Fitness Success Stories/Testimonials

Just do it!

Jim Turner not only has a great Fitness Success story, but also a motivating story of survival.

A 58-year old retired father of three, Jim Turner began working out at the YMCA after sustaining a frightening heart attack and heart transplant. His goal was to be able to do everything he could do before the heart attack, and working with his trainer, Marcia in the Personal Fitness program at the Downtown YMCA he has come an amazingly long way.

Marcia designed a 3-times per week series of exercises for Jim based on his cardiac rehabilitation plan. By starting small and working his way up, Jim feels he has since regained his life after accomplishing a series of "firsts" since the surgery. These included the first step in the hospital, the first jog crossing a busy street, the first time swimming the front crawl, and the first pull-up.

Jim now knows that heart disease is the #1 killer of adults today, killing more people than the next three diseases combined (including breast cancer). His transplant has given him a second chance at life, and the YMCA has given him an environment that has made the changes easier and more enjoyable.

He advises others to "just do it, track your results, and don't expect overnight results. Once you have heart disease, you don't get better – just stop getting worse. Fighting heart disease is not cheap. Medication is expensive. Prevention not only improves one's quality of life but also saves money --which can in turn be spent enjoying that improved life!"

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Exerciser embodies YMCA mission in building healthy spirit, mind, and body

Sandy Johnson*, age 44, is a frequent visitor to the East YMCA and strong believer in the physical and mental benefits of exercise.  Though a lifelong exerciser, exercise has taken on new meaning since the tragic death of her husband in 2007.

“I am a very active and highly energetic person, and I realized that I needed to build a stronger exercise program in my daily life to help strengthen both my mind and my body-to help me work with my grief in a healthy way,” Sandy explains.

Thus, in October 2008, Sandy started the Personal Fitness Program.  Within five months, she met all of the goals she wrote down and even picked up some extra advice from her trainer Craig.  With his guidance Sandy has learned that “slow and steady wins the race.” Sandy now exercises slower, building more resistance and achieving a higher quality workout.

Sandy takes cues from her body in when and where to workout—designating the quiet of home for yoga and the more social YMCA environment for aerobic exercise—and has achieved what she calls her most important goal: “realizing when I need to go to the YMCA to work out to strengthen my body and mind and then doing so.”

Sandy encourages setting goals that are challenging, yet achievable, and working toward those goals immediately.  Avoiding procrastination and treasuring the time she has help Sandy in meeting her fitness goals.  And to balance work, life, family and exercise, Sandy finds her faith her foundation.

Her experiences and outlook provide a valuable perspective to the estate planning seminars she leads through her professional work.  Sandy tells seminar participants, “Life is so fragile.  Each and every moment of each and every day is a gift.  It’s a gift of time, and time is so precious.  More importantly, how you choose to utilize that time is even more precious.”

Thanks, Sandy, for choosing to spend your time with us at the YMCA!  Your outlook and determination are a blessing to all of us.

*Name changed per member’s request.

It's all been worth it...YMCA member Jim L. shares his inspiring fitness story

My advice: Find your own motivation.  It’s different for everyone.

For me it was finally coming to the realization that I was overweight and wanted to live a healthier lifestyle.  I found myself with little energy, constant aches and pains and a pretty unflattering opinion of myself.  And I realized that the only person that could change that was me.

I decided that some lifestyle changes were in order.  The first was changing my diet.  It wasn’t time to ‘diet,’ but it was time to eat healthier.  No more trips for fast food several times a week.  No more bags of chips at home.  No more giant meals as the norm.  This didn’t mean going crazy with salads and low-cal this and no-fat that, but it did mean exercising some portion control for the first time in my life.  I wasn’t about to say goodbye to all the good stuff forever, just for a while so I wouldn’t waste all the hard work I was looking at putting in at the Y.

It was also time to start exercising on a regular basis.  I wasn’t sure where to start and remembered seeing the Personal Fitness Program brochure when I joined the Y.  So I took the plunge, signed up for the PFP and found it to be exactly what I needed.  I loved that I was able to set my own goals, go at my own pace and enlist the help of my coach when I needed it.  Working out with other PFPers also let me know that I wasn’t the only one who was new to all of this.  I incorporated the Y into my weekly routine, going to the East Side YMCA four days a week after work.  My goal was to lose 60 pounds in a year.

During that first workout I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but as I continued my workouts I began to feel more comfortable and gain confidence in myself.  My workouts consisted of about 30 minutes on the exercise bike and 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill.  After a month, my coach showed me how to use the weight machines and I started to include those in the workouts a couple times a week.  Gradually I was able to increase the levels and the duration on the bike, treadmill and weights.  In my 12 weeks in PFP, I lost 35 pounds.

I have no doubt my PFP experience helped to lay the foundation for a better and healthier me.  Fourteen months after enrolling in the PFP, I’m happy to say you’ll still find me at the East Side YMCA several days a week after work on the bike, the treadmill, the track and the weight machines.  I still watch what I eat, but I now enjoy some snacks, desserts, or a beer or two, but I try to do it all in moderation.

This year has been one of the most rewarding in my life.  I’ve experienced things that I never thought I’d be able to do.  Last October I could barely walk 10 minutes on the treadmill without feeling exhausted.  I ran my first 5K in May, celebrating with a brat and a beer after the finish line.  In June, I ran my first Bellin Run (in 60 minutes and 6 seconds) and I’m already looking forward to participating again next year!  I never thought that I would enjoy running or working out, but I do.

It’s been a lot of hard work, sweat, perseverance and dedication, but it’s all been worth it.  After 14 months, I’ve lost 102 pounds.  I feel fantastic.  I have much more energy.  I sleep better.  I ache less.  I have a new found confidence and best of all, I feel good about myself.  My motivation: I did it for me.