For twenty years until 2016, I had tried everything; all or nothing diets, no carb diets, you name it, but none of them were sustainable. I had been to other gyms and I had tried things at home, but nothing seemed to work. I was so sad, so lost. I didn’t want to be seen or acknowledged. I didn’t love myself.

I decided if I was going to do this I needed to go somewhere where I felt welcome, no matter my size. That’s what was missing at the gyms I had gone to before. I was always feeling self-conscious and thought that people were looking at me with judgement. At GoodLife, everyone approached me with care.

I initially thought that I could only lose weight by doing cardio, but I started circuit training and then I joined a BODYPUMP class. It lit me up – I felt stronger and began to get my frustrations out through sweating. 

BODYPUMP is hugely popular for a reason. The energy in the class is motivating, it gets your heart rate up and the instructors push you to reach your full potential each and every class. You can even go into the studio when there are no scheduled classes and use the virtual fitness system. Simply press play and do a class at literally the touch of a button. 

I started seeing results in my endurance level and fitness level within a month. I wasn’t doing anything extreme, I was just doing something and being consistent. As a result, since joining GoodLife in January of 2016, I have lost 110 pounds. 

When I go into GoodLife now, it is my time of self-reflection. I do a lot of problem solving when I am working out because I feel like my brain works better. I used to be so frustrated and would lose my patience over nothing – I had a short fuse, could not handle things, no sense of calmness or a peace within. That’s all changed.

Now I feel empowered and it bleeds into every area of my life. I am strong, physically and mentally, which is the greatest gift. Even if I felt like I didn’t want to work out, I went because there were people waiting for me. If they didn’t see me, they were going to check up on me.

GoodLife taught me self-love, self-care, patience, discipline and how to push myself. I would tell my former self to be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself and love yourself. Just get started, just begin, go into GoodLife, meet with a trainer, just start!