By Noela F.
I did not exercise for many years. I was very busy and gave priority to other things in life that were far more important to me. Because of this, I gained weight. I always thought that I would go back to fitness. However, I could never find the time for it.
This year due to COVID-19, I started working from home in March. Working from home has its plus points, however, the bad part was that it gave me 24-hour access to the refrigerator and food. I started eating more often than I did when I was in the office. By June 2020, I weighed 150 pounds. I had to do something. Many years ago, I had joined Walter Lewis’s in-person bootcamp at work and it helped keep me fit. So, I decided to join Walter’s Virtual Bootcamp.
My first virtual bootcamp class was on June 8th. Although Walter gave classes 5 days a week, I decided to work out 3 times a week. Also, I started walking for about 20 minutes 3 days a week. My goal was not only to lose 20 pounds but to create a routine for exercise and diet.
By mid-July, my weight loss was slow, at about seven pounds; because I did not give up on all junk food – potato chips, my go-to food! I started having salad and soups a few times a week and stopped eating rice daily. Instead had it only on weekends. I started walking for 40 minutes for 4 days a week. Since I wanted to create a routine, I did not have any food restrictions when celebrating birthdays etc.
On August 19th, Walter gave a free webinar on “How to Fit Exercise & Healthy Eating into your Busy Schedule”. He gave very good tips and I adjusted my exercise and food habits on some of them. I woke up early and walked for 3 miles, 5 days a week. I started using Fitbit to track my steps and set-up 10,000 steps as a daily goal.
Walter also mentioned that “You cannot out work a bad diet.” He stressed that we will not be able to reach our goals just by exercise, it was very important to change our diets. Only then would we
reach our goals. I made additional changes to my food habits. Stopped eating unhealthy foods and instead had salads and soups.
Although my weight loss was slow, by November I had lost 20 pounds. I continue to be consistent (most of the time) with Walter’s Virtual Bootcamp. Now salads & soups are now part of my meals most days. I enjoy walking, weather permitting. It took great effort on my part, to get where I am. Lack of exercise and good eating habits made me gain weight. To avoid having to go through that situation once again, I have decided to commit to fitness exercise and to follow good healthy eating habits. I have signed up for Virtual Bootcamp through Dec. 2021!