Going all the way back to childhood, I was a very active kid, constantly outdoors and growing up by the beach, always swimming and playing in the water. That active lifestyle continued right into high school when I was a year round long distance runner. Unfortunately during high school I sustained some damage to my knees, took a break from running to do physical therapy / rehabilitation and when I returned to running a year later found out the hard way that I had developed exercise and allergy induced asthma.
After taking a break from exercise for several years, I then joined a gym and started working with a trainer in my early twenties. I was able to use that experience as a way to learn how to exercise in spite of my asthma. I made a lot of great progress at the time however like many people life including changing jobs, moving, etc. led to me falling off the exercise wagon for several years.
As time passed and my exercise lapsed, I found that my health started to decline. My diet suffered and I put on a fair amount of extra weight for the first time in my life. My asthma symptoms got worse, my blood pressure started to become a problem, and by the time I turned thirty I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and an MRI showed initial degeneration starting to occur in my lower back / spine. I then spent the next few years struggling with fatigue and battling side effects from the various medicines including some heavy duty NSAIDs I had been prescribed.
I finally made a personal decision to stop the vicious cycle of pain meds, poor diet, and lack of exercise and decided it was time to get back to the gym, build up enough muscle to provide my back and my knees with the support that was needed and change my diet to help aide in my overall health and wellbeing. I didn’t what to be a victim to disease and fatigue anymore, I wanted to live life to the fullest. I was thrilled at that time to have Mercedes Club which had recently opened up by my office. Having a great gym so close provided me with an opportunity to realistically build exercise into my daily routine.
A few years later the results have been absolutely life changing! I am no longer on any blood pressure or pain medications and I have found a way to manage my asthma and still effectively exercise. I was just over 170lbs when I joined the club and at my last weigh in I was down to 144lbs. The first few years at Mercedes Club I was able to make some real progress just starting to exercise and watch my diet, however I eventually hit a plateau. Then in October of 2015 I started working with my trainer, Jonathan Olivencia, and not only got past the plateau, but really started to see tremendous progress and now I am in the best shape I have ever been in my life. When we started in October I was still up at 154lbs. and 16% body fat. Today I am down to 144lbs and 10% body fat (shooting for 9% by the end of the Summer). The work has been hard at times, and like anything in life there are times when you take one step forward and two steps back, however my take away has been to just keep pushing, just keep doing the work. Showing up really is more than half the battle and the reward is how incredible I now feel.
I cannot thank Jonathan and Mercedes enough! Their constant support and encouragement has meant the world to me and pushed me to continue to this fitness and wellbeing journey!
All that said, I have more work to do and goals to achieve. It is always nice to pause and celebrate the progress we have made however now it’s time to set my sights on the next set of goals and reaching the next level! Looking forward to the work to come!
