Our Spotlight Member this month is Jamie! Her consistency in training has led to some exciting moments of discovering her strength not just in the gym, but in adventures outside the gym as well. Jamie brings a positive spirit to every training session, and we love having her in our Breakthrough family!
BREAKTHROUGH: Thank you, Jamie, for chatting with me today.
JAMIE: No problem!
BREAKTHROUGH: So, you have been training with us since fall of last year. I feel like time has flown. I can’t believe it has already been that long!
JAMIE: I know! I feel the same way.
BREAKTHROUGH: What was it that brought you to us in the first place?
JAMIE: I was trying to remember what I told you at that very first meeting. I remember there were three things. I think one was that I wanted to look better. I wanted to lose some weight. But I think even more important than that was that I was concerned about osteoporosis, since it runs in my family. My mother always said you need to do weight bearing exercises, so I wanted help with that. And the third thing was that I just wanted to feel better, feel stronger, feel more fit. There have been a couple of things lately that have made me notice how much stronger I feel.
BREAKTHROUGH: Ohhh! Tell me about those things! Ha, ha!
JAMIE: Ha, Ha! Well, it was twelve years ago that I did this little pioneer trek reenactment with some kids from our church.
BREAKTHROUGH: Okay.
JAMIE: And it is like 16 miles over two days. They are pulling hand carts and going up and down hills and all this stuff.
BREAKTHROUGH: Oh my gosh!
JAMIE: And I was forty when I did it last time. They asked me if I would go on it again just a couple of weeks ago. I thought, I am almost 52, I don’t know if I can even do that. But you know what, it was hard, but I did it and it was no problem. There were teenage kids that were having the same level of difficulty as me! I did really good, and I thought to myself at the end of that, I never would have made that with the fitness level I was at before starting here.
BREAKTHROUGH: That’s amazing!
JAMIE: That was an eye-opener for me.
BREAKTHROUGH: I love that! That is so great! Anything else you’ve noticed?
JAMIE: Well, just recently I have noticed just how strong my core is. Nothing specific, but just little things that have been happening. I have this awful pantry that used to be a hot water heater closet in my kitchen. And the really tall shelves, sometimes I’d have to pull over a chair to reach but now I step up on the bottom, pull myself up, hold on to the top, and then step down!
BREAKTHROUGH: That’s amazing!
JAMIE: I have not been able to do that for a long time, and that is just one of the little things. But I just feel myself getting stronger.
BREAKTHROUGH: I really think that is what it is all about… If, at the drop of a hat, someone asks me to go on a 15-mile pioneer hike, I want to be able to say yes to that!
JAMIE: Ha, Ha! Yes!
BREAKTHROUGH: I want to be able to know that in my own house, I can do stuff – like climbing and getting into the cabinets, lifting heavy things and being able to carry my own groceries. That type of stuff. That’s life! Being strong for everything that life throws your way. And I know that there are so many examples when we notice that stuff in our daily lives. It’s just such a cool thing when you experience it, and you start to have those “aha!” moments.
JAMIE: Yeah! For sure. I am still working on some other things, like meal planning and stuff that I learned in your nutrition class. And I think that other goals that I have as far as weight loss or the way I look that I want to accomplish; those are still coming. In the meantime, I feel good! I feel better than I have felt in years.
BREAKTHROUGH: Awesome!
JAMIE: And it’s helping me to do other things that I haven’t done in a while, like go on longer hikes or get up and go out early and do stuff. I’ve never been a big gym person. I have spent so much money on gym memberships, only to go a few times. And then I just get too intimidated, and I don’t know what to do. I have had trainers before who were so hard on me, and I can’t do it.
BREAKTHROUGH: That’s a bummer.
JAMIE: This is the first thing that I have done as an adult, I guess, as far as fitness training that I have stuck with. And I am excited to come, even though some days are hard…
BREAKTHROUGH: Sure, we all have hard days.
JAMIE: But I don’t want to miss it. I always feel bad if I have to change the date or something, but I always make sure that I get my two days in each week.
BREAKTHROUGH: You do! Well, that is funny that you say that because I would never have thought that you would have had a hard time being consistent with training in the past, because you are so consistent now.
JAMIE: Thank you!
BREAKTHROUGH: And we coaches always notice the progress you guys are making in the gym -especially with people like you who are consistent, but I love when you guys also get see it, too! The last question that I want to ask you is, what is your why? What’s the thing that motivates you to be consistent and to show up even when it is hard?
JAMIE: It is always hard to answer those kinds of questions! I think I have a lot of whys!
BREAKTHROUGH: That’s good!
JAMIE: But I think maybe the overarching one is that I want to be healthy. I want to be strong and healthy so that I can - oh you know, I want to have grandkids someday. My kids are adults, but young adults and I want to keep up with them. I want to feel good about doing that. I don’t want to have an excuse to not participate with everything they love to do. They all love to do active fun stuff so…
BREAKTHROUGH: And they want that too.
JAMIE: And they do! Yes!
BREAKTHROUGH: Speaking as a daughter, I want my parents to be able do the stuff that I am doing too. It’s a win-win! Well, that is awesome. That is a very good why. And I think a lot of people also share that same why. We want longevity to do the things we want to do for life, and to be able to share those things with people that we love.
JAMIE: That’s for sure.
BREAKTHROUGH: Very cool! Thank you for sharing! I appreciate you, Jaime.
JAMIE: Thank you!