Weight loss is a goal so many people want, but very seldom achieve and sustain. And it’s not because of a lack of effort; it’s a combination of different things: they don’t have the accountability from a support system, they don’t have the motivation and drive to do it on their own, and they lack the confidence and knowledge needed to create habits that are consistent and will help them reach their goals. Creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle is just plain hard. The main reason people seek out CNU Fit is because of all these reasons. Take Melissa Macolley for example. Melissa, one of CNU Fit’s Top 12 Clients of 2017, began at CNU Fit in February of 2015 with the goal of losing weight. She wasn’t confident in herself and though she had been working with a personal trainer at a different studio for the past year, she had had “zero success.” She was frustrated because she wasn’t seeing results and didn’t know what to do on her own to help her get where she wanted. She lives a busy lifestyle with a demanding career, two sons who are always involved in a sport, and a husband who often travels for work so fitting fitness into her schedule had always been hard, which didn’t help with her frustration and lack of results. Then Joi White, a personal trainer who at the time was working at CNU Fit, recommended she give us a shot. Joi explained that unlike traditional gym memberships and personal trainers that offer incomplete programs without accountability, CNU Fit is the only one that has a non-intimidating environment with all the tools needed to deliver long-term, sustainable results. We support our clients to lose weight, fit their clothes better, increase their confidence, and boost their energy through all of our programs, from our hands-on assisted stretching program to our nutritional coaching led by a registered dietitian. This sounded exactly like what Melissa was missing from the trainer she was with, so she switched to CNU Fit and was able to take part in both the metabolic coaching program and the personal training program. The support and guidance from our registered dietitian gave Melissa the knowledge of how to nourish her body, and revealed that the reason she hadn’t met her goals in her previous attempts at weight lost was because she didn’t know what to do from a nutrition standpoint. The metabolic coaching sessions coupled with the accountability from our professional personal trainers helped Melissa lose 40 lbs! But of course, life happens. In April of 2016 Melissa had to have surgery so she ended her programs at CNU Fit and tried to do it on her own, but after her surgery she never got back into a routine. “Unfortunately, I had gained back all the weight I had lost by January of 2017,” she said. “In June of 2017 I was ready for a new challenge, one that didn’t focus on weight loss by strength training.” It was at this point that Melissa set a new goal for herself: she wanted to deadlift 325 lbs. She felt like she could control her path to reach this new goal, but she still faced some challenges - namely, nutrition. Like before she had fallen into the habit of not eating enough or not taking the time to make sure she got all the nutrients she needed. She lacked strength, endurance, and energy, and it drastically affected her ability to reach her goals. Through lifestyle coaching, Melissa was able to stabilize her nutrition to help her reach her goal, and it only took her 4 ½ months to deadlift 325 lbs! Along the way she increased her confidence and boosted her energy. Now her goals are even bigger, and the results have been amazing! “There is something about lifting that just makes me feel empowered and brings me happiness,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I had total control over my weight loss process, I had a lot of hormonal and endocrine issues that were challenges when I had weight loss goals. Lifting is completely different, I know if do the work it pays off and I physically feel the results.” Melissa attributes her success to the unique approach CNU Fit takes in coaching our clients: “What I LOVE about CNU Fit is the dedication everyone exhibits towards their client’s goals. I feel like my trainer is committed to my goals as though they are their own. Which makes us an excellent team. We now work together to determine my next goals, he develops a plan, and I am responsible for the execution. I like the education and open communication, since it helps me in my success.” Melissa continues to set new goals and use the resources at CNU Fit to help her reach them. We are so proud of her enthusiasm and dedication and can’t wait to see where 2018 brings her!
