Carrie's Story

 Carrie Harshman understands what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.

A lifelong Paducah native and relatively new Energy Fitness member, Carrie decided last year she needed to change.

“I was on vacation with my family in Gatlinburg, and was told that I was too big to ride one of the roller coasters. I couldn’t go up a flight of stairs without breathing heavily. It was scary,” Carrie said of her motivation to get healthy.

So in August of 2013, she joined Energy Fitness and started working with Dustin, and he has kept her motivated. “You will be surprised how fast the pounds drop when someone [like Dustin] keeps you motivated.” She also says that Dustin is always very helpful with workout tips, routines, and advice.

Besides being motivated by Dustin, Carrie is also motivated to stay healthy. To her, it’s not about getting ‘skinny.’ It’s about getting healthy. “Even skinny people can be unhealthy.”

Something else that keeps Carrie motivated is her side gig as a health and weightloss coach through Live the Lifestyle. LtL, as it’s commonly called, is a program to help dieting with personal healthy coaches, like Carrie, to develop healthy habits and not just lose weight, but keep it off. [Previous statement taken from LtL’s website.]

Carrie, a stay at home mother of two, enjoys reading in her spare time and her favorite book is Wicked by Gregory Maguire. She says she hopes to see the Broadway Musical of the book.

Carrie’s current workout routine includes trying to attend kickboxing, Insanity, and weight-training 3-4 days a week; and cardio and elliptical training 5 days. Her routine usually brings her to EF at night, because her son is enrolled in the martial arts academy.

Besides the workouts, healthy eating has become a big part of Carrie’s lifestyle and helped her lose 98 pounds since last summer. Her favorite go-to snack: Carrots and Hummus. She also says she can make some “killer” turkey tacos.

When asked what would be the best advice to give to someone considering Energy Fitness?
“Sign up for the year at Energy Fitness and get with a personal trainer. It’s 100% worth it!”

 

Ronda's Story, Part Three...

The final step of a journey…

Okay. Not really the FINAL step of the journey, but the final days of this spring’s 21-Day Transformation at Energy Fitness.

21 Days Later, Ronda Gibson got measured and weighed in to see how much she had transformed…

[Drum Roll…..]

“I lost 5 pounds and 6 1/2 inches! I knew I had lost as I went down a pant size!” Gibson said. She also said that this was about half of the amazing results she got last fall when she did Round 1 of the 21-Day Transformation. When she did the last challenge, she was full-steam on board, meticulously tracking every carb and calorie she took in.

Jeffrey Vinson, if you are reading this blog, please skip this paragraph. “I didn’t write down a thing. Instead, I took a more rational approach with my diet and made some subtle changes that I think I can actually sustain,” Gibson said with a laugh.

All in all, she feels pretty awesome about the conclusion, even though there wasn’t a major weight loss or massively diminishing inches.

When she started her journey, there were classes and routines she never even tried before, like Spinning and the boxing circuit. After completing the challenge, she said she’s going to keep doing them! “When I looked at the special offerings for May, it was hard not to sign up for all of them! I asked my trainer Dustin for advice and he encouraged me to pursue the Hot Mojo Yoga class to continue to enhance my flexibility, balance and coordination.”

Big fitness advice? “I find it’s helpful to switch up your routine every few weeks. Plus, there’s always plenty to choose from at Energy Fitness.”

Her 21-day fitness challenge is over, but her fitness journey is far from over. So when the next round of the 21-Day Transformation is here, you better believe you’ll see Ronda back at it again.

“The 21-Day Transformation WILL change your body if you follow the guidelines. Though really intense, they’re pretty doable.” – Ronda Gibson, Energy Fitness Member and 21-day ‘Graduate’

 

Ronda's Story, Part 2...

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the scales don’t indicate health.” – Ronda Gibson

 Ronda’s 2/3 of the way through her 21-day Transformation and she’s already sad it’s almost over. She’s also noticed changes, and it’s not just on the scale. She’s noticed that there’s a deficit of only a few pounds, but the big change she noticed [And she gave the writer permission to tell this story] is when she was shaving her legs and her calves had changed. “I actually have some muscle definition!”

When asked what she enjoys most about the program, she laughs and said she doesn’t “dread” going to any session. Her two favorites though: Spin and the Boxing Circuit. She said that both leave you with a sweat and reaching for that water bottle, and they’re fun.

“Is it weird that for Mother’s Day I’m hoping for a heavy bag and some gloves?”

 

When we go through transformations, we learn a lot about ourselves. Ronda’s biggest realization so far is that she can’t dive head first into an activity or on a machine and expect that she’s going to perform like a peer or an instructor or “some 20-year-old I saw the week before.”

The 21-day Transformation is almost over, and the time will come to place what you’ve learned and how to apply it to your life after the program.

We’ve got one more check-in with Ronda later on to see how she feels she’s done in the program.

Another great piece of advice from Ronda: “It doesn’t matter if you’re the fastest or the strongest because you don’t have to prove anything to anyone but yourself.”

21-Day Transformation

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

 It’s time to start thinking about the stuff that scares us, and I’m not talking about Halloween, which is still 6 months away. I’m talking about change, which can be a very scary thing. But to some, like Ronda Gibson, change helps you feel better.

Ronda, who is dealing with the change of a new career, signed up in September to do the first round of the 21-Day Transformation. Laughing, she said she had fun with it and she got good results, so the second time to sign up wasn’t a tough decision. Another thing she enjoyed about the 21-Day Transformation is the challenge. And according to Ronda, it doesn’t matter what your fitness level is. You’ll be challenged whether you signed up two weeks ago, or you’ve been working out for years.

“In September, I was one of the last people to register. For this one, I was 10^th out of 60 participants” Ronda said. A lifelong resident of western Kentucky, Ronda lives in Kevil with her husband and 8-year-old son. When asked about what brought her to join Energy Fitness, she said that she enjoyed what she saw and that EF had Kids Energy Zones, so she can have someone look after her son while she works out.

Before signing up for the Transformation, a typical week of workouts involve three days of doing workouts lined up by her trainer, Dustin. She does three days of Dustin’s workouts, then her other three days she’s on her own.

Work with a trainer, Ronda says their knowledge is key to helping you reach your goals. “There’s a lot of equipment that they will help you figure out. I want to know what each machine here does.”

In Ronda’s nutritional world, her go-to snack has always been peanut butter. But recently, she’s been researching and learning about the Paleo diet, and trying to see how she can implement it in her daily routine.

And back to the 21-Day Transformation…

Stay tuned because over the next few weeks, we will be following Ronda’s road to success on her 21-Day Transformation.

Anisa's Story

"Fitness doesn't have an expiration date. It's a lifelong commitment."

Words EF trainer Anisa Cox lives by. A lifelong resident of Metropolis and a trainer at EF for the last seven years, Anisa has always loved fitness. "My husband and I try to stay active."
At the beginning of her own fitness journey, she felt that she was missing out on time with her husband and family. In hindsight, she realized that was not the case and it is now a motivator to help others in their journeys as well. "[In training sessions] I try to teach women that you're not neglecting family time to get in shape and be fit and have a healthy lifestyle."
The best fitness advice she can give to anyone needing some help? Moderation in what you eat, instead of sacrificing. And baby steps. "It really is about baby steps." Another thing she likes to point out is that "you never failed as long as you keep trying. If you had one bad meal, you don't have to feel like you failed."
"And you never have to start back again on Mondays," she says with a laugh. "A lot of times people will make a mistake on Wednesday and then wait til Monday to start over. If you have that bad meal on a Thursday, hit the gym and get back to it on Friday."
When she’s not leading classes or helping clients work on their fitness needs, Anisa strength trains three days a week, and twice a week hits either the AMT machine or the stairmaster.
Being on the go a lot usually means quick and simple meals for Anisa. She enjoys grilled chicken [marinated in Smoke’n hose sauce] with a salad and brown rice. For a quick snack, it’s usually a V8 with celery.

When she works with new clients just starting out, she prefers a total body workout:
1. Assisted Pull-Ups or pull downs
2. Freemotion Squats
3. Dumbbell incline press
[Anisa’s tip: Do this in a circuit. ONLY break when you’re going to the next exercise]
10 reps each, repeat 5 times.

“Listen to your body. Over-indulgence will hurt you in the long run. I’ve seen people all gung-ho, doing all of their prescribed workouts the same day. Your body needs that recovery too. So listen to what your body tells you in your workouts. But also remember, you will get out of your workouts what you put into them.” – Anisa Cox, EF Trainer

Brigette's Story

"Change your mind, Change your body."

Most days when you walk into EF, the first thing you see is the Brigette's smiling face. A team member at Energy for the last twelve years, she has helped given countless tours and answered a plethora of questions.

The weirdest question she's ever been asked? "Probably when people ask me if [Strive equipment area] is a special VIP section of EF," she says with a laugh. Sitting down on a Thursday afternoon talking about the tours she's given, Brigette loves to help people achieve their goals.

"To see them change and help motivate them. That's where my passion for fitness lies. When new members come in, I sometimes see despair on their faces. But to help them see the potential in themselves, complimenting them as they're achieving their fitness goals. It's rewarding."

A native of Ironton, Ohio, Brigette relocated to Paducah when her husband was offered a position. Since moving, her family grew to include two daughters, the older currently attending college at Vanderbilt, and the younger at Paducah-Tilghman.

When not working the front desk at EF, Brigette likes to spend her free time back here, working out with her husband. The weekends are spent catching up on their favorite TV shows.
Her current favorites this season? "The Blacklist [NBC, Monday 9pm] and "Grimm" [NBC Friday 8pm].

Workouts? Brigette would say it is a love/hate relationship with the Stepmill, but she really prefers interval workouts. Fast paced, variety of moves and over time, "Can't breath, can't move drenched in sweat I made it through and by golly I am still alive and it did not take all day."

Her protein shake:
1/2 cup dry-blended rolled oats
6oz unsweet almond milk
1 1/2 scoops protein
3 large strawberries
OPTIONAL addition: chia seed, flax seed, avocado, coconut oil, peanut butter, wheatgrass, blueberries, spirulina, moringa, mango, organic honey

Her fitness/nutrition advice? Be consistent, especially with meals. Getting in the meals, she says, can be difficult while manning the front desk. Another tip? "Take baby steps, but realize that you're going to fall. And when you fall, remember how important it is to get back up. And remember to find the balance of consistency. It sounds easy."

"Be consistent and it'll be okay." - Brigette Davis

New Blog

Welcome to the new Energy Fitness Blog!

The goal here is to keep you up to date on new fitness trends and nutrition advice, but also to get to know you as members. We'll even test out new apps and gadgets!

Each week, we will be featuring a trainer or a EF member and hear their story. If you would like to share your story or if you have a fitness tip or app you want us to check out, email EF.Paducah.Blog@gmail.com or see a customer service team member at the club!