Renee Stover has four children ages 21, 18, 3 and 20 months. Like many other moms, she spends her day running millions of errands, doctor’s appointments, taking care of her family and home while leaving very little time for herself. She’s also very much like any other military wife, Renee’s husband is deployed again for the fourth time.
“My last baby was about to turn one year old when I realized that I was heavier than I was when I gave birth at nine months.” At that time Renee knew she was the one who had to take care of her. “My husband and kids weren’t going to do the work for me. Only I could get myself into shape.”
The first ten pounds came off by making some changes to her mainly fast food diet. Renee first made an agreement with herself not to order any more milkshakes or fries from McDonalds. Then she went from the Venti Frappacinno at Starbucks to the Grande to the Tall to very seldom at all. “Now if I want a coffee from Starbucks I order the Skinny Latte.”
Once Renee began to see the weight drop she knew the next step was to start exercising. So with the support of her husband Steven, they went around to the gyms in the local area. Renee remembers that being the “scariest day of her life.” “I thought I needed to lose weight before I could join a gym. I was so intimidated and nervous however I was relieved when I walked into Heritage Park Fitness Center and saw that there were people of various fitness levels and body types. I felt like I could get comfortable here.” It was then that she also made the decision to sign up for personal training with Darlina Brown. “I wanted to learn how to exercise properly and most effectively for my goals.”
It’s been about a year since Renee began her quest for a healthier and more fit lifestyle. She has gone from a size 24 at 246lbs to her current size of 8 at 137lbs. She exercises with Darlina three days a week doing mostly functional training. (A style of training that involves more than one muscle group at a time and burns more overall calories in a session.) In addition, Renee performs cardio exercise 6 days per week ranging from 45minutes to 90 minutes depending on how intense she works. She continues to make better choices with her food. She pays close attention to keeping her sugar intake down and maintaining a healthy balance of proteins and clean carbohydrates. When she does indulge in some sweet treats, Renee is careful to keep the portion small. “ I went to Dairy Queen and ordered a small Mint Oreo Blizzard because I wanted to have some really bad. I asked the employee to dump half of it out after I had already paid full price!”
“Renee looks amazing and she’s really dedicated to her new lifestyle,” says Darlina. “She is living proof that if something is important enough to you, you can make the time and the change and Renee says so all the time.”
“For the first time in my life I feel like my real personality has come out. I used to be shy, introverted and self-conscious. Life is just easier now. I can get down on the floor and play with my kids. I have more energy and I even fit in an airplane seat with ease.”
Renee has just resigned for another six months of personal training and we are all eager to see what she accomplishes next! She is an inspiration to many and we are thrilled to have her at Heritage Park Fitness |
