Who's helping who?

Please take time to introduce yourself and tell us as much about you as you are comfortable with. We are here to help you and hope you can help others through your experiences, no matter if they are physical or mental.

Hi, my name is Laure, I'm Barry's wife and one of the
administrators of this forum. When it comes to health
and fitness, I've had the same struggles that many
people have. When it comes to exercise I've struggled
with consistency and motivation. When it comes to
diet, I've struggled with emotional eating and made
very poor food choices. Over time, I have made a lot
of progress, I am now a vegan who eats healthy 80% of
the time and I enjoy working out, but I can still
remember and totally relate to struggling to do these
things. That is why I am excited about this forum...we
all need support from time to time. I have found that
it really helps to have people that can relate to each
other and advise each other. I hope you join in and
share your experiences, good or bad, it may help you
to put it into words and it will help the people who
read it too.

Have a healthy day!
Laure

Hey there....
I'm Erica, and I recently began working on my goals to lose weight, eat healthier and have more energy. I can't really keep using the excuse that I "just had a baby" considering my kids are almost 3 1/2 and 1 1/2, so I knew it was time to get myself in shape. I work part time in higher education and spend the rest of my time running around after my daughters, but I realized I had to take some time out to focus on me - I'd like to get back to my pre-pregnancy body, if that's possible!! Overall, since I originally began a diet plan I've lost 22 pounds, but I have about 30 left to go. I recently started exercising and have been training with Barry for 1 week, and already I feel better. I look forward to learning a lot through this forum and getting some great diet and exercise tips.

Erica

Hi Everyone,
I'm Dottie and I teach Turbo Kick on Monday mornings at 6:00am and Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm at Fitquest Fitness. I am a certified Turbo Kick instructor and I am also Johnny G certified to teach Spinning.

I'm a long time fitness junkie. I have a long cycling history including racing in the Indiana University Women's Little 500 (made famous by "Breaking Away"), track racing at the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis and finishing 2nd in the 24 Hour Cycling Challenge in Michigan. My newest passion is Turbo Kick (a mixture of martial arts, dancing and interval drills). I became hooked after taking my first class in Indiana. After finding out that we were moving to Pennsylvania and not finding any classes, I knew I needed to become certified to teach.

When I'm not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband and daughter, taking fitness classes, cooking, and watching movies.

Jab, Cross
Dottie

Hi Erica!
Keep up the good work! I feel for you - I gained 60 pounds with my child (on a 5'2" frame). Exercise was key for me. I had to find something that would keep me from getting injured and something fun to do. That's when I started taking Turbo Kick classes. It was fun and easier on my joints than running.

So many of us moms feel guilty about taking time to take care of ourselves. Don't! Take care of you first and you will be better prepared to take care of the kids. You will have more energy to run them around, your mood will be improved, the list goes on and on. I know I'm more fun to be around when I've had my workout for the day!

I hope this helps!
dottie

Hi Dottie...
It's nice to "meet you"! I love having another mom remind me that it's Ok to take time for myself (so thank you for that). I was feeling a bit guilty about taking time away from the kids for work-outs in the beginning, but I'm LOVING working out - and it definitely has improved my energy and mood. I feel like my goals are more attainable now, and I do realize that the kids will survive without me.

I would love to try out a Turbo Kick class....it sounds like a lot of fun!

Erica