My Story (Part 2)

My Story (Part 2)

Are you the person who signs up for a gym membership only to go back a year later to renew the membership even though you had only been to the gym maybe 3 times that year? That was me and after a while I just stopped wasting my money and stopped paying for the gym.

After 7 months of cutting calories alone, my weight loss hit a wall. I was not thrilled with the caloric deficit that the My Fitness Pal app had me on because I was HUNGRY and not seeing loses anymore. I knew I needed to add exercise into the mix but I had not idea how.

A local charity was having a 5k race that I had participated in before. While I have seen the elite runners at the front of the start line and their names on the winners list, I had only ever walked in this race. I was never a runner. I never ran even a mile straight before, but I wanted to run at least the first mile of the race and I wanted to finish in under 40 minutes. Having set these goals, I downloaded the “Couch to 5K” app on my phone that promised to have me running a 5K within 8 weeks. I only had 5 weeks until the race but I was determined to do the best I could with the time I had. The app made the task approachable from the point of view of a non-runner.

I started running four times a week in preparation. When race day came I was able to run the first 2 miles without stopping to walk and then ran the last quarter mile as well. I also finished in 34 minutes.

It felt great to have worked hard to accomplish my goals and in addition, the weight started coming off again slowly. I continued to run four times per week. The problem was, I was really hungry on days that I ran. I was still tracking my caloric intake on My Fitness Pal and realized that I needed to up the caloric intake on those days. I noticed that even though I was eating more, I was still losing weight.

After 3 months, I decided that I needed more than just running. The weight was coming off but my body looked the same. I had lost about 20 lbs and only dropped 1 size. I needed to hit the gym and do more than run on the treadmill but I didn't know what to do. I started looking at local gyms and personal trainers when I found a unique gym called Training for Warriors (TFW) Long Island. I went in for my free week trial and I was hooked.

From the first day that I met with the coaches/owners at TFW Long Island, I knew that this was the right place for me. The TFW system aims to help people burn fat, build muscle, and feel good and these were my goals. The gym had just opened and there were not many clients yet but I took the leap of faith and trusted the coaches. Now, a year and a half later, I'm a different person in how I look, how I eat, and how I train.

Tune into part 3 of my story to hear about my continuing journey at TFW and how it helped shape my diet.