Many people start Power Fitness PDX for various reasons. One PFPDX'er, Donna, has grown exponentially. Not only has she found an inner strength, she has realized that because you are in your 50's it doesn't mean you have to give up on "you". Donna shared her story, and I hope she may help inspire one of you to hop on a bike and ride to the top of the Haleakala Crater too!
Cheers- Coach Erin Kreitz Shirey
I came to Power Fitness PDX and Erin at a time that I felt I
had hit the wall. Even though I
was working out daily with an elliptical and spin bike and doing some light
weights my weight loss had stalled and I didn’t feel like I was getting the
results for the effort that I was putting in. I found myself using the excuse “you are almost 53-lighten
up.” But somehow I knew I was
capable of more and I absolutely wanted more.
In my two months with Erin I have learned that while I was
working out I wasn’t pushing myself to my limits. Erin has taught me that its OK to go to a level of
discomfort in my workout-I am not going to get hurt, I am going to get
stronger! After 3 months I am down
16 lbs and 12 inches. When I
started I could barely hold plank for 20 secs, now I can hold a perfect plank
for over a minute.
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| Doing burpees on vacation! |
I had a trip to Maui coming up and I was worried that I
would backslide so prior to my trip I made a daily exercise plan and I packed
my bands and my jump rope. The
cottage we were staying at was new to me so I didn’t know what the area was
going to look like-I hit the jackpot! The grounds were beautiful with lots of
paths and grassy areas so I could do my workouts outdoor and with some
privacy. I set up stations-jump
rope for two minutes in the parking lot, run back to the lanai and perform
squats and overhead press with the bands, set the timer for an 11 minute run. I
pulled out the ipad and watched Erin’s videos-I changed it up each day and
since I had a pool not 20 steps from my door I even did some running and
swimming in the pool.
On my 53rd birthday we got up at 1 am and drove to Haiku
where we joined others for a trip up to Haleakala Crater to watch sunrise and
then ride bikes down the crater back to Haiku. This has been something that I
have wanted to do since I first went to Maui at the age of 18 and hiked
Haleakala. It was definitely a bucket list event for me! The bike ride downhill was a
scream-literally 30 mphs screaming Weeeeeeee!
On the ride down there were three hills that we had to climb
and I was worried. I’ve always had
difficulty riding hills and I would have to get off and walk the hill, which
always made me feel terrible. Well
I rode up each of those hills with no problem even beating others to the top!
On one hill I almost stepped off the bike but I heard Erin’s voice “keep going
and going and going.”
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| Donna- strong and active!! Way to go DONNA!! |
It felt great to be able to do all the things I wanted to do
on vacation; scuba, the bike ride, and feeling pretty good about how I looked
in a swimsuit and in this little dress that I bought special for our luau
dinner. The early mornings, the
bugs, the sweat and yes even the burpees have all been worth it. Thank you Erin for challenging me to
find the power in ME and I look forward to just getting better, and better and making this year the best yet!
Sincerely-
Donna Wyatt
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Thank you for reading Power Fitness PDX Blog. Have a healthy and adventurous day.
---Erin Kreitz Shirey
CEO, Owner & Master Trainer
powerfitnesspdx@gmail.com
www.powerfitnesspdx.com