Lana Place - Health and Exercise Gym in Kalamunda

I knew I had been putting on weight. My clothes were getting uncomfortable, my mobility and flexibility were declining, and I was unhappy about my appearance. I went camping with my brother and his family and at 38 years old, a time when I should have been in the prime of my life, I couldn’t keep up with my 7 year old niece! That’s when this ‘before’ photo was taken, January 2008 – and it changed my life.

 I decided that things needed to change, sooner rather than later. For the next couple of months I looked around for a gym. It needed to be close to home, not too expensive, have good facilities, qualified trainers, and preferably a “ladies only” area. Gym Tonic ticked all those boxes and I joined in March 2008, on the day I turned 39.

 Under guidance from the trainers I modified my diet, cutting out all the junk food, soft drinks and most difficult of all, chocolate. I love chocolate. The staff and trainers at the gym were wonderfully supportive. They provided motivation, nutrition advice, exercise advice, motivation, support, encouragement and most important of all, motivation.

 The membership I bought came with personal training sessions, which I highly recommend. The trainers encourage me to go just that little bit further than I’d go on my own. They show me what I can really achieve, and give me new exercises to incorporate into my daily workout routines. They give me regular fitness appraisals and programme updates to monitor my progress. The trainers change my workout routines regularly to keep it interesting, and provide wonderful support.

 I go to the gym 5 days a week after work, for about an hour each time. I do some stretching and gentle warm up exercises, then light weights to improve my strength, cardio to improve my fitness, and finally more stretching to cool down. Once a week I do a personal training session. On Saturday I do a Pilates class to improve my core strength. It’s not particularly difficult and it has worked wonders!

 By July 2009, just 16 months later I’ve gone from 79kg to 64kg, I’ve lost roughly 17kg of fat and gained about 2kg of lean muscle, for a total weight loss of 15kg! I look great, I feel great, my skin has improved, my face looks younger, my confidence and self esteem have sky-rocketed.

 I have made so many new friends at Gym Tonic, it is such a friendly gym with a big group of regulars who provide encouragement and support to each other. Even if I don’t really feel like exercising, just going to the gym and seeing all my gym friends soon puts me in the mood.

 I am now proud to say that I’m 40, I’m fit & I feel fantastic - I really am in the prime of my life.

 Imagine how you want to look, then make it happen!

Lans