Last Year's Resolution Becomes Reality

Editor's note: The following is a personal account from a YMCA member on her journey back to a healthy lifestyle.

By Stacie Sikes

I was a collegiate athlete who entered the workforce in 1998. In early 2005 my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I was married in September of that year and over the next two years I devoted most of my time to caring for my mother, father and my husband.  Mom passed away in November 2007. 

The following April I became pregnant with my first son, Dylan, and in September 2010 I was pregnant with my second son, Nathan. By December of 2011, I weighed 185 pounds and made the following resolution:

December 2011:  I am going to try and give myself the gift of health (and along with it a better self image).  So, I went to the Fowler YMCA and got setup on Coach Approach.  I am trying to get to the gym twice a week and do at least one hour of cardio per week and eat better.  I’ve also committed to a personal trainer twice a week for an hour.

In a nutshell, I have so much joint pain right now that it actually has prevented me from having fun with Dylan who is 4 and Nathan who is 18 months - and I’d like to not be complaining about it all the time - and I’d like to be able to look in the mirror and be pleased with the image I see.

Through my workouts with Shelby Katz, the Coach Approach, and the YMCA Challenge I am now 154 pounds (31-pound loss) and have dropped my metabolic age by 10 years through building muscle, reducing fat, eating better, etc.  

I can now hold Nathan in either arm without difficulty, get up and down from the floor when playing trains, cars, or coloring with the boys and enjoy playing soccer and chasing them outside.

The support I have received at Fowler YMCA has made all the difference in my quality of life, not just physical fitness – holistically – and I am so thankful! I have a little further to go to reach my personal goal for 2013, but I’m on my way.