MEET JULIE

I gained about 40 lbs with my daughter who was born in March '08. At the time I got pregnant, I would say I was about 20-30 lbs over where I wanted to be and only lost 10 lbs from the birth. I tried to go back to Weight Watchers in May, resolved to lose the weight ASAP. I figured I had a good 50 lbs to lose in order to be at a manageable weight and lost & gained the same 8 lbs FOUR times! I only watched my points and, in retrospect, realized I was eating lots of "low point" processed stuff- no veggies at all and no exercise.

With the daunting task of losing 50 pounds to get to a point I felt good about myself, losing 1-2 lbs a week was just depressing and I felt deprived and miserable. I hated my "new" body, hated having to buy a bigger size and hated having to diet. Everyday I looked in the mirror and everyday I felt more & more hopeless. What a desperate feeling!

I knew I needed exercise, but it is scary to start after being inactive for so long. I am positive that my decision to give the boot camp a try was mostly due to knowing Rachel from our past work life. From that I knew that she would be such a positive encouraging force and I would not have this chance again!

I joined class in October of '08, and felt I was easily the heaviest, most out of shape person in the class. Despite that, I totally fell in love with the class! I did not feel judged by the others, I was able to work at my own pace and the constant variety of exercises made it very fun to try something new every time. The class goes by so quickly. I really enjoy the music and, before I know it, the hour is done and I feel like a million bucks!!!!

I found Rachel's enthusiasm and passion for working out and helping others to be quite inspirational & contagious. I think it is evident to all that she is happy doing what she is doing and is very devoted to her job based on the great creativity she has brought to her classes. She is helping people to learn that they can do more than even they thought was possible. I have found that I work so much harder than I ever imagined as a result of her positive support. Her encouragement gets me through those times when I am ready to give up.

In this short period of time, I can see results! My arms, stomach & legs are stronger & more toned and I have noticed that that I have better endurance/strength already! I am amazed that I can already notice results! What a fabulous bonus!!! The thing about this class I am most proud of is what my body CAN do rather than hating how it looks or being hung up on a number. I have such a high after the class for hours it is indescribable! I am not focused on the weight numbers anymore. I am enjoying the moments in class where I feel my body pushing beyond where I did not think it could go and I have an opportunity to be proud of myself! Hurray! It has been a LONG time since I can say that!

I must say that the way I have gotten to this point is undoubtedly through Rachel's amazing support, encouragement, knowledge and expertise. I could NEVER have done this on my own. She is always available to make sure we are using correct form, to help us modify if needed and to provide positive encouragement along the way. We all feel that she believes in us & our abilities to work to our maximum output and that is priceless! As dramatic as it may sound, I feel like I have a new lease on life!

I also met up with Rachel to talk about my nutrition and get her advice. She is so knowledgeable about the nutrition component which I seriously needed to learn about. I was able to incorporate her suggestions quite easily and noticed my energy skyrocket in no time at all. I lost 5 lbs in the first 2 weeks, & actually felt like I was eating ALLLL the time and eating really good stuff!

Hopefully I have been able to express my happiness at finding this class at this time when it was so desperately needed to help repair so many levels of my self esteem. I guess the best way to share how involved I am in this class is that for Christmas this year I got a gift certificate from my very supportive husband for the current session of boot camp, a heart rate monitor, new sneakers and a check from my Mom for a future session of boot camp. Everyone close to me knows how important this is to me, and all want to help me change my life! It was so awesome to sit back and see that this was a "fitness Christmas" for someone like me!