part 2: I went to physical therapy today for my knee. I know your like, wait you back was hurt now what? My knee has been bothering me for over a month, okay almost two, and now it hasn’t gotten bad enough for me to seek help. Good news is that I have not torn anything. Yet. So for the next two weeks I need to go to therapy twice a week and do no high intensity stuff. Hip hop class, cardio party, plyos, tae box all the stuff. What can I do for cardio? The elliptical and the bike at a low level. So I have already established that I hate cardio. These classes allow me to do cardio without too much thought. Plyos and sprints allow me to get cardio over with. This will be a challenge. It is happening during the holidays so that’s both good and bad! Let’s see what happens.

Numbers are a tool! MidWay Point!!!

12.5.13 – 

THIS IS WHY I LOVE PRO! 

Numbers are a tool. Some of them are accurate to how you feel some are not. Numbers are not the end all be all but they are a measurement to take into consideration when assessing your past and planning for the future. I didn’t feel that the scale would show much movement. And guess what? I was right. Three pounds which honestly I fluctuate that much on a daily basis. Body fat was a little more surprising. It didn’t change which I thought it would. I haven’t been focusing on my diet and these numbers show me that I need to if I want any more changes in that area. Part of PRO is measurements. Much was the same. I lost some off my waist and my arms! I gained in my arms when making a muscle. A difference that I noticed throughout training was my heart rate and breath. That changed a lot! My resting heart rate changed from 73 to 67! The treadmill test I went from below average with my heart rate increasing to 130 within 9 minutes to above average with my heart rate taking 13 minutes to increase to 130. My grip strength went from above average to well above average. But here it is. The end all be all. I went from 27 push ups on my knees to 27 push ups on my TOES!!!!!! What?!?!?! I am so excited.  

My next check in is February  6^th. I am looking forward to even more changes!

Just like that it's December!

12.2.13 I feel as though I gained 50 pounds over the Thanksgiving break. Yikes! I weigh in on Thursday. While there is a part of me that says, do a cleanse and shed some pounds in the next 3 days, I will not. This is all part of life. The holidays. Gaining and losing. Struggling to get in a workout. I am challenged to find the balance but I will be honest and up front about my journey. Lisa is so encouraging. Truly. She makes me feel like I can succeed when I can barely put one foot in front of the other.  

Lisa does a body good.

11.25.13 Forget milk doing a body good, I’m changing it to Lisa does MY body good. Yup I needed a little one two punch of my little Lisa. She changes the exercises every time. Every time they are hard. Some of the time I have never done the exercise before. It’s so fun! That’s right. I said it. Awful. Horrible. But new different and even, at times, fun. Please don’t tell Lisa I said that!

Breaking Bad... Habits

11.16.13 

Lisa is having surgery. 

I am on my own for one week. 

Thank goodness there are a ton of classes to fill my time! I so wanted to bail today. You know those days where you just don’t wanna. I did want to curl up on the couch in my sweats and drink another cup of coffee. But I didn’t want to leave the house. I didn’t want to sweat. I didn’t want to work hard. But as fate would have it I do not cancel unless I am really sick. Or laid out. So there I went off to work out with Lisa. And it did go by fast-ish. And it wasn’t super awful.

My husband came home from the gym deflated. “I’ve been loyal this working out 3 days a week. We having been eating poorly and the scale has not moved an inch!” I am dumbstruck. “Are you lifting heavier weights?” “yes.” “Are you running faster and longer?” “Yes.” “Are your clothes fitting the same or better?” “yes.” “Do I think you are crazy sexy and have a super hot bod?” “Yes.” “Then WHY would you care what that scale says? It reflects absolutely NOTHING but a number. It only holds power if you give it power.” 

Then I feel quite proud of myself. I am elevated to a higher plain of self realization and acceptance. Me, the Buddha, and oh darn it. Practice what you preach I hear, probably Buddha, whisper in my head.  I have heard this saying a million and a half times. Now I am having to apply this to every thought that creeps into my brain. Sometimes that voice whispers the f word. And I am no longer elevated to a higher plain. Why oh why does my little brain what me to feel bad about my body? The definition of a habit is: A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. Seriously?! That could not be a better fit. Okay they say to successfully break a bad habit you have to: replace it. 

Okay good thoughts. Check. 

I have been self worshiping quite a bit lately, if I do say so myself.  Reading a lot about habits I found this great quote:

So rather than beating yourself up over a mistake, plan for it. We all get off track, what separates top performers from everyone else is that they get back on track very quickly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/breaking-habits_b_3540148.html

That’s what I want to do! Here we go. Back in the saddle! 

Transformation Inside First?!

11/13/13 –  I am still on my high of loving myself and my body. Today with Lisa was great. Instead of complaining, yes I do complain mostly funny complaining but complaining none the less. I used sarcasm. Fake it till you make it. “Lisa that sounds lovely I am so very excited” said with a big smile. Here’s the thing it may have worked. I did everything and then some. There was an exercise that I knew with my balance I would not be able to do. So I didn’t take the weighs she had out and did it without. Here’s the thing I kind of know what I can do. I have to take responsibility to do what I can. Lisa pushes me to do things I didn’t think I could do. I have limits that I do allow others to see. Well I am starting to. I began to think back.

I remember vividly being at the mall right across from my rehabilitation center. My therapists loved to take me there to do laps so I could practice walking with my cane. Now to be clear I never actually made it a full lap around the mall but I tired. One day as I was slowly shuffling around I looked up and saw people rushing all around me. Some people doing errands most likely on a break from work. Other people running late for something or just busy bees. In that very moment the desire to rush overwhelmed me. Please, I thought, just let me rush too someday. 

I do rush now. 

And for that I am so very thankful. This body of mine I love. Every inch of beautiful me. 

Show Respect... "I didn’t learn to speak again so I could mimic unkind words to myself."

11-9-13:  I am not one of those people that can focus on diet or exercise or cardio. Lucky me I have all three. I have hit the proverbial wall. I am not entering in my food. Weights, are you ready for it, are REALLY heavy. Cardio makes me tired. I feel like taking a page from my 3 year olds book and having a temper tantrum. Full out with wailing and complaining but not all that movement. It looks like a lot of work. I shared my flat line status with Lisa. Of course she was understanding and totally said all the right things. What ever Lisa! I want to be b**chy and lazy. 

No go. 

A few days later IT HAPPENS! Sunday night I am chillaxing with some Ellen, as if I need to clarify Ellen DeGeneres but I will. Robyn Lawley was a guest. She is a plus sized model. 

Meaning she is an actual sized person. 

She is 6’2” , drop dead gorgeous and a size 12. Really?! In this very moment I am DONE with the hate that American culture puts on women’s bodies. I have been brainwashed my whole life of what I should look like and always falling short. Who wins? When I was dying on the hospital bed I didn’t think, “I wish this hospital gown would be a little looser.” I didn’t learn to speak again so I could mimic unkind words to myself. I didn’t relearn to walk so that I could run away from my reflection. This body of mine, all 171 pounds of it, fought for where I am. It’s about time I show some respect. 

To Weigh or not to Weigh?!

11-5-13:  My back is feeling so good. I have realized that with an active lifestyle aches and pains are par for the course but not injuries. Today’s question: To weigh or not to weigh. I have talked to quite a few people about this. Lisa weighs herself every morning. It helps her keep herself in check. She has a hot button number that tells her she needs to refocus on her eating. Other people I have talked to never weigh themselves and just pay attention to how their clothes fit and feel. Even more feel that the number the scale shows can make them obsessive and not able to focus on working out but rather meeting a special weight. 

Post Thanksgiving Catch Up

12.4.13 – Since I took 6 days off for Thanksgiving I decided I would be all in. Trained with Lisa Monday and today. Tuesday Hip Hop in the morning and Mira’s HIIT class at night and cardio party tonight. I could fall apart. I do all my testing tomorrow and I wanted it to be accurate. I am super tired but ready. I don’t know how but it was a great workout with Lisa. I think my body is just used to listening to her regardless of the state I’m in. Report more tomorrow!

November in 24 hours?! OK! Jack Bauer Style!

We were fortunate to have Barbara writing for us at the onset of her program but were able to start blogging a month later so as a special Holiday treat- we'll catch you up to her MIDWAY check-in!   So in the next 24 hours watch for November to fly by!  

What are you doing to stay healthy this holiday season???


From Barb:

11/1/13 – This workout with Lisa was awesome. For the first time I felt like I could do everything to the best of my ability. I had to change a few things for my back but it wasn’t a big deal at all. I feel awesome. Slowly but surely I am getting fitter and stronger.

I am struggling with my mind. There are so many aspects of becoming healthy. Eating, strength, weight, the way clothes fit, exercises, strength, etc. I can feel good about one aspect and struggle with another. The changes in my body are different then they have been before. I have done fasting, detox diets and then the physique challenge. Huge weight drop for a little while and then back it comes. With the challenge I was never in the right mind set. As soon as I was “done” I was really done. I ate anything and everything. In one way I have no regrets because I was able to spend the whole summer with my daughter and never think about what I was or wasn’t eating. The part that makes me a little frustrated is that now I have somewhere I want to get back to. I don’t want to maintain where I am. I want to drop and get to where I am comfortable. I am not dieting. I am choosing a healthy lifestyle. Great because the changes I am making are for the long haul. Frustrating because the numbers don’t drop, things don’t fit as quickly as I would like. The mind is the hardest part of this whole process. I am not used to or good at being nice to myself. Is where I was when I won the challenge realistic to get back to? 

I ran... 11 minutes of NOT walking!

Have you been enjoying following Barbara's progression in PFP?   This week we'll catch you up!   Please comment and give Barb feedback! We'd love to hear from you!!!  

10/30/13 – Training taught me a lesson yet again today! I had a yogurt for breakfast. Often I have egg beaters, fat free shredded cheese and chicken. I knew that today I would be having a piece or two or seven of candy. (It’s trick or treating and Halloween party day). So I figured that I would eat light. Bad idea on a Lisa training day! Midway through the workout I was dizzy and felt like I was going to throw up or pass out. I didn’t eat enough for the workout that Lisa had for me. I stopped for a break. I am the one who knows my body and what I can and can’t do. No laziness. No coping out. My heart rate was up to 215 (FYI: Your highest heart rate should be 220 – your age (36) = 184. Needless to say I was not paying attention to my heart rate and I haven’t set up the range on my heart rate monitor yet. I need to pay attention to not only what I eat but my heart rate too. This working out and being healthy stuff is hard work. 

10/31/13 – I ran, okay jogged my first mile straight! It was 11 minutes of not walking. The pride that I feel is inconceivable! 

It's Just a Muscle!

Back in October Barbara wrote for us and described a few more of her Sessions with Lisa!    Here's a few!   We'll be catching up to Barbara's progress this week to hear about her January finale!  

10/23/13 – Lisa’s workout today was another great one. I did some stretching at the end for my back. It’s hard to not feel like I am not going all out. A friend of mine mentioned thinks that he is fitter than most of the people at the gym. Right away I challenged him. He is built. He is also not in the best shape I’ve seen him in. As our debate went back and forth I realized that I was wrong. He was talking about the focus being on both cardio AND lifting. Most people do not split their focus equally. There is a misperception in our society of what fit is and of what it looks like. I would like to coin the term skinny fat and chubby fit. If they are already out there I am stealing them. We don’t have to be 100 pounds to be healthy. That’s just skinny (well for me at six feet tall it is). I would not and could not be a healthy person at that weight. I have curves. I will ALWAYS have curves no matter what I do. That’s just me. The sooner I accept that, for more than just a moment, the better. I want to be healthy not a slave to the scale.

10/25/13 –Today we did some circuits and lifting. Oh yeah we had negative pull ups again. Then there was an exercise that I tried and tweaked my back. I said something right away. Even before I finished the first repetition! Lisa had me try a different exercise and WOW! It was harder and I did not feel it in my back AT ALL! Not even a little bit. Not even a hint. It was a beautiful moment for me. I am not used to having a trainer focus on just me and what I need. Being honest with Lisa was a challenge for me. Once the honestly came I felt huge relief and excitement. Better exercise, no back pain. Lisa said, “it’s just a muscle if you tell me we can change it.” Like it was nothing. Super easy. What?! I finally realized that it was all me. I have to take advantage of Lisa and remember she is there for me. Here I go. 

The Balance.

More from Barbara:

10/19/13 - We did some amazing exercises on Saturday. Have you ever done negative pull-ups? I would highly recommend them they will forever make your lats super duper sore. Lisa is very sensitive to my back injury. It is up to me however to let her know if exercise really hurts or I can't do it because of my back. I'm not so good at that. We did an army crawl with me dragging a 25 pound weight behind me with my feet. That did not go well for my back. But I didn't say anything about it and I don't want to say anything about it because I wanted to feel like I could do everything. I didn't want to feel like a wimp so I kept doing it and my back paid for it for sure! The reality is if I'm not honest with other people and myself ASAP my body is going to fall apart. I'm the only one in charge of it and I'm also the only one who knows what it can do and what I can't do. That's a balance I struggle with. 

Holiday Cooking Gone "Skinny"

Keep this handy while cooking during the Holidays and everyday!  
Thanks to Melissa Abbott for putting this together!  

Have questions?  Email Melissa:  melissa.abbott@wdhospital.com

"Ran a Marathon. Trained 6 Months.... Not ONCE did I get runner's high!!!"

We are catching you up on Barb's logs from the Pro Fitness Program.   Here's her 3rd Session thoughts!   (Barb, be honest from now on!!!)   :) 

10/16/13 – Time 3! Down 5 lbs. since the 1^st. I’ll take it. 

My back is still a huge issue but I am just doing going through the motions hoping that soon it will vanish. We talked a lot, as I was stretching of course, about the importance of diet. Oh yeah and cardio is important too. The two things that I loathe, to my very core are cardio and tracking what I eat. 

Here is the plan. 

Tracking is getting better and better. It is getting easier for me to make good choices of what to eat and how much. Slowly healthy eating is becoming a part of my life. I can’t say anymore that I loathe tracking what I eat anymore. MMmmmMmm. If that’s true of diet could that be true, gulp, eventually of cardio?! I am starting a couch to 5k with my husband. Let me be clear my couch will ALWAYS be there. Let’s see if I can take up less room when I sit on it J (side note: I did complete a full marathon.  In case you hear that around and say “hey this girl loves to run. She is not being truthful.” Let me steer you in the right direction. I trained for 6 months to complete a marathon of 26.2 miles in HAWAII for Train To End Stroke. It was a fundraising event done less than 3 years after my stroke! I was a very active spokesperson for the American Heart and Stroke Association. So I did it. 5 days a week for six months. Not once did I get the runners high. Not once did I not count every second. Since December of 2005 I have not run. Yes for a short time here and there on the treadmill or in cardio party but that’s it!)

Lisa and I also talked about goals. Her New Year’s Resolution is not to make a weight loss goal. How awesome is that. It makes perfect sense. Resolutions can be fun, who would have thought it. I love it. This Lisa. She is full of it! Knowledge that is.

______________________________________________________

Tracking and Thanksgiving... have you made a plan for yourself?  The Holidays are here!  

Day 2... "Volume" eater! Are you one too?

Keep reading about Barbara's journey with her trainer and her experience at The Works!   Catch up on past blog posts and feel free to support and follow her! 

10/12/13 – I have been tracking my diet like crazy. Yes it is a pain to track everything that goes into my mouth but it is definitely doing some good. It is so interesting to see what a portion size is. I for sure can’t trust my lying eyes. Even though I’ve tracked before I forget just what equals a tablespoon or how much a cup really is. I am a “volume” (Lisa’s word I LOVE it) eater so measuring my food is a must.  Lisa follows me on my fitness pal (the app I use to log all my foods) and I follow her. I am totally accountable to her. Good and bad. I love looking at what she enters and have even found a new love. Quest bars. I kept seeing her logging. Part of my inner monologue was “protein bars are NOT great for you and have as much sugar as a candy bar. Maybe Lisa isn’t so perfect after all.” Not the case. I got one and WOW! I love them. They are so yummy tons of different flavors, 1 to 2 grams of sugar and a great alternative to a protein shake.

This morning Lisa and I met for time 2! She went gentle on my back and we did lots of TRX stuff. It is so wonderful to have someone who is just focused on you! I have never had one-on-one training before and it’s amazing. Lisa’s attention is all on me and my body. She notices little tweaks and changes I can make to improve so I can lift better, cleaner and stronger. Having the spotlight makes me responsible for doing the exercises to best of my ability, every timeJ Lisa makes sure of it.

Do you track your eating?  If not, check out  myfitpal and sign up to use it!   Here's their blog with the latest myFitpal news:  

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/category/myfitnesspal/myfitnesspal-news/

A little blip in the road.... acceptance!

New to our blog?  For now we are sharing a member's journey through the PFP!   Watch her journey unfold and feel free to share, comment, etc!  

10/4/13 – Just when the momentum starts life can slow you down. A lot. Even stop you in your tracks. This morning as I was doing a few things at the same time and my back was thrown out. I had to have my husband come home from work and take me to the chiropractor. My appointment with Lisa was for tomorrow morning at 8:30. I cannot stand up straight. AGH! This is the worst. Probably no ploys for me.

10/8/13 – Spent Friday through Tuesday morning on the couch. 

Taking muscle relaxers, icing my back and cursing this speed bump in my momentum. It is SO frustrating not to be 100%. Lisa has been so helpful through my disappointment. She advised me to focus on the diet. That was where I would be able to participate in my journey. What wonderful advice. It allowed me to take a deep breath and just focus on what I could control, what I put in my mouth, and let go of what I couldn’t, my back. Today I went to the gym and walked 25 minutes on the treadmill and stretched. A far cry from what I normally do. It felt good to start moving and be gentle on myself minus my inner berating monologue! 

Acceptance.

Ready? Set? GO!!!!!!!!

Barbara has started journaling her time in PFP (Pro Fitness Program) and we'll be sharing her journal entries with you here!   Please leave comments and thoughts for both Barbara and The Works!  We'd love to hear from you!!!  

9/30/13 Like a pig being fattened for slaughter my trough was full of slop, never running low for even a moment, that I gobbled up over the past week. Oh yeah I start the program TOMORROW :)

10/1/2013 I can’t think of a better way to ring in fall and this fabulous month of October than to start the PRO Fitness Program. So today I went in for my consultation. I have done fitness programs a plenty. I noticed a difference right away. One of the things that I loved about PRO was how in depth and specific everything was to ME! It isn’t based on generalities it is specific to MY heart rate, MY BMI, MY body fat , MY strength, and MY flexibility. I have never started a program that did SO much testing and measuring. (Let us know if you'd like to see Barbara's numbers! ) Some of my numbers were a shocking horrible dose of reality that provided a wonderful jumping off point. Focus on the positive.

10/2/13 They have assigned me a trainer! I have been lucky enough to see and interact with Lisa for over a year at the gym. Her dedication and hard work is unparallel. 

Let me tell you a thing or two about Lisa. She is 4 foot 10 (FYI I am 6 feet tall) She out lifts me, out squats me, out runs me, out push ups me and out pull ups me and every second of every day! Lisa is chiseled. Not because she was granted great genes but because she works her *buttocks* off all the time. It is inspiring to be around her. Also she happens to be super beautiful! I know right! Then the knife in the heart is that she is super kind. Supportive, lovely and just an all-around fabulous person. Needless to say I was really excited to train with her. (Enough of that sappy stuff. You don’t need to mention to her that I said any of this.)

This morning I met Lisa for a “mini work out.” Please note the only thing that was mini about this workout was Lisa :) After maybe 15 minutes of plyo-metrics work I was overwhelmed and shocked at the amount of strength and stamina I have lost over the past couple of months. We talked about diet. MmmmMMMmmmm. Ben and Jerry, Pizza Hut and Kristi Black’s sweets (who make the BEST sugary treats of all time) have to, mostly, be banned from my mouth. If I don’t buy it, I won’t eat it. I do ALL of the grocery shopping in my house. No one to divert the blame, I mean attention, to. So I can either choose to be completely depressed about my numbers from yesterday and my outrageous lack of physical fitness today. Or I can choose to say (said with sarcastic enthusiasm that I hopes turns genuine) “hey what a great starting off point. I can only go up from here!” So here I go. I need a very tight and secure harness as I begin my accent up this mountain!

...stay tuned on Monday for more from Barbara's journey!   Comment away!!!!!!  

Why bother? Hmmm....

The PRO fitness program: A Works employee and I were talking at length one day about my lack of motivation. “I do like to run, I can’t play sports and I don’t want to do another physique challenge. I am goal orientated and without one I feel lost.” After talking more we parted ways. A month later she approached me. “I think I may have a solution to your motivation problem.” She told me about PRO and offered a trade. For being one of the first people to try PRO I would get 2 sessions a week for 12 weeks in exchange blog about my experience. Let’s do this!

A Little About Me: I played Rugby in College and football while getting my masters. I have a stroke at the age of 25. I completed a marathon and have done 3 physique challenges, only walking in one. For most of my life I have been fairly active. More at some times and less at other times. I have struggled with body issues my whole life. I am seeking peace. Not a magic number. I will not have a six pack. I will always be a curvy girl because that is how I am built. More than that I would not want to forgo all the little pleasures in life to make that happen. I would be miserable with no coffee, flour or sugar. That is not what I am seeking. I am seeking to change my mind set. To silence my inner judge. To embrace health. To feel good.

A Little More About My Stroke: In 2002 I had a severe stroke. In some ways it feels like just yesterday and in other ways it feels like it was forever ago. At 25, I had graduated in May with a Masters in Social Work. Matthew Wentworth, my boyfriend since the age of 19, and I had wed. I was working full time in Portland, Maine counseling teenagers at a high school for trouble adolescents. Matthew and I were working holidays and some weekends saving to buy a home. I was also playing professional woman’s football as a defensive end. This had become my biggest passion, a great outlet for the many emotions I would gather within me throughout my day at work. I was in the best of health, working out every day. Life was definitely good and seemed to hold a kind of guarantee - a future of wonderful possibilities.

The day after Christmas, I became ill very suddenly. My doctor assumed it was the flu. The next day, it was obvious I was suffering from more than dehydration, and I was taken to the emergency room. The admitting nurse decided it was most likely drug use and would not even supply a wheelchair. My parents helped me into the emergency room. After hours of running tests, numerous misdiagnoses, they realized I had had a very severe stroke. Surgery would have to be performed, and quickly. My life was, at best, questionable.

I was rushed to Maine Medical Center to have an emergency craniotomy. I had a clot in my brain and half my cerebellum had died. The swelling in my brain was pushing against my skull and beginning to cause frontal lobe damage. I had an amazing surgeon who promised my family he would do his best to save me. For a couple of weeks my survival was unknown. I had to pass many benchmarks over the next few weeks. I am happy to say that I emerged triumpt.

During 3 months of inpatient rehabilitation and 7 months of outpatient rehabilitation, I began to become the person I am today. I had to relearn how to talk, walk, tie my shoes, write, and, finally, how to drive again after 10 months. I was right handed and now I am left-handed.

I survived my surgery, but lost so much. I lost the ability to walk, talk, tie my shoes, drive, I was right handed and my right side was dramatically affected. After three month of inpatient care I began to regain my abilities on a basic level. Persistence on my part and the part of my therapists were vital to how far I recovered. 

I slurred my words. My word recall and internal dictionary was almost nonexistent. I was recorded reading articles and then played them back to pick out the mistakes. Over time my speech began to clear. I am a spokesperson for the American Heart and Stroke Association. I would not have the voice I do today, the word retrieval, or the ability to communicate so effectively and hopefully change people lives with my story, without so much work.

I was given a journal to write in each day. I was right handed and had become left handed. As you flip the pages through my journal you can see my writing improving. Going from cat scratches to what is now a legible handwriting. You also see less and less red marks from my therapist correcting my journal. Slowly I began to learn from the mistakes I had made in my writing.

At times there were three people helping me to walk; one to swing my arms, one to move my feet, and one to make sure I was upright and talk me through it. I went from a wheelchair, to a walker, to a cane, to freedom. December 2005, 3 years after my stroke, I ran the Train to End Stroke Marathon in Honolulu Hawaii. 26.2 miles of blood, sweat, and tears that I never would have, or could have, done without training.

I have gained so much. I would NEVER be where I am today with being in top physical shape. So many people say they can’t believe I had a stroke so young and in such great shape. That’s not how I look at it. I was in such great shape which is why I can’t write this today. Why I can pick up my daughter. Why I can lift at the gym. I can do everything of every moment in my day because I was in such great shape. They say to be healthy so that you don’t have illness or disease strike you. I would add to that. Be healthy so that if illness or disease strike you can FIGHT it with all you have. 

 (Are you still reading?!  We at The Works as super excited to have Barbara chronicle her time in the Pro Fitness Program!   We'll be posting every few days!  Feel free to comment and let us know what other topics you'd like to hear about!  :)  -Millissa, Membership Department)

Follow a Member's Experience in Pro Fitness Program!

A Note from Samantha Merchant, Fitness Director at The Works Family Health & Fitness Center:

Many people join a gym, but not everyone gets the results that they are looking for.  Perhaps you are one of them.  Have you ever wondered why that is?  We have too, and we have found an answer for you; The Pro Fitness Program.  This program is a unique club service and experience used by clubs all across North America.  Used by more than 800 fitness & lifestyle professionals, this program is truly the leader in the fitness industry.  

The Works wanted to you to see how this program can make a difference in a person's life.  We asked one of our members to partake in the Pro Fitness program and document her experience for everyone to see.  Barbara is a real person, experiencing many of the same struggles most of our members experience.  Follow her story and discover what it means to be a part of the Pro Fitness Experience at The Works. 

"For most of my life I have been fairly active. More at some times and less at other times. I have struggled with body issues my whole life. I am seeking peace. Not a magic number. I will not have a six pack. I will always be a curvy girl because that is how I am built. More than that I would not want to forgo all the little pleasures in life to make that happen. I would be miserable with no coffee, flour or sugar. That is not what I am seeking. I am seeking to change my mind set. To silence my inner judge. To embrace health. To feel good."