How I Did It

Readers share their amazing personal health and wellness transformations. Read their stories to be inspired — and feel free to share your own!

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Just Keep Moving Forward: A Swim Bike Mom’s Journey

By Meredith Atwood / May 16, 2013

Back in August of 2010, I decided to become a Triathlete.

What is funny about this?

At that point, I had only completed two 5K events in my entire life; zero cycling events (and my bike was gathering cobwebs in the garage). Oh, and zero swimming laps since about age eight.

So that was the first funny thing.

The next funny thing is that I was about 100 pounds overweight. Okay. So 50 pounds, but still. Probably 65 pounds. Regardless. Overweight. Chubby. Chunky. Fat Albert. Hey hey hey.

And even funnier, I had two kids under three years of age. And a husband. And I worked a full-time job as a litigation attorney. And I thought I had time for triathlon.

Now, in deciding this, I wasn’t a complete idiot.

I used to be an athlete. Sort of. I played basketball, volleyball and softball. I was a lousy softball player, because I could not hit the ball on purpose. But if I hit it by accident, it would go pretty far. I did swimming and gymnastics as a kid, but I was too chubby to really be any good at gymnastics and too young and stupid to recognize that I was a good swimmer. Plus, I am (and always have been) a massive chicken, so gymnastics was terrifying.

Then there was my real sport – Olympic weightlifting. By “real”, I mean the one that stuck the longest and the most intensely. I won the Junior National Championships back in the day, went to Junior Worlds in South Africa (placed fifth in one lift, and seventh overall, and missed the next world team by a hair), did a few stints at the squad camps at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, etc.

Weightlifting was a good sport for me, because while there was a huge risk of injury (e.g., dropping 200+ pounds upon my head, busting apart my knees, spontaneous breaking elbows), it felt safe for me.

Triathlon. Was. Not. Safe. For. Me. Triathlon. Scared. Me. To. Death.

So where did this idea for triathlon come from?

Well, after I had my youngest child three years ago, I was a puffy, sluggish and tired mess. I joined the athletic club and found my way to a Spinning class. I ran (a little). I did NOT get into a bathing suit. I continued to spin off and on for almost a year.

And then it hit me. I had been in this crazy rut for so long. And I liked to blame the rut on my commute or my kids, but really, it was my fault. I had let it all go.

I needed a new “for me” purpose. One that was separate from work and family. Something that was me. And for some crazy reason, I thought triathlon could be me.

I hired a triathlon coach. And I haven’t stopped since.

Since October 2010, I have competed in my first Sprint Distance tri, several other sprint tris, several 5ks, 10ks, a half marathon, my first Olympic distance race in May 2011 at St. Anthony’s, and another Olympic distance race.

My first half Ironman (70.3) finish was October 30, 2011. That was 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking, and a half marathon. My second half Ironman finish was September 30, 2012 – and was almost 40 minutes FASTER than my first.

And in six weeks, I have my first IRONMAN (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile marathon).

The message? You. Can. Go. Go forward. Move. If you move, no matter how slowly, you are passing all the people who aren’t moving. Go take your dreams. They’re yours for the snagging.

My mantra is “Just Keep Moving Forward.” And so I do.

www.SwimBikeMom.com

Lessons Learned From Fitness Competition

By Patricia Dunne / April 2, 2013

After having been pregnant twice, your body goes through some changes. I had worked out since I was 14, but my body seemed stagnant in my weight after having children. I was determined to get back into shape.

I starting training with a trainer at Life Time Fitness in Novi, Mich. My trainer, JJ Thomas, would work with me for an hour once a week and text me workouts for the other four days of training, for a total of five days of training for 60–80 minutes each day.

Each training session was approximately one hour. It consisted of a warm up of cardio (15–20 minutes) and 45 minutes of intense weights. I then cooled down afterwards for 15–20 minutes.

My diet consisted of protein and vegetables (two protein shakes and three meals a day) four days a week, then protein and vegetables(two protein shakes and three meals a day), and carbs (sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice) the other three days a week

My entire regular diet contained no dairy or fruit, and one cheat meal once a week. the cheat meal was really heavy and fattening: steak, potatoes, dairy, fruit, dessert, alcoholic beverage — whatever I wanted. (No limitations whatsoever!)

After training for a few weeks, my trainer suggested that I enter a fitness competition. I looked into it and, given my lack of size, found that bikini fitness was the best fit for my body type.

Unfortunately, there is no master division in bikini fitness — I was competing with 19-year-old girls. Even though I was the oldest competitor, I came in third. I was happy to have checked the activity off my bucket list.

It was a great experience. I have learned from training for the competition that you really have to constantly challenge your body to produce any results. Exercise with the correct diet is really the determining factor in achieving your ultimate level of fitness.

Setting and Making Triathlon Goals in Commerce, Mich.

By Roman Krzyzanowski / January 2, 2013

Life Time Fitness in Commerce, Mich., has a triathlon team that works out together on a regular basis. The roster consists of 65 members of various ages and abilities. Workouts are early in the morning throughout the week, starting on Mondays with swimming, Tuesdays with biking, Thursdays with running and the weekend with long bike rides and runs.

Not all members have the same goal, but this year was special because many people accomplished their goal of completing an ironman distance race for the first time. Members completed in Texas, Kentucky, Quebec, and Florida to accomplish their goals. Throughout the training process, many members have lost weight and gained valuable lessons on leading a healthy lifestyle. One of our team members even lost over 100 pounds in the process of training for his first ironman distance event.

For 2013, the team has some ambitious goals for its teammates. Many have succeeded in qualifying for nationals at the Olympic distance triathlon and will try their luck at qualifying for Worlds and represent U.S.A. in their respective age group.

Two members will be representing Michigan in the best of the U.S. Challenge in June. Others are going to challenge themselves and complete another ironman distance race and look to improve on their time. There are some members that have taken the leap of faith and will try to complete their first ironman distance race.

The Life Time Fitness Triathlon Team puts in many training hours together and has fun doing it. We welcome new members that are willing to take on triathlons and enjoy the dynamics of being part of team. Check us out at many of the triathlons held in the Detroit Suburban area of Michigan! Attached is a photograph of our members who completed the ironman distance race in Panama City, Florida and their supporters.

Recovering From a Decades-old Injury

By Heather Torok /

When I was 6, I fell off a tree and impaled myself on an iron fence shattering my pelvis. After a blood transfusion, several surgeries and last rites, I spent the remainder of first grade in the hospital recovering and learning to walk again. Despite a very successful recovery, as I grew and progressed into adolescence, my hip injury resurfaced.

In high-school, I curbed my running on the track team, opted for high jump and joined the swim team. Throughout my 20s I struggled with infection, chronic osteomyelitis and frequent pain. In my 30s, after a ski accident and needing to move progressively towards lower impact sports, I discovered spinning and yoga. I bought a bike and signed up for my first road race.

It has been joy ever since. My hip is healthy and my limp has improved with the strength garnered from both yoga and biking. I am stronger in my 40s than ever before. I spend my mornings at the gym (Life Time Fitness in Beachwood, Ohio, 6 a.m. classes) continuing to enjoy learning new ways to strengthen and push myself.

You Want to Compete in WHAT?

By Meredith Butulis / November 12, 2012

When the topic of health and fitness transformations comes up, my clients come to me wanting to lose weight yesterday. They often seek the fastest possible track to get there. My transformation is different — I have never thought about weight loss (although I did lose 40 lbs on my journey). To me fitness is the medium by which I experienced transformation not only physically, but also mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

I grew up as a workaholic, who ate 3 square meals of fast food a day as a teenager. Those habits continued through college, grad school and my first few “what am I going to do with my life” jobs after grad school. As far as activity, I tried fitness class after fitness class and nothing seemed to stick. I did not enjoy working out in the gym, and I didn’t enjoy working out outside of the gym either.

One day, a personal trainer came up to me and told me he was starting a new body-building show in town. He wanted me to try it. I honestly thought he was crazy. The next week, I saw a fitness competition on ESPN and thought, I would like to do that! I went back and hired the trainer to teach me how to apply nutrition and program design to my goals, and six weeks later competed in my first fitness competition. That was the beginning of committing to regular workouts, changing my nutrition habits and embarking on a mental, social and spiritual journey I would never have imagined.

Today, seven years later, I perform a fitness routine that currently ranks top 10 in the world. I’m often asked why I compete. That answer lies in the journey of transformation, and that journey is infinite and fulfilling.

Physically, photos show there is obvious transformation, but when asked what I weigh or what my body composition is, I honestly rarely know. When I first met with a choreographer, she told me to show her what I could do. Then she gave me skills that were one to two levels higher than my ability. She continues to do this with me every year, and I do the best I can to step up to the challenge.

Mentally, the transformation has been profound. Joint injury has taught me to work smarter by learning visualization instead of just practicing more. Illness has taught me that there is a fine balance between recovery and perseverance. Not only that, but I’m also constantly learning the science behind recovery and modifying it each day in order to have a productive day at work, training and in life outside of these activities.

Knowing my goal in the face of obstacles has lead me to be much smarter. When I see a task or obstacle, instead of saying “I can tackle that!” or “I can’t do that,” I now ask “Under what conditions can I make that work?” That is a lesson I’ve learned to apply not only in stage performance, but also in life. It has lead to great creativity that I would have never otherwise discovered.

Socially, I have realized that there are many people that will tell me that I can’t do something. The process of finding like-minded people to encourage me to try has lead to more friends and peers than I could have ever imagined. Even though I have multiple degrees and certifications in Allied Health and Fitness fields, I still reach out to other colleagues and professionals on a regular basis to learn, apply and change.

Emotionally, one of my teammates summed it up best. When she was asked what makes her win, she told the team that she gets out of her head. She asked us all to place our hands over our hearts and just breathe and be in the moment. The process of breathing, feeling, and being fully present in the moment is one that has not only lead me to be a high level competitor, but also one that has lead me to find and share my passion in everything I do. It is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned on my journey of transformation.

Spiritually, I have learned to stop and experience the process and the moments throughout this journey of transformation. I am thankful to share my passions with others, continue the infinite process of learning, and for every moment that I get to experience the joy of being active.

Most of my clients come to me seeking physical change. My journey and transformation in becoming a world level fitness competitor has lead me to have an open door and open mind to share as my clients realize that the change that goes with any physical transformation usually becomes a holistic journey.

Consistency: The Key to Staying Fit

By Nancy Oshana Wehbe / September 24, 2012

My name is Nancy Oshana Wehbe. I’m 37 years old and a mother of 4 boys: Julius, 13; Wehbe, 5; Joseph, 3; and Gabriel, 19 months old. My husband, Elie, and I have been members to Skokie Life Time fitness for over eight years. Prior to that, I was a trainer for Life Time in Schaumburg for over two years. Working out and eating healthy is a life style for me and I try to influence everyone around me.

The most common question I get asked from every Lifetime member that approaches me is, ”How do you manage to stay so fit having had four kids?” My answer to them is consistency. I worked out through my whole pregnancy and, three weeks after giving birth, I’m back on the treadmill.

I start my weight training six weeks after giving birth, and within a three-month period, it doesn’t even look like I’ve had a baby. It’s amazing how the body bounces back, but again, a person has to be consistent with working out and eating healthy. Most people think I’m not eating and that’s why I’m lean, but in reality I have six portions a day. I try to emphasize the importance of small portions throughout the day to speed up the metabolism too.

The only time I diet is when I have a competition. Otherwise, I just make healthier choices. I love the articles in Experience Life magazine and all the good recipes. I compete in figure competitions. In May, I won the overall title for Illinois State Masters division, which is the 35–39 age range. In June I competed in Junior Nationals and took 10th in the country. It was a tough competition — I was up against girls 10–15 years younger that haven’t had kids. I am proud of what I did and it help me get in the best shape of my life.

Biking With Buddha

By Barbie Laughlin / February 22, 2012

As a fifty-something widow, I joined the Plymouth Life Time Fitness club in 2005 hoping to meet other active folks my age. A few weeks later I was introduced to Craig, a LifeTime Legacy member and regular at the Plymouth club. Having been told by our mutual friends that I wasn’t ready for a “real date,” he asked me to swim laps with him at the club.

The rest, as they say, is history. In addition to swimming, we started attending fitness yoga, nutrition, spin, Pilates, CRT, and other classes. Within a year we were married, and ever since have supported each other to stay in shape and to hit our monthly goal of twelve club visits.

When friends invited us to bicycle Northern Thailand with them, we were excited to “give it a spin,” so to speak. We began attending Tiffany Berenberg’s spin classes, and I did the Ride of a Lifetime event in St. Paul, Minn. We felt ready.

Our first day was a grueling eight hour ride from Chaing Mai to Chaing Dao. It was hot, and at the top of a particularly steep hill I began to second guess my conclusion that weekly spin classes had been enough.

Tiffany’s words kept ringing in my head: “Shoulders down, elbows in, core engaged, use the balls of your feet, push, push, push.” So I kept pushing on the balls of my feet and soon enough we made it to our first night’s lodging. We stayed in a small cabin in the middle of the forest, had a hot shower, and were delighted to be served a gourmet meal at dinner! Life was good again.

Over the next eight days we covered over 320 miles of beautiful countryside, visited the northern most point in Thailand, and made a three hour visit to Burma before heading back to Chaing Mai.

The photo was taken at one of the many Buddhist Temples we saw. I am proudly wearing my Lifetime spin shirt, as well as the headband I purchased in the Spa Salon at the Plymouth club.

Craig and I plan to continue our commitment to fitness, and to stay in shape for our next adventure.

Don’t Guess Your Way to Being Fit

By Bianca Burke / February 21, 2012

While today I have the physique of a fitness model and the mindset of a personal trainer, I didn’t exactly start out that way.

I was like any other young, naive college girl, looking to increase her fitness level so her outward physical appearance matched the unrealistic expectations of the fitness models I envied from the magazines.

And so I went. Head first into the gym, not knowing the difference between a rep, a set and a rest, and exercised like I had never exercised before!

At first, it was satisfying. I felt good after a workout; I got really sweaty, my heart rate was up, I was weight lifting and doing cardio. But my body weight always stayed the same, and I couldn’t see a whole lot of muscle definition in my upper body, let alone any in my legs. I had a flat stomach, but not the blocky look I’d seen in the fitness magazines.

Naturally, I took my lack of results as an indication that I wasn’t working out long enough, so I lengthened the time I spent at the gym. I would be there for 2, 2 1/2 hours. Daily. I never took a rest day. Back then, I thought taking a rest day would erase all the hard work you’d put into working out the day before.

Since increasing the length of my work out sessions, I started to have really strange things happen to me; I’d wake up in the morning to calf cramps from both of my legs, my lower back would be killing me even though I hadn’t worked it and I would find myself feeling overly fatigued regardless of the 12 hours of non-interrupted sleep the night before. I merely wrote these off as side effects of my intense work outs and continued my work outs as usual.

It happened one evening, after I spent an hour running on the treadmill for my typical cardio session. There was a bulge that appeared near my groin area. I had never seen this before, and it felt really tender. It frightened me so bad, I actually stopped going to the gym for a week. My rest period seemed to pay off, however, because the little bulge didn’t come back. I shrugged it off as some sort of temporary injury and went back to the gym as if nothing had happened. Sure enough, two days later, it was back. I tried skipping the gym again to get rid of it, but this time, it wasn’t going away.

I decided it was time to see my doctor about it. After all, I had no idea what this could be! After my visit, I was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia. What the heck is an inguinal hernia?? My doctor told me that an inguinal hernia is when the contents of a body cavity bulge out of the area where they are normally contained. Contrary to popular belief, hernias can occur in women. It happens to men a lot more, simply because of all the time men spend at the gym overexhausting their bodies. This is what had happened to me. It would take surgery to fix, and I couldn’t exercise for three weeks post-op. I needed to take care of my injury, so I decided to go through with the surgery.

During my recovery time I had a lot of time to think. I thought about what could have caused this injury, about how much I worked out, the minimal food I ate, water I didn’t drink, just about everything a person could analyze, I analyzed to death. I realized that what I was trying to accomplish required a lot more than what I was offering. I concluded that if I wanted to achieve what I was setting my mind to, I needed to learn more about what it took to get there. I decided to enlist the help of a teacher, or personal trainer.

I learned so much about the body and muscular development. How our bodies are similar to the way a car works; our bodies need fuel and to be refueled in order to sustain itself and recover from a workout. I learned that different sports require different workout regimens and nutritional intake. The more extreme your fitness goals, the more your workout and diet need to be adjusted to accommodate them.

I didn’t just learn how to have a healthy body; I learned how to have a healthy mind, an important, but often times, neglected muscle in our body.

Overcoming LifeTime Obstacles

By Warren Carlyle /

I have always admired the success stories of Life Time Fitness members. It occurred to me other day that maybe someone could benefit from me sharing my appreciation of the company and what it did for me. I read the experience life magazine and always benefit from the positive stories I hear. Thanks for taking the time to read my story.

I have always been an optimistic person and very goal oriented. I have a strong belief that if you can tap into your mind and dig deep, there is absolutely nothing you can’t accomplish. This way of living for me was unfortunately put to the test when my mother was diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer in fall of 2009. My mother was my complete and total support system growing up and her children were her number one priority. She worked as a waitress and a cashier for Diamond Shamrock before finally being able to attend college to make a living as a substance abuse counselor. I definitely acquired her determination and drive to see where I want to be and work my way there.

Having moved to Dallas a year prior to my mom being diagnosed, I had started a successful career in real estate and was selling homes while getting my commercial designation. Being 22 and realizing my success at such a young age I decided I could build what I had again, that my mother needed me, and so I got a part-time job in San Antonio and took my mom to her appointments and chemotherapy treatments.

The thought of losing my mother overwhelmed me daily. One morning while I sat through her treatment I tried to think of an outlet. I discovered fitness. I channeled all of my energy into the gym and decided that morning I would be strong for my mother. I went 5-6 days a week—not going wasn’t an option. I changed my diet completely and created a balance in my life that hadn’t been there before. I started at 145 lbs and about 20 months later I was weighing in at 215 lbs.

I looked like a completely different person and I was so surprised when people would come up to me and ask me for advice—It was all so new to me. July 22, 2011 my mother passed away at home in her room. Weeks before, when she was still conversational, every time I would walk in the room she would say, “There’s my model.” She told me, “You need to be a spokes model for something–I know no one else with your drive and determination.”

I always replay conversations my mother and I had now that she’s gone. A week after she passed I got a full time job as a leasing professional at Éilan, San Antonio’s most prestigious residences for lease, cut my hair, and started to diet down for fitness modeling. In 6 months I lost 45 lbs and went to my first photo shoot.

Life Time Fitness was a great support system for me. I made and am making so many friends there daily that treat me like family. They have all seen my transformation and I strive to be as motivational as I can giving them advice and making diet plans. I had at least 1 meal at the Life Time café daily and really enjoy the menu options and staff. I’m looking forward to the future and just wanted to share my sincere thanks with you all.

UPDATE: I have moved from Dallas to New York to advance my career in modeling and real esate. The picture below represents just a small portion of my Life Time family in San Antonio, I hope and am workig hard to continue to inspire people to follow their dreams through various avenues, including my Facebook fan page at www.modelwarren.com.

How I Did It

Recently in Athletic Pursuits Category

Just Keep Moving Forward: A Swim Bike Mom’s Journey

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Lessons Learned From Fitness Competition

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Setting and Making Triathlon Goals in Commerce, Mich.

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Recovering From a Decades-old Injury

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You Want to Compete in WHAT?

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Consistency: The Key to Staying Fit

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Biking With Buddha

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Don’t Guess Your Way to Being Fit

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Overcoming LifeTime Obstacles

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