I’m Becky from Addison, and my little exercise buddy here is Tinkerbell.

I lacked strength, I lacked stamina, I was gaining weight at an incredible rate. I was sitting 10 to 12 hours a day and I just felt I had no energy; I didn’t feel well. If I got down on the floor, I couldn’t get up by myself.

Watch Becky’s video interview below,
and read the rest of her interview transcript below the video!

 

 

I’m in my late 50s and actually was in worse shape than my mother, who is in her 80s. I really, really needed to do something, which is one of the reasons I looked at going into a training program, simply because I knew that long term, I had to do something. I was already getting to a point where I was going to become disabled.

I have osteoarthritis in various joints in my body. With the sitting and lack of exercise, lack of nutrition, I was really starting to have some serious problems. It was a commitment that my husband and I made that my health was very important. I have recently retired and one of my goals was, my first year of retirement, to get my health back. By doing that, I’m doing it through exercise and nutrition. So that’s how I came to get a personal trainer.

I’m not a joiner. I don’t like health clubs. I don’t like exercise classes. I do better when I’m self-motivated. Working at home, I find that I can exercise whenever I want, so this was kind of an ideal situation, where I really could focus on exercise. I could exercise at any time of the day. It was one of those things where a personal trainer just made a whole lot of sense coming to my house.

It also made sense that somebody was going to be aware of what my limitations are, because I do have some limitations. I’ve had major back surgery and neck surgery, and there are certain things I can’t do, so I really needed somebody that could focus in on what I could do, help me get around some of the places of pain.

I was in chronic pain four months ago. I was extremely overweight. I have already lost 12 pounds. I’ve probably gained 5 pounds of muscle because I’m really feeling very solid. I feel I have much more energy. I’m much stronger. In fact, I’m getting stronger than my husband—there’s kind of a competition going. I just really have embraced this personal trainer situation.

David [my trainer] is very aware—I have good days and bad days, and David knows how to work through those. He challenges me, he pushes me. He doesn’t let me get by with too much. He’s constantly challenging me to do more. I think because of that, I am getting stronger. I have so much more stamina now.

I very seldom sit more than 5 to 6 hours a day; I’m moving. I’m outside, I’m with my dogs, I’m doing something, I’m gardening, I’m visiting the neighbors—but I am outside all the time. I think that’s because I now feel much better. I have so  much more strength and stamina is very, very good.

My mental health is also improving because I feel great after exercise. It’s like a super high. I’m off pain pills. I no longer take pain pills for arthritis. I have good days and bad days, and I find when I do have a bad day that I can exercise through it. So it’s been a real win-win for me.

Hut really gave us a roadmap as to what is clean eating versus unhealthy eating, and I think I’ve been much more focused on fruits and vegetables, where I should have protein, how to recover after exercise by using products that give you a lot more protein. I don’t feel stiff and sore after exercise—I think nutrition has played a very important role in that.

Both my husband and I are very aware now when we eat something. We’ll look at the chocolate cake and go, “Mm, not so clean,” and we do pass up on it. We’re just much more aware of what we’re eating, and we’re being more conscious of our choices.

I would say this is a very good idea. We all get busy in our lives. We kind of put exercise on the bottom of the list, and I think when you  have a personal trainer, you know they’re going to come, you  have to prepare for them. You’re accountable to them. You’re putting out money, so you know they’re coming to your house. This is something that you’re paying for, and you’re much more aware of your responsibility. I think it’s a responsibility when you sign up for something like this.

You know that your trainer is going to come in and make comments about, “Oops, you’re slipping a little bit,” or, “You didn’t do enough cardio.” That’s enough to push you. You don’t want to disappoint him. You want to stay on the program. I think this is a real good way of keeping you into an exercise program.

It also makes exercise fun, and you learn how to exercise in your own home. You also learn that you can exercise at any time. You can be sitting and watching TV on a balance ball and doing curls. You can do exercise all the time. You learn how to exercise in your home. You learn how to do various things.

The routines vary every day that you have a training session, so you learn a vast number of things that you can do. We sit and watch TV now on balance balls. We may or may not have a weight there, but it’s like we have learned a different way of staying fit, and I think that’s the best part of this—you learn to stay fit in your own home.

You don’t have to go to the health club. You don’t have to go to classes. You can exercise cooking dinner. You can do squats while you’re peeling carrots. You learn different ways to stay fit, and you learn how to make exercise fun. You can do it as a family, and you can do it all the time, and I think that’s the best part of personal trainers in your home.