Joining Peak Fitness was the best thing that I've done for myself for many reasons. The support system and accountability are great. The exercises are challenging and designed to get you into the best shape of your life. It’s always fresh new exercises, new techniques, and new pain the next day (but that means it worked!). You never do the same thing twice, and that's why I keep coming back.
Not only that, but Jordan provides assistance with the best food choices to optimize your experience with the program. She works with you and your fitness level to determine what your body needs.
Peak Fitness is an addiction, but it's a good one!
I have never been as satisfied with the way I look as I am now. Once I started working out at Peak fitness in Paragould, I was amazed at the way my body changed. Not only is it a great place to work out, I have made amazing friendships with people that push me to be the very best. It's a great way to get in shape, and I feel like we never do the same workout twice. Every workout is a challenge! I love my PEAK family!
When in high school and college, I was always thin. After getting married and having children, I struggled with weight loss. My oldest is 12, and I have been overweight since having him. I never lost all the weight from being pregnant with him and then 5 years later I was pregnant with my second son. I was always starting a diet on Monday and off of the diet by Tuesday. My husband says if we had all the money I used on diet plans we would be rich. I was finally was disgusted with the way I looked. I decided to try the Peak Challenge. I thought this would help keep me motivated to stay on a diet. At the beginning of the challenge, it was about losing weight for me. A couple of weeks into the challenge it was more than that to me. It was the beginning of my lifestyle change. I noticed my clothes fitting better. I had more energy. I became stronger and I felt like a completely different person. The challenge helped me become aware of everything I was doing wrong before on diets. I was dedicated to eating right and exercising. I used to hate to workout but now I look forward to it every day. Even after the challenge is over, I continue to watch what I eat and workout. It has definitely been a lifestyle change for me, one that I will continue to stick with!
I have been heavy all my life. I guess at my heaviest I weighed 230 lbs. after I had my boys. I guess I am like most moms; I have always put my family first—running here and there for my kids, parents, husband, in-laws, and anyone else that might need something. Now, I love doing things for my family, but sometimes you just have to put yourself first and take care of your health so you can do things for your family. I never understood this until my best friend (Thanks Mrs. Tammy Gill) put it into perspective for me. If I didn’t get my health under control I was going to be no good for anyone. That was the point that I changed my outlook on my health. I had been going to boot camp at this point for about a year. Notice I said going to boot camp, my heart was not in it, and I dreaded every time I walked in the door. I felt like I was so over weight that I could not do the exercises correctly, and it was really just pointless to be there. It wasn’t until that "aha" moment with my best friend that I turned it around and started going to boot camp for the right reasons. Maybe I couldn’t do the exercises right, but I modified the best I could until I could build my strength up. Now I look forward to going to boot camp every day and get upset if I have to miss it. After I started the challenge on January 25th, I weighed in at 186.8 lbs. I found that just cutting the calories was not enough for me to lose weight. You have to look at your percentage’s on your fitness pal. I increased my protein to 60% of my calorie intake. After the 12 week boot camp challenge, I lost 28.6 lbs., 29 inches, 3.2% body fat, 19.4 lbs. fat mass. I also was able to get off of one of my diabetes medication and was able to cut my shots back too, not completely off the shots yet but I will be doing more challenges in the future and hope to someday be off all my medications. I will never tell you that it’s easy because it is a lot of work and dedication, but with the right mindset you can do anything. Lean on your boot camp buddies and learn from them. They have a wealth of information, and it just needs to be put to good use.
I googled most high protein foods and tried to gradually incorporate them in my diet. I still counted calories on My Fitness Pal, but I started really paying more attention to meeting my protein goal and trying to not overdo the fat. I still allowed myself chocolate, but I bought things that could easily be portioned out, like a Mr. Goodbar. I would only allow myself 1 block a day. And, that item has to be hidden from sight, or I'll eat it because just it's there. Every time I wanted something like a chocolate Easter bunny or a tiramisu, I would remember that somebody somewhere was doing without so they could beat me in the challenge. This motivated me to stay on track and reach my goal.
After I had my daughter in 2009, I wasn’t able to maintain a healthy weight as easily as I had been able to in the past. I had never exercised regularly and did not have a well-balanced diet. I decided I wanted to change my lifestyle not only for weight loss and toning but for my over all well being particularly for nutritional reasons while breast feeding, stress reduction, and energy levels. I wanted to learn how to make healthy food for my daughter and set a better example with my own diet as she got older. I started bootcamp in the spring of 2011 and definitely saw some results but it wasn’t until I started the Peak Fitness Challenge in January of 2014 with Jordan that I really focused on altering my diet and eating cleaner. I stopped drinking diet coke and started drinking A LOT more water. I began to focus on pushing myself when I was exercising so I was getting the optimal benefits. I became more active overall and starting running, cycling, and getting back to doing more yoga in addition to doing bootcamp. My attitude towards exercise and wellness changed from having to make myself do it to being more intrinsically motivated and enjoying it. The weekly challenges and weigh-ins helped keep me accountable. All of us doing the challenge would share ideas and successes with one another and we learned so much that we could carry over to our daily lifestyle. I have a much better idea of what foods to eat, how to plan my meals, and how to keep my carbs, protein and fat balanced for my body.
I have started setting goals for myself whether it be to run a 5K or learn a new skill to help me stay motivated. The late yoga guru, Iyengar, said “…I do yoga from the self towards the body not the other way around.” Even though this is a quote about yoga, it is a favorite of mine because I can apply it to all of my wellness goals! If you put your mind to it, you can do anything.