Hello

My name is Bobbi, I am one of the coaches at Pulse. After successfully losing over 100 pounds I am passionate about helping others, and letting them know with hard work, there is no goal out of reach!
 

"I was 100 pounds overweight!"

 

In January of 2020 I had my routine bloodwork done, shortly after I got a call from the doctor that we needed to meet. I KNEW it was bad news. Truthfully, my diet was poor and I was bingeing in private to cope with stress. I was not exercising or doing anything to actually take care of myself. I have a family history of health problems, even though I did not actually want to have this be an excuse, I didn’t know what or how to change. I was told my glucose and cholesterol numbers were off and they wanted me to take medication to fix it. I asked for 30 days, my hand had been forced and I knew that I HAD to change. To my surprise, they gave me 6 months.
 

I started using MyFitnessPal to track EVERYTHING. Because of my glucose number and diabetes runs in my family, I cut out refined sugar for a time to help with that. I still ate fruit but I was very mindful of any processed or added sugars. One of my biggest vices was starting my day with soda, so that had to go and I increased my water. For exercise I started with a goal to walk one mile or 30 minutes, whichever came first. Since this was during COVID, the first 6 months were actually easier to manage because all of the things that we couldn’t do, like go out to eat. I was able to lose 65 pounds, and had my bloodwork rechecked. All of my numbers were in normal range, that was incentive for me to keep going because I wasn’t done.
 

As we came out COVID shutdowns I continued to lose and reach a100lb loss. Once we returned to more normal times post covid, I had to learn to navigate my journey with more things available. During COVID I had worked my way up to walking about 9 miles per day. Once I returned to the office, I kept walking but did decrease my mileage. About that time, I found Pulse from my neighbor and started incorporating strength training.
 

I was scared to start training because it was new to me, but I immediately knew I would be here for a long time. Everyone at Pulse is so motivating, and the trainers really did care about me and were always encouraging me to do more. I found myself helping people who were already working out either by encouraging them or sharing my story. When I was asked to join the Pulse team, I was flooded with emotions ranging from excitement to being scared as hell. Knowing that I could help people was enough to calm my nerves, and the support from family and friends helped as well.
 

Nutritionally, planning ahead is key for me, as well as making sure to include things that I enjoy. I would not have the success I have had if I had restricted myself. Even though my lifestyle has changed completely, I had to figure out what was sustainable for me to do forever, not temporarily.
 

Instead of looking at a goal as one BIG step, start small and slowly build habits. A lot of things you think you know about health and wellness; you might need to relearn. Fad diets don’t work, you can’t label food as good or bad (but some is more nutritious than others). Don’t restrict yourself and allow yourself to have the piece of birthday cake. You can find balance and still be successful. To help me remember that we are never finished and to serve as a reminder of my hard work, the phrase “just keep going” is my motto!