Today I’m profiling Jenny, a long-term client of mine! Jenny, who’s 40 and mostly vegetarian, had her first baby less than 6 months ago, cares for her live-in parents, owns two high-energy dogs, and runs a successful immigration consultancy business from both Vancouver and Whistler.
I’m consistently amazed at her ability to make time for her fitness in her jam-packed schedule of work, travel, and family responsibilities – which happens only because she’s made it a priority, by the way – and I truly believe that if she can do it, so can you.
Jenny has made an amazingly quick recovery after having her baby, and has been training for a 10K race she’ll be completing in Iceland (you should see her regular travel schedule – it’s mind-boggling).
Read about how her reasons for being fit have drastically changed over the years, how she manages to fit in her workouts among her crazy busy life, and what good health means to her.
How long have you been working with Karina?
More than 3 years.
Why did you start working with Karina? What was happening in your life that made you take this step?
I was getting married and wanted to look my best!
What were some of the hurdles you dealt with as you got started? What was difficult for you?
It was difficult to find time to get my workouts done. I had a crazy busy schedule, working in two cities, and travelling on business far from Canada every two months. I had no routine or structure, so incorporating time to exercise was kind of new and hard to do.
What was easy for you as you started?
Karina made it less difficult for me. She was always happy and understanding, and that helped a lot for me to keep trying.
Are your reasons for increasing your health and fitness different now than they were when you started working with Karina? If yes, how?
Yes, completely. Now fitness is part of my life. I want to be healthy and strong. I like to eat a lot, never been on a diet, so I need to exercise and make sure I am active. I also learned that by building muscle, I burn calories even when I am not moving. When I exercise my energy improves, and that also helps with the rest of my life: family, baby, business, clients, dogs, friends, crazy social life!
Jenny (second from left) with her husband (left), baby, two dogs, parents (middle), and sister + brother-in-law (right)
What are some of the day-to-day changes/adjustments you had to make (and continue to make) to maintain and improve your fitness?
Making fitness a priority in my life. Improving my choices when eating. I’ve always been a healthy eater, but now I think I have improved (I’m not great, but in general I’m good). I also encouraged my husband to join me in some activities, so it is something we do together – like running or walking with the baby and/or the dogs. Adding some additional purpose to the activity helps.
Now that I understand stretching is also important, I even do some stretch moves while drying my hair, working on my computer, in the shower, etc!
What does health mean to you?
I strongly believe that health is all I need to accomplish anything else in life. If I am not healthy, I cannot be there for my family, my daughter, my business, my clients, my friends, for anything or anybody. I needed to make it a priority. It is just common sense, that is not so ‘common’.
Why is good health important to you?
I have a stressful job, so I need to balance it by working out! I want to play with my baby as she grows. I want to keep traveling and doing a lot of things. I want to age gracefully. I know that what I do now will have an impact on how I will age later.
What’s your secret (or not-so-secret) health/fitness superpower?
I do not think I have any secrets (my life is an open book, haha). I keep saying that I have no fitness superpowers; I was always the nerd at school, not the sporty type of person, but I know in my case it is just the power of the mind and wanting to get things done.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Note to Karina: I am always grateful that you are in my life. You are more than a personal trainer. You are an example, an inspiration, a great person. I enjoy spending time with you even though you make me sweat and hurt later!
Jenny is an absolute blast to work with and I feel lucky that I get to have a client as amazing as her! I'm excited to see Jenny's future feats of strength and distance running, and I hope her dedication to her fitness inspires you to make health and fitness a top priority in your own life!
Please share this article with your friends - or anyone who could use a motivation boost to keep working toward their fitness goals.
Have questions? Wanna chat health and fitness? Just wanna say hi? Get in touch with me any time.
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