BROOKEFIT LLC
SUNNY ISLES, FLORIDA

I was living in Indianapolis and would frequently travel home for the weekends or go out drinking with friends. I had grown up playing sports, lifting and running, but now I was so confused on what kind of “diet” I needed to follow or what work out I needed to be doing. I never had to worry about it before, because I was so active in high school. All I knew was that eating less, meant losing weight (or so I thought). So I would often restrict my calories drastically through the week while I was at school “saving up” for the weekend…I would extreme exercise, sometimes leaving to go run late at night after having a few cookies or carbs. I felt guilty and needed to “run it off”… I would sometimes run 5-7 miles at night…then when I would go out and eat or visit my family on the weekends, I would eat everything I saw. I was a kind of a binge eater on the weekends….because I was starving! My body didn’t have the nutrients it needed and I was just hungry! I had been a yo-yo dieter for years in college and it had obviously gotten the best of me. It was a viscious cycle. I remember going to the gas station next to my apartment in Indianapolis when I was in school and buying a half dozen donuts on night. I’m not really sure why…I just wanted donuts! I ate almost all of those donuts until I was uncomfortably full, then felt guilty. That was the cycle. But the problem was, I had gotten to the point that if I ate ANYTHING other than a salad or something “healthy”, I felt guilty. But I didn’t worry about it, because I knew the next day I would get up and go run 5 miles to work it off. I think what escalated the guilty feeling, was the fact that my body WAS starving…so whatever I put in my belly, it hung onto, because it didn’t know when it’s next meal might come…therefore it was/is easy for someone who’s body is in starvation mode to gain several pounds in a few days, even if it is just water weight. I remember weighing myself several times a day. It was nonsense. I remember thinking…am I the only one doing this crazy stuff? The reality is, I wasn’t…and that’s why I think I made it seem ok. Extreme dieting was something that made it’s presence in high school and college. I knew friends that would go all day without eating etc. Why did we feel like this was ok? Because other people were doing it? I think I knew, deep down, it was bad…but I don’t think I realized how damaging it was to my metabolism. I continued to yo-yo diet and used diet pills…one of which is now discontinued due to its ingredients. I knew it was bad for me, I wasn’t stupid, but I continued to do this to myself. Why? Because other friends were doing it and it made it seem “ok”. I knew people who would take Aderol to lose weight! I never got to that point, but I tried everything. A cabbage soup diet…ridiculous things. I knew people, and myself, would go to extremes before Spring Break…to make sure we looked good in our bikinis in front of our peers…then I would get back from Spring Break…start by eating a little more…and then BAM, here I was right back from where I started. Why did I do it? I wasn’t pressured…I just think it was an innate feeling all girls have, especially in college or high school. To be perfect. It definitely started small in high school and progressed throughout college. I remember being on a “low-carb” diet in high school. I played sports, I NEEDED CARBS…but it was almost Prom…and I wanted to look my best… I remember taking a Nutrition class at the end of my Sophomore year. As we were calculating how many calories we actually needed and we were forced to track our numbers, I realized how much I was damaging my body by under-eating. I was moody, irritable, angry, and unhappy. I decided then, that I wanted to try and fix my damaged body and halted metabolism, but I didn’t realize how long it would take. Not only was I starting to fix my body, but I needed to start fixing my mind. I needed to tell myself to STOP going to extremes and feeling guilty for eating one piece of cake…which then lead to eating another piece of cake…because, well, heck, I already ruined my diet! I started eating more nutritious foods and eating more often than before. At first, I put on weight and of course that discouraged me. The thoughts of cutting back calories again crossed my mind…but I decided to push on. I got back down to my previous weight by adding more good calories and running. Running was really the only exercise that I felt like worked. I hated running. Hated every single minute of it, but it was all I knew. We didn’t have any nice gyms or classes around where I grew up or where I lived. No support system or group of healthy individuals helping each other learn about these things through a gym setting or group fitness, so I just sticked to steady state cardio…running…lots. I made it through two years of the dental hygiene program and graduated about my normal weight. I’m looking back now just proud of myself for not yo-yoing as much through the stressful program or going through so many extremes. I felt so much better. Less lethargic and moody. After graduation, I landed a job near Louisville and moved down to a new area. I met someone who was completing the P90x program and he was telling me to try it out. I borrowed the DVDs from him and started. It was addicting. It was so different than what I was used to. It was finally something competitive. I was competing against myself. This was 3 1/2 years ago. I didn’t complete the program, but I did make it through month 2. At that point, I had joined a large gym. They had Zumba and all kinds of different classes to join. I, again, became a cardio queen without running. I hate running..did I say that already? 🙂 I thought that was what it would take to get the body I desired. Cardio, cardio, cardio. Sweat, sweat, sweat. When I hit a plateau, I started running again on the treadmill, cycling. Anything cardio I was doing, but God forbid I pick up a weight! I had the typical thoughts that every female has… We don’t need to lift weights, we will look like a man, etc. So, if I ever did lift weights…it was  5lb dumbbells and I was doing about 3o reps! I did this for about a year and decided I needed a change. I had read about High Intensity Interval Training and the way it transforms bodies. I saw the Insanity informercial and decided to try it. I loved everything about it. (Second time I fell in love with a Beachbody product). I noticed actual differences in my body and continued. I felt I had lost weight and gained muscle finally. After the program, I turned back into the steady state cardio queen and was spinning 3-4 times a week.I had hit a wall again. Nothing would change my body…I was “in shape”, but I was still what you would call a “fat skinny” I just had this jiggle that wouldn’t “tone” up…or stop jiggling 😉 Then, I was introduced to a Hight Intensity Interval class at my gym. The instructor, Amanda, was such an awesome trainer and I kept thinking…I would love for her to train me, because I’m stuck! My boyfriend, so graciously, bought training sessions for me with her.