Work out as though your life depends on it...it just might.
------------------------------------------------------
Here is the "official" write-up of my Les Mills experience (Before and After pictures can be seen:
http://www.lesmills.com/southcentral/
en/members/bodypump/success-stories.aspx
BODYPUMP™ saved my life!
In December 2003, I weighed 230 pounds (104 kg) – I am 5’5” inches (165cm) tall. I was pregnant at the time, but had only gained 18 pounds (8 kg) during those nine months. I had just always been a heavy girl who hated exercise.
After my daughter was born it was discovered, through some blood work, that I was insulin resistant. My doctor told me I should lose some weight or I would most likely develop diabetes. For about two years, I dieted on and off and did a bit of mat Pilates work at home. But I was obsessed with food, thinking, “I can, or can’t, eat this or that because it’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’”, etc. I also weighed myself at least once a day – usually more. Over the course of about two years I did lose 50 pounds (about 23 kg), but I was a slave to the scales and completely obsessed with food.
A friend of mine was a member at Double Diamond Athletic Club and often talked about these “classes” she was taking. I finally decided to join the club in February 2006. After about a week of being bored on the treadmill, I decided to see what these classes were all about, starting with BODYPUMP™. I was hooked from the moment the instructor pushed “play”.
About two weeks into doing BODYPUMP™ twice a week, something strange started happening. At the beginning of the squat track I was getting a weird sensation in my head, like something was going to explode. After a week of that happening, I ended up going to the ER on a Sunday night, thinking, “It would be stupid to die of an aneurysm on Sunday because I’m waiting for the doctor’s office to open on Monday.”
The CAT scan performed at the ER didn’t show anything, but I was told to follow up with my doctor on Monday to get an MRI, just to be sure. I went to see my doctor thinking, “Worst case scenario, some type of exertional migraine.” But probably more along the lines of “Go home and take an Advil, you hypochondriac.”
I had an MRI on Wednesday, March 8, 2006. That Friday, I was told I had a brain tumor that they believed was an astrocytoma. There is no “good” cancer to have. Especially when it’s brain cancer. Astrocytoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer that can keep recurring until it eventually kills you.
On Friday, March 24, 2006, I had a craniotomy to remove the brain tumor. Several weeks after that, the pathology report came back. I did not have brain cancer! What I did have was a Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial tumor (DNT), which is a benign brain tumor that has virtually no chance of ever growing back!
That was definitely the wake-up call I needed in life. Did I want to go through life obsessing about food and a number on the scales? Or did I just want to feel healthy, strong, and in control of my body? I voted for the second choice. After about two months, I got clearance from my neurosurgeon to go back to the gym. I took it easy in BODYPUMP™ for a while and eventually started to check out the other programs, all of which I now love! I went on to lose 50 additional pounds (23 kg) – a total of 100 pounds (about 46 kg) was lost through diet and exercise. I can honestly say that I LOVE to work out and look forward to each and every class that I teach and participate in!
LES MILLS™ programs truly are life changing fitness experiences! I am living, breathing proof of that.
What’s very interesting about this whole experience is that my doctors don’t really think the head pain I was experiencing in BODYPUMP™ had anything to do with my brain tumor (though I’ve never experienced it since having the tumor removed). Given the tumor’s location in my brain, my first real symptom should have been a seizure. Best case scenario, I would have been sitting at home when the seizure occurred, but I could have been cruising down the highway, had a seizure and lost control of my car. But thanks to BODYPUMP™, the tumor was found and removed and I never had a seizure!
BODYPUMP™ saved my life on many levels. If I hadn’t found BODYPUMP™ when I did, who knows how I would have found out about my tumor? If the instructors at my club hadn’t been so amazingly inspiring and motivating, who knows if I would have actually made a complete lifestyle change?
“Listen to your body” is a very popular phrase in the fitness industry and it’s very true. However I would like to add, “Make sure you give it something to talk about.”
------------------------------------------------------
On the home front, my husband and I have one fabulous daughter, Avalon, who likes to "do" BodyPump with me at home. Her current favorite Les Mills songs are "Girlfriend" and "Rock This Party". In the car she says, "Mommy, play the girlfriend song" Or, "Mommy, can we listen to soul clap?".
I'm very passionate about the programs and I'm looking forward to, hopefully, being able to spark some of that passion in others.