After a fourteen-week series of sessions at One On One Fitness, I have seen changes in my body that I never have been able to achieve before. I learned how to incorporate a winning combination of cardio, strength training, and a balanced diet into my life. The results have been pretty amazing!

I have struggled with weight issues my whole life. I was overweight as a child and throughout my school years, creating a long battle with poor body image. I dieted off and on over the years, managing to keep myself from becoming huge. I exercised sporadically at a fitness facility, doing mostly cardio when I went. I have a big sweet tooth, and my diet consisted largely of simple carbohydrates - anything to get a quick sugar boost, only to be followed by a dip in blood sugar that would send me crashing and craving more food. I ended up eating all through the day, especially consuming lots after supper. This kind of eating not only caused me to gain weight but kept me feeling down and low on energy.

About three years ago, I injured my chest wall muscles and had to give up exercising altogether. Every time I tried to get back into exercise, the pain reoccurred, and I had to stop. My weight really started to climb. I felt like I was sinking into a pit that I couldn't get out of.

This all changed when my husband gave me a July birthday gift of working with a trainer at One On One. He knew that I needed to have some outside motivation to make some changes and wanted to make sure that I would have trained personnel to safely guide me through a program without injury. I was a little intimidated about working with a personal trainer but still excited about getting started on making a positive change. It was the best thing that ever happened to me!

My trainer, Tad, made me feel completely at ease. He stressed the importance of proper form for every exercise. Not once in my whole program did I have a problem with pain of any kind - this was huge for me! I have been completely free of all the neck, shoulder, and back pain that haunted me for so long. This aspect alone made the whole program so worthwhile to me, but I gained so much more than that!

My sessions combined a program of both cardio and strength training. During my very first session, Tad announced that he wanted me to start running on the treadmill. My heart sank as I have never been a runner nor really had any desire to be! I thought to myself, "I'll never be able to do it."

Tad started my running program with running one minute and walking one minute. When he pushed me to run two minutes and walk one minute, I thought I was going to die. To my surprise, I found that I was able to run and gradually increased my time and speed over the weeks. I learned to stop saying "I can't do it," and started saying, "I'm going to do it!" Even though I found the running very challenging, I have to say that it made a huge difference in toning the lower half of my body. The strength training also made big changes in the toning of my body. Weight was coming off in areas that never used to budge before.

I also gained some invaluable nutrition information that eliminated my sugar cravings and sugar high/lows. After completing a food journal for a couple of weeks, it was very apparent that I was not eating nearly enough protein. I learned the importance of incorporating protein into every meal. Including some protein at breakfast and lunch kept me feeling satisfied between meals. I had a lot more energy throughout the day and didn't have the desire to snack between meals.

I have never felt better in my life! My husband cannot believe what I have accomplished, and my daughter has also taken up running on the treadmill, which has made a positive change in how she feels.