Tara Newman

In that picture at the bottom left I was finishing up my first year of college and weighed 185 pounds. I remember seeing that picture on Facebook for the first time and being so upset because there was no more denying my weight gain since September. I had never been the smallest girl by any means, but I was an athlete through all of high school and I could get away with eating what I wanted and maintaining a healthy weight. When I moved away for school that all changed. I was no longer playing varsity sports, developing really unhealthy habits and before I knew it was I was 20 pounds heavier than when I started. I made a resolution the day I saw that picture to get my butt into shape. For the rest of the school year I used the cardio and weight machines in the school gym, but the real progress happened when I found LD Fitness.

I moved back to Sarnia and by the second week of May had signed up for unlimited boot camps for the entire summer at LD. My goal was to lose all of the weight I had gained in freshman year before I had to move back to Toronto, and I stayed committed to four or five classes a week right up until August. Unfortunately I had to leave in September but I couldn’t wait to get back to the gym the next May! Although I did lose some muscle and put on about 5 pounds in second year (I couldn’t push myself the same way I had in boot camps) I came out much healthier than the first time around.

When I moved home (for good this time) I got right back in the gym and got my summer pass for unlimited boot camps. By June I was back to where I left off the previous September but then I hit a plateau and got really frustrated. That’s when Lyle suggested personal training. Although boot camps were challenging, personal training doesn’t give you anywhere to hide and Lyle can push you to work your hardest for the entire forty minute session. These work outs are when I truly fell in love with fitness and training. I loved it so much that I decided to become a Certified Fitness Trainer, and in September I was brought on as staff at LD.

I continued training and slowly decreased my body fat, while increasing my fitness level but in January I noticed I had once again reached a plateau and I needed to change things up. I realized I needed to really commit to a life style change if I wanted to reach my goals. I came to my workouts with a new attitude, really cleaned up my diet and now I can say I am fully devoted to making more progress.

To this day I have lost 35 pounds and over 10% body fat(in the main picture). It would have been easy to stop when I reached my initial goal of losing my freshman weight, but training with Lyle has taught me that there is always room for improvement and you can always get better. I am still pushing myself because I’ve learned that fitness is a journey and it is important to always find new goals for yourself. Lyle’s confidence in me has given me so much confidence in myself, which has allowed me to challenge myself not just in the gym but in everything I do. Sure boot camps and personal training has developed my body into a machine that I am proud of and love, but it’s the mindset that I have developed from training at LD Fitness that I love even more.

I believe it is the commitment that I have put into my health and fitness that has gotten me my results; commitment that was taught to me by Lyle and all the girls at LD. Thank you guys. I couldn’t have done it without you!