I have been a Fitness Coach for over 34 years. As the youngest of 8 siblings I came late to physical activity and sports as I had rheumatic fever and had to limit my activity for 3+ years. I became “husky” during that period. It was easy to eat with my grandma at home and I’m sure I used food to deal with boredom, loneliness, angst, etc.…

I slimmed down during the summer of 6th grade and went into 7th grade fit and able to participate in sports. I excelled at football, wrestling and track in junior high. I enjoyed the gratification and positive feedback from coaches who could see that I tried to outwork everyone in practice. By the end of 7th grade I was bigger and stronger than most of my peers.

I think I took it for granted that I would stay slim without having to work at it. However, by my junior year in high school I over trained and crash dieted to make weight in wresting. To wrestle 138lbs (I hadn’t weighed that since I was 13 years old) I had to lose 25lbs, the last 10lbs by eating and drinking very little causing perpetual dehydration which decreased my ability to perform athletically. After losing in the state finals I binged for weeks to take away the sting of losing and the feeling of deprivation I felt during the wrestling season. A month later I was over 200lbs. Yikes!

At that point I had been a State Wrestling Champion and a Runner-Up and decided I needed to learn more about proper fitness and nutrition. I read every fitness book I could find and talked to other athletes who were taking good care of themselves as well as picking the brains of health professionals I knew. I shared my knowledge with anyone who was interested and along the way I helped a lot of my teammates make weight properly and develop safe, effective workout programs. Now 40 years later I continue to hone my skills and offer safe and effective exercise programs and sound nutritional advice. More importantly, we at Personally Fit have learned how to help our clients overcome the barriers that have held them back in the past. This is done through pre-planning to overcome unexpected setbacks, eating slower, developing diet guidelines to stabilize blood sugar and energy levels throughout the day and developing habits to improve quality of sleep. I take great satisfaction that so many people let us be part of their fitness weight loss journey.