My Story:
My name is Melissa and I was heavy, overweight, and unhealthy for the majority of my life. Around the year of 2009 (age 38), single mom of two grown children, with 2 grandchildren, we were sitting around the table at Thanksgiving and my uncle who is younger than my mother states that he had his first heart attack a couple months back. I was shocked. Although I dont know why, he drank on a regular basis, smoked daily and ate unhealthy. In which case I was the same, except the drinking part. I looked around the table and realized that I was young enough to be here when my great grandchildren were born. But I had to change my lifestyle. I had to quit smoking and get healthy. A couple months later, I decided to quit smoking with the help of my doctor, and joined Curves. I worked out at Curves, 3 days a week for 45 minutes each time. I slowly started to change my eating habits, like cutting out soda, only drinking water. Stopped going out for fast food. I was slowly learning on my own, without a trainer on what to do. I read alot of magazines, joined a few fitness websites, such as Sparkpeople.com which was a HUGE tool for me. I was able to log my food, my workouts, I had a forum online that I could chat with for recipes, advice, encouragement, anything you could think of! After about 8 months into my journey, I was down a total of 28lbs. I had started at 245lbs. I felt great, was really proud of myself and was in a great routine to keep my momentum going. Then one day my BFF reached out to me and told me I should try Zumba with her at her gym. It was only for $5 per class for non members and it happened to fall on the days that I was currently not attending Curves. I looked it up on You Tube to see what I was getting myself into and found that it was dancing. Which I love!! I took dance when I was a young girl and loved to go dancing still to this day. So why not! Well, the next week I went to class with my BFF, here I was in this giant gym I had never been in, on a basket ball court with about 70 other people about to dance my butt off. I was ready, but nervous at the same time. i was stepping out of my comfort zone. Long story short, I enjoyed the class so much that I kept going. Every Tuesday and Thursday, without my BFF even! About 3 weeks after starting my Zumba classes, I went to Curves for my workout, usual routine, and when I left, I realized I wasnt sweating. Normally, I sweat buckets. And nothing. I didnt even feel like I had worked out. I realized, it was time to move on and join the gym where I was taking Zumba. :)
I joined the gym, started taking Zumba 3 x a week and Body Pump 2x a week. Before I knew it, I was down a total of 70lbs!!!!! I couldnt believe it. I had actually hit my goal of 170lbs. I figured if I could get there, I would be happy. It took me about a year, but I was so happy and proud of myself!! I couldnt believe I did it! From there, I was hooked, I felt great, looked great, I was happy and had so much energy. I just wanted to share it with everyone around me and inspire them to do the same. And then it happened, I decided to get licensed as a Zumba Instructor. I started teaching in 2010. I have been teaching since, and I have added other formats as well. I currently teach Zumba (Dance Cardio), Zumba Toning (Sculpt), Barre Class and I am in process of completing my hours for my Pilates Reformer certification. I have stayed fit and healthy now for 6 years, inspiring others to do the same and look forward to many more years ahead!! I like to share my story with others because I want other women to know that we all struggle, we all go through the same issues. I am here to let you know that if you put your mind to it, you can reach your goals. We all have our days when we dont want to go to the gym, would much rather sit at home in front of the tv, munching on chocolate and chips (my fav!!). But guaranteed, if you can just get out the door and go the gym instead, you will feel much better about yourself when your done than you would have after eating the choc. and chips! We all have our days when we "fall off the wagon"...but as long you remember, tomorrow is a new day, and dont let that fall of the wagon hold you back, you can still achieve your goals. We are not perfect, no one has the perfect body......we are normal, hard working women with busy lives that want to be healthy and happy. That want to find that balance. And you will. My goal is here is to inspire and keep you motivated in your fitness goals!! Cheers to healthy and fit lifestyles!!
